Nonviolence International-Ukraine has worked for the last 10 years actively to promote peacebuilding in Ukraine and to support nonviolent resistance to the war. You can see below an introduction to some of this work.
NEWS
With your support in 2023 we were able to:
- Hold meetings with numerous Russian diaspora groups in Lithuania, Armenia, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, encouraging them to paly a more active role in anti-war messaging into Russia and demonstrating practical techniques that may be applied to make these activities more effective;
- Organize and support regular seminars of two Russian diaspora activist groups (one in Georgia and one in Kazakhstan) aimed to train communication capabilities in order to increase the effect of their communication into Russia
- Continue monitoring the true state of public opinion inside Russia and develop specific recommendations to different groups of stakeholders, based on the obtained findings
On June 28, 2023, NVI hosted a fascinating and unique webinar with diaspora Russian war evaders and war-resisters. Here is also a lovely summary of the webinar written by David Cortright.
In March-April 2023 NVI-Ukraine Director Andre Kamenshikov undertook a fascinating and important trip to many countries to assess the willingness and capability of the “new” Russian diaspora (those who left Russia because of Putin’s war against Ukraine) to effectively communicate anti-war messages back to their home country. The brief report from this mission can be found here.
Take Action: Contact your elected representative and insist on a policy of asylum for conscientious objectors from Russia, Ukraine and Belorussia. This action is still needed to this day. Please make your voice heard and help bring the war to an end.
Feb 14, 2023 - Renowned historian Lawrence Wittner has written a beautiful Homeage to Russian War Resisters.
He writes, "courageous war resisters should remind us that, despite the violence of the Putin regime, a better Russia is possible."
Public Opinion on the War and Anti-War Messaging in Russia
Documenting/Monitoring Russian Public Opinion. NVI-Ukraine is helping ordinary Russian citizens with anti-war messaging from NVI's internal public opinion and messaging reports. Although Russia is a dictatorship - public opinion does matter a lot. In fact, the Russian government is not able to currently sell to its own population the concept of an all-out war against Ukraine, thus it uses euphemisms such as a "special military operation" etc. Due to this - the government cannot announce a full mobilization, it does not have the legal instruments to send people to the battle zone against their will and so on. The reports are researched and produced by a volunteer team through out Russia.
Police Officers Arresting Protesters in St.Petersburg (Source: Aljazeera)
We are also proud to share this visionary report written by NVI Ukraine Director Andre Kamenshikov. This work is a result of effective collaboration between NVI and the Peace Action, Training and Research Institute of Romania (PATRIR).
NVI Director, Michael Beer, spoke about the power of Nonviolent Direct Action and discussed the war in Ukraine. He introduces the mechanisms of nonviolent action and suggests nonviolent approaches for ending the war in Ukraine.
OTHER PAST WORK AND ACTION ITEMS
Coordinating GPPAC. NVI-Ukraine serves as the coordinator of the Eastern European Network for the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC). GPPAC is the longstanding network of peace groups in the region. GPPAC has long worked to ameliorate internal ethnic, religious and community conflicts in Ukraine and the region.
On February 22nd, 2022, NVI-Ukraine and GPPAC call for an immediate cessation of all military actions which threaten the lives and livelihoods of citizens of all countries involved. In particular, we urge:
- All parties to uphold obligations under international humanitarian law regarding conduct during wartime.
- The international community to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine.
- Third parties, especially EU countries, to provide safe haven for those people who do not wish to take part in wars of aggression.
We call on Belarus, Russia and Ukraine (and all countries in the world) to honor the conscientious objection of their own citizens and of those in the opposing military forces. We call on Belarus, Russia and Ukraine to cooperate with 3rd countries and swiftly transfer them abroad if the resisters so request. If countries would like to be more generous to these courageous war resisters, then they should offer asylum to their immediate families as well. If the soldiers do not fight, then wars cannot be fought.
Nonviolent Resistance in Ukraine. Nonviolence International assisted nonviolent civil resistance in areas occupied by Russian forces in 2022. While the focus of international media has been primarily on the military resistance of Ukraine to Russian aggression, ordinary unarmed citizens in areas occupied by Russia have been courageously demonstrating their resolve to remain with Ukraine by nonviolent means. In August and September, Nonviolence International co-organized meetings of Ukrainian civil activists who spent months in areas occupied by Russia and were organizing different actions of civil resistance. One outcome of the meeting was to support the establishment of underground clandestine schooling in occupied Ukraine. Here is a report written by Felip Daza Sierra of NOVACT, that documents Ukrainian nonviolent resistance in the first half of 2022. NVI Director, Michael Beer' book, Civil Resistance Tactics in the 21st Century, is cited often in the text and Andre Kamenshikov, NVI Ukraine Director is thanked in the acknowledgements. Nonviolent Resistance in Ukraine is currently marginal and not now a focus of NVI's work.
As the war drags on, Russia's key military objectives remain unfulfilled. Our hope is that if anti-war attitudes and resistance will continue to grow, while the motivation of those who support the government remains insufficient, this will put the country's leadership in a situation where it will have no other option as to seek peace and discontinue its imperialist policies.
Facilitating Understanding. NVI-Ukraine continues to work closely with a variety of international efforts to facilitate visits, meetings, delegations, humanitarian efforts, and project explorations. We would like to draw attention the work of Nonviolent Peaceforce, Patrir, and PAX. We also speak out to the media on nonviolent alternatives in Ukraine, Russia, and the region. See below for media interviews.
Demonstrators for Peace (Source - Dmitry Serebryakov/AP Photo)
Preventing Nuclear War! Nonviolence International-Ukraine is deeply concerned about the possibility of Russia exploding nuclear weapons or destroying the nuclear power plants in Ukraine. NVI drafted a letter in April, NVI called on people around the world to appeal to Chairman Xi and Prime Minister Modi to call Putin to dissuade him from exploding nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Take Action: Please contact the governments of China and India to dissuade President Putin from exploding nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Nonviolence International is proud that Andre Kamenshikov, NVI Ukraine director, was part of this impressive gathering.
Civil Resistance in Ukraine and the Region
How does civil resistance work and what can it achieve? This panel shares how civilians are using strategic civil resistance to diminish the power and impact of the Russian military.
In Ukraine, civilians replace road signs to confuse Russian military vehicles, they block roads with cement blocks and iron pins, and they have set up a complex humanitarian aid system with neighboring countries. Within Russia, protests and resignations by universities, media outlets, and professionals denounce the military invasion. Join us to learn more about the strategy of civil resistance in Ukraine and the region.
Panelists include leading experts in civil resistance, some joining us from the frontlines in Kyiv.
Media Releases
February 25, 2022: English-Speaking Expert Available to Speak to Media from Ukraine.
February 18, 2022: A Chance for Peace: OSCE Must Strengthen the Ukraine Peace Monitoring Mission. The US Must Reverse Its Withdrawal of OSCE Peace Observers.
Media Appearances
Michael Beer speaks with Metta Spencer about reaching out to Russians to end the war. https://tosavetheworld.ca/episode-459-reach-out-to-russians/
Michael Beer speaks on February 23, 2022: WBAI News with Paul DeRienzo: Biden Sanctions Russia, Peacekeeping Troops Arrive, Ukraine Defiant ( Michael speaks at 13:40-18:38)
Andre Kamenshikov, NVI Ukraine Director, speaks on March 2, 2022 Democracy Now!: Nonviolence Int'l in Kyiv: Resistance Mounts to Russian Invasion as 2,000 Civilian Deaths Reported
Andre Kamenshikov speaks with NVI intern Paige Wright on March 7, 2022: Interview with Andre Kamenshikov: Violence in Ukraine and a Call for Peace
Andre Kamenshikov speaks on WORT radio on March 9, 2022: Kamenshikov on Russia's 8 Year War in Ukraine
Shared Perspectives
Below is a collection NVI's press releases and statements from other organizations we support.
The Humanitarian Disarmament website launched a new Ukraine War and Disarmament Resources page to increase public understanding of the humanitarian disarmament issues raised by the war in Ukraine and to serve as an information center for advocates, journalists, and others.
Former NVI Intern now teaching English in Prague shares her perspective as war refugees are welcomed.
Our friends at the Metta Center for Nonviolence have created this impressive list of relevant resources.
Don't miss this collection from the Transnational Institute.
Statement from over 100 peace groups.
Daniel Hunter says Ukraine's Secret Weapon may prove to be Nonviolent Direct Action.
Peace Direct' Statement on Ukraine and Russia
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons' Condemnation of Russia's Invasion of Ukraine
Stephen Zunes calls on us to Support International Law Everywhere
John Feffer asks that we Support Diplomacy and the OSCE
Joanne Sheehan notes that war is a crime against humanity on the Metta Center's podcast.
Please see NVI's database of Nonviolent Tactics.
There is enormous civilian resistance to this war around the world. In Russia, hundreds of thousands of people have protested with signs and chanting in the streets and more than 7000 have been arrested. In Ukraine we see enormous civil resistance with tactics including various kinds of blockades, mutual aid, changing streets signs, boycotting Russian products, direct appeals to soldiers, singing. Please visit our database of 350 tactics that can inspire people around the world to do something at this time.
In May 2023 I and forty other diaspora Jews joined the Center for Jewish Nonviolence (CJNV) in Palestine to engage in coresistance with Palestinians and learn from them about the daily reality of apartheid. During our time in Occupied East Jerusalem and Masafer Yatta in Area C the policies of ethnic cleansing that are hard to grasp from afar became real to me. So did the power of Palestinian resistance and steadfastness on their land.
A group of us spent several days in Sfai, a village in the southern part of the West Bank in a region called Masafer Yatta. In the 1970’s Israel declared much of Masafer Yatta as Firing Zone 918, which designates that land for military training and prohibits civilian presence. In May 2022, the Israeli high court ruled to expel the residents of Masafer Yatta living in the twelve villages located in the firing zone, including Sfai. Since then attacks from the Israeli Occupation Forces and settlers have intensified and many demolitions have been carried out.
During the few days we spent in Sfai we helped build a playground, connected with our hosts, and heard stories about resisting forced expulsion. On our first morning in Sfai, Hamdan, an activist in Masafer Yatta, brought us to the site of a demolished school. He told us about the day the school was demolished back in November 2022, how the Occupation forces blocked the doors to the school while the students were inside and started firing stun grenades at the teachers, parents, and other adults gathered. When the young students heard the stun grenades they moved to escape through the windows of the school, a place they once felt safe. And just a few weeks later, the Occupation forces came back and destroyed the tent that the school moved to after the violent demolition.
Occupation forces don’t show up with bulldozers to the Israeli settlement just a mile away, also in Firing Zone 918, even though the firing zone declaration—among other laws—prohibits their presence too. They don’t launch stun grenades at the settlers or trap their children inside of a building about to be demolished. Instead the Occupation forces work in concert with settlers, turning their heads when they attack Palestinians and even arresting Palestinians assaulted by settlers for existing on their land.
Rubble of the demolished school in Sfai
We spent the rest of our time in Sfai working on the playground: installing see-saws, planting trees, and building a fence to make it harder for settlers to damage the equipment. At the end of our last evening in Sfai, many residents joined us on the playground. Kids were running around and playing on the equipment, asking us to play games and push them on the swings. We chatted with older siblings and parents as the sky filled with the sunset. Just before the sun disappeared completely we started our walk back to our host’s home. On the way back I saw the demolished school in the near distance and felt a wave of grief. I thought about my friends, family, teachers, and rabbis, how we all bought into a vision of safety and liberation that produces this reality. Safety isn’t demolishing schools or homes, or attacking Palestinians on their own land. Liberation cannot come from forced expulsion.
The stories we heard from CJNV’s Palestinian partners made it clear: time and options are running out. Please follow and support the work of Palestinian residents of Masafer Yatta as they resist the ongoing Nakba and face forced expulsion from their homes:
- Follow @youthofsumud, @basilaladraa, @ali_awad98, @samihuraini, @hamdan_mo_balall, @awdah.hathaleen, and @humansofmasaferyatta on Instagram. Please engage with their posts on social media and support their work by sharing their profiles and posts.
- For those in the US, demand that congress take action now to stop the violent, forced expulsion of the people of Masafer Yatta.
Please also support our partners and movements working for justice in Palestine:
- Join the Center for Jewish Nonviolence on the ground for the Olive Harvest later this year. Note the application deadline, July 14th, 2023.
- Support our fiscally sponsored partners working for justice in Palestine: Hebron International Resource Network, We Are Not Numbers, Holy Land Trust, and the Center for Jewish Nonviolence.
- Get involved in a movement or organization working for justice in Palestine–reach out to us if we can help guide or connect you.
At NVI our eyes have been on Jenin. As images and first hand accounts of the attacks by the Israeli Occupation Forces from Palestinians in Jenin have come out, our hearts have been filled with grief. If you have not already, please join Americans for Justice in Palestine Action in demanding Biden, Harris, and Blinken to publicly condemn Israeli assault on Jenin, here and here.
In solidarity,
Tess
P.S. Check out the articles Center for Jewish Non-Violence delegation highlights the importance of direct action in Palestine solidarity and They teach their children to hate by CJNV delegates about our experience on the ground in May!
Tess Greenwood is the Office and Intern Manager at Nonviolence International. She is a member of IfNotNow, the movement of American Jews organizing their community to end U.S. support for Israel's apartheid system and demand equality, justice, and a thriving future for all Palestinians and Israelis. She first joined the Center for Jewish Nonviolence on the ground in Palestine in June 2022 and has since participated in the Olive Harvest and the spring 2023 delegation with a focus on supporting delegates to bring their experiences back to their communities at home.
(Art Credit - Kayla Ginsburg - from CJNV)
Please watch this recording of our webinar:
Diaspora Russian War Resisters and Evaders Speak Out
Time Stamps:
5:15 - Andre Kameshikov, Ukraine
17:19 - Konstantin Samoilov, Uzbekistan
26:00 - Nikita Rakhimov, Kazakhstan
32:00 - Evgeni Lyamin, Georgia
40:10 - Alexei Prokhorenko, Poland
47:45 - Questions and Answers
They movingly shared their stories of exile and opposition to this Russian invasion. They talked about the plight of hundreds of thousands of people who are struggling against Russophobia and visa and financial challenges.
Please listen to these brave Russian voices who have not been heard amidst the din of war. Then, please help spread the word.
NVI Ukraine Director, Andre is now focusing on supporting the anti-war movement in Russia. In March-May, he traveled to many countries to which thousands of Russian war evaders and conscientious objectors have fled. He interviewed some of them and surveyed the plight of diaspora war evaders and has written a short report of his findings. You can find this and other report here.
NVI is hosted a webinar on June 26, 2023 to provide a space for Russians who have fled the war to speak out. Speakers will include NVI-Ukraine Director Andre Kamenshikov and Konstantin Samoilov, now based in Uzbekistan, who will speak about the situation of diaspora war resisters and evaders today. Hundreds of thousands of Russians fled the war to neighboring countries such as Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Armenia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany. The resistance and plight have not been heard. NVI will also present its plans for organizing communication groups of diaspora to share alternative information with their families and friends in Russia.
Konstantin Samoilov is a Russian energy corporation executive turned an anti-war political activist in exile in Uzbekistan now, the host of INSIDE RUSSIA daily show on YouTube and the creator of Tashkent International Breakfast Club where Russians and Ukrainians meet, make amends and heal. Konstantin’s goals are to shed light on current Russian regime’s actions, to stop Russian aggression in Ukraine, to promote future transformation of Russia, to help Ukraine and to create on-line and off-line international communities where repentance, healing and forgiveness takes place.
Andre Kamenshikov, Director, NVI-Ukraine
Andre Kamenshikov is the director of NVI Ukraine and the regional coordinator of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) in Eastern Europe. He has worked as a civil peacebuilding activist in conflict zones throughout the ex-USSR for over 30 years, including as the founder of Nonviolence International–CIS, a civil society organization operating in post-Soviet states for 22 years until its closure due to political backlash in Russia. Kyiv-based for the past eight years, Andre works with the local civil society sector to build capacity to contribute to peace and democratic development in Ukraine. He is the author of a number of publications about the role of civil society in post-Soviet conflicts, including “International Experience of Civilian Peacebuilding in the Post-Soviet Space” and “Strategic Framework for the Development of Civil Peacebuilding Activities in Ukraine."
Nikita Rakhimov is a psychologist-psychotherapist living in Kazakhstan. He now works with Russians who have fled and emigrated in connection with the mobilization for war. Nikita has set up a messaging platform to provide psychological support for other Russian emigres avoiding conscription.
Evgeni Lyamin is a 25 year old civil activist from Moscow, engaging in civil activities focusing on humanitarian and anti-war issues in Tbilisi, Georgia. He is the founder of Emigration for Action, a humanitarian aid organization which fundraises to purchase medical supplies and essential goods for refugees of the war. He is the former Media Literacy & Critical Thinking Training Program Coordinator at "Was It in the News?" and former organizer & editor at Space Policy. Evgeni left Russia right after the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Alexei Prokhorenko, independent journalist from Russia, now living in Warsaw, Poland. Alexei left Moscow in late September 2022, after partial mobilization was announced in Russia
Hosted by Barbara Wien
Since 1981, Barbara Wien has worked to end human rights abuses, violence, war, and ecological destruction. She has protected civilians from the death squads in conflict zones and worked to establish 280 programs in the study of peace and conflict resolution on campuses around the world. Barbara is a public scholar and peace practitioner with extensive knowledge of gender violence, peacebuilding, nonviolent social movements, and the political economy of war. She has edited and written 27 books and articles, led eight non-profits, and taught at six universities. Recognized for her leadership and “moral courage” five times by foundations and academic societies, Barbara won the 2022 Mohanji Foundation Award for "Visionary Leadership", and named "Peace Educator of the Year" in 2018 by the Peace & Justice Studies Association (PJSA), a network of 500 campuses in Canada and the U.S. Her students voted her “Professor with the Greatest Impact” in 2018 and 2019, and graduate students voted her “My Favorite Professor” in 2015 and 2017. She was featured in Amy Goodman’s book Exceptions to the Rulers (2003), and the Progressive magazine for opposing the military invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq as a U.S. government official. Her interviews include Canadian Broadcasting, the BBC, Progressive Radio International (PRI), The Washington Post, NBC Nightly News, Defense One, National Public Radio, Australian Broadcasting, Nuclear Times, and further broadcasts in India, Uganda, Zambia, Palestine-Israel, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
Winner of the 2022 Mohanji Foundation International Award for Visionary Leadership
"Public Policy and My Journey to Activism," Chapter 9 in Environmental Ethics, 3rd Edition, edited by Michael Boylan, 2022
SIS professor @barbarawien joined Eleanor LeCain on the All Together Now podcast to discuss what’s happening on the ground in Ukraine and options to support Ukrainians, including with nonviolent resistance. https://t.co/IaCm1IeROB
— AU SIS (@AU_SIS) June 7, 2022
Police Officers Arresting Protesters in St.Petersburg (Source: Aljazeera)
Demonstrators for Peace (Source - Dmitry Serebryakov/AP Photo)
With thanks to The Fellowship of Reconciliation
and our former fiscally sponsored partner, Waging Nonviolence,
here is my latest article they just published.
Please help spread the word and get this in front of people who don't yet agree with me.
Earlier this month, I attended the large Jewish-led demonstration in Washington, D.C. (un)welcoming Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich to the U.S. We gathered in the cold rain to say that his remarks celebrating a brutal pogrom — and suggesting the state should take over from the settlers and “wipe out” a Palestinian town — are morally unacceptable and antithetical to the values at the core of our faith. We agree that, in this moment, the future of Israeli democracy is being decided.
I found it quite moving to be among so many Jews united in our outrage and concern. It strikes me that there is much agreement among those gathered, and I get the impression that there are important potential disagreements we should discuss openly. First, let’s focus on the points of agreement between us. Since the protest was organized around letting Smotrich know he doesn’t represent us or Judaism, we can assume there is consensus in opposing his rhetoric and policies.
My ancestors fled Eastern Europe running from violent pogroms. I never imagined that my people — the people of the book and of the Exodus — would make the word “pogrom” relevant and force us to face its clear painful definition. But sadly that is where we are. Turning away from this reality does not make it any less real, but instead blocks our chances of co-creating positive change.
So we stood together in Washington, D.C. to call us forward to a better future. I assume we also agree that Smotrich and his ilk can’t define us out of Judaism. Those who have such a narrow, limited, unloving view of Judaism must not be allowed to decide if we, the vast majority of the world’s Jews, are indeed Jewish. I know who I am. They can never take my identity away from me. Nor yours from you.
I hope we also agree that we must actively oppose any attempts to use warped theological cover as an excuse for what comes down to Jewish supremacy. Every group should celebrate the unique beauty of their traditions, but whenever people suggest that “we” are somehow inherently better than “the other,” danger is close at hand. Anyone who pretends that a “Jewish soul” is superior to all others is warping our faith in a way that undermines our proud history. This belief is having a profound impact on key policy decisions and on people’s lives. Thus, we have a clear and ongoing obligation to call out this evil from within our community.
As Jews, our scripture makes clear that freedom is the universal right of all people. In this moment, I hope we can all agree that Palestinians are human beings deserving of the same basic rights as all other precious human beings. This should not be controversial, but sadly it clearly is.
As we mourn the current state of democracy in Israel, I hope we can also agree that the occupation is corrupting Judaism and leading us down a dangerous path. We were told the occupation was defensive in nature and only temporary. Anyone watching closely now knows that is not accurate. As those who long advocated for a two-state solution, we must admit that approach is no longer possible. Instead we are called to the difficult and essential task to find a way to live together.
Maybe those with me on the street that day are not yet in agreement about some of what I’ll raise below, but I hope — building on the major points of agreement above — we can engage in mutually respectful dialogue about these other vital issues. And, at the end of this piece, I offer an invitation to begin that conversation.
Some who gathered to greet Smotrich seem to be of the belief that all was well prior to the last election. They suggest that somehow we could restore a democracy by avoiding the worst excesses of this new extreme government. I’m not Israeli, but instead, like most on the street that day, I’m one of many American Jews who have cared about the region for years. When we came together to let Smotrich know he was not welcome, we brought with us a range of beliefs and approaches to street protest. Remember the old joke about a gathering of Jews always having one more opinion than people? It proved true that day.
I’ve organized many events and I understand the valid concern about message discipline. Still, it was troubling that those in the large group with many Israeli flags were harshly unwelcoming of Palestinian flags joining in. From my perspective, the image of those flags together better represents our deep concerns about Israeli democracy itself. With deliberate intent, Israelis have been told that the Palestinian flag is a symbol of hate. We’d be much better off if people could understand the flag and the familiar head scarf (keffiyeh) as symbols of a people whose basic human needs have not been met. Of course, that vast understatement does not adequately reflect the scope of Palestinian suffering that should concern us all.
It is self-evident to me that you can’t have a healthy democracy while actively implementing oppressive policies that demean the basic humanity of others. If you have another view, I’d like to understand it. I celebrate those standing up for democracy in Israel and ask them to extend their compassion to include Palestinians. It seems to me that any true understanding of democracy requires this simple and essential step.
The changes we need to make are systemic, and still we recognize that all systems are built on individual actions. What we each do over time creates the system we live in. Maybe if those of us who ended up on that same street, at the same time, can find a way to better understand each other, we can do our small part to help create that larger system-wide change we so desperately need. Having celebrated dialogue groups in the past, I now see both their power and their limitations. It seems they can give good-hearted caring people something meaningful to do while the oppressive structure remains firmly in place. Still, in these troubled times, I’m not willing to give up on communication between people, even those with fundamental disagreements.
So I invite each of you reading this to check out the Global Town Hall that took place on Tuesday, March 28. We gathered to hear from two renowned nonviolent Palestinian scholars and activists, one just returned to the U.S. and the other joining us while on a trip to the region. These smart visionary leaders are worth listening to.
Of course, this is not the only opportunity to listen to Palestinians or engage with others coming to terms with what is happening in the world these days. If you couldn’t make this particular conversation, please find others. Consider getting in touch with me and seeing what kind of forum we might craft together. In particular, I ask readers to help get this piece in front of the new organization UnXeptable and the longtime Progressive Israel Network, which both played key roles in the protest.
To all those who were with us on the street that day and to those with us in spirit, let’s build on our shared concern for peace and democracy in the region and be ready to listen and learn together as we seek a path forward to a better future. We all agree that we stand at a crossroads. For many of us, this perilous moment is deeply frightening, but we must not hide from that fear. I still believe that if we work together it might also prove to be a moment of opportunity. The veil has been lifted. Let us be brave enough to see clearly the challenges we face and together find a way to overcome them.
NVI is interested in supporting efforts to provide direct relief to the residents of Huwara.
If you can, please consider making a donation.
If you give, please let us know it is for this purpose.
(Art Credit - Kayla Ginsburg - from CJNV)
Nonviolence International is deeply concerned about recent events in Sudan.
June 2023
Sudanese civil society is united both home and abroad in opposing the Rapid Support Forces (militia) and the Sudanese Army in their fight for power. The country has been in a transition period since the dictator Al-Bashir was removed from power in 2019. The people of Sudan want democracy and an end to corruption. They are now suffering enormous humanitarian hardships because of the fighting. They are crying out for help. The violent solutions to Sudan's condition are not working. Nonviolence is the only way to a vibrant inclusive Sudan.
NVI Director, Michael Beer, spoke at a Sudanese led rally on June 3rd in Washington, DC at the US Capitol. He suggested to the crowd to
1) Ask the US and other governments to provide more humanitarian aid, visas for refugees, and to pressure the neighboring countries to support civil society and democracy in Sudan.
2) Support the white flag campaign which was started by Sudanese people in Khartoum. Let’s encourage everyone to display white flags on their social media platforms and homes and cars calling for a ceasefire and a return to democracy. Please see more here.
Please donate to NVI to support nonviolent solidarity work for Sudan.
Social media accounts to follow and support:
Sudan Foreign Translators for Change
Hashtags to learn more about the Sudanese resistance:
#SudanCeasefire #EndthewarinSudan
November 24th, 2021 - Our good friend, community organizer, and nonviolence activist, Mubarak Elamin was featured on Metta Center's podcast talking about Sudan. Check out this transcript which also includes an impressive conversation with our new partner Solidarity 2020 and Beyond.
He also gave a powerful interview on WBAI radio. His remarks begin at the 10:38 mark.-(WBAI Radio Link)
As with all issues, NVI is committed to bringing our values forward. That includes raising up local leaders. We know those closest to the problem are closest to the solution. In this case, we were deeply moved by the nonviolent discipline of the brave leaders in Sudan. Please see updates and action steps from our Sudanese colleagues below.
From July 2020
Nonviolence International is thrilled to share this video featuring our impressive friends and colleagues educating us about the people power nonviolent revolution in Sudan and the current challenges they face today.
The brave nonviolent revolution in Sudan inspires us and deserves our active support. Instead the US government is blaming them for the past actions of the very brutal regime they fought to remove from power. Our moral obligation is clear and in this instance lines up well with our strategic interests. We should 1) immediately remove the sanctions, and 2) lead an international effort to provide much needed humanitarian support so that the transitional government can succeed.
Our speakers include Khartoum-based experts: Asma Ismail Ahmed - a well known civil society activist, Anthony Haggar - a prominent businessman and influential leader, as well as Jalelah Sophia Ahmed - a leader in the Sudanese diaspora in Washington DC. US Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal joins us to speak about what US and global citizens can do to help.
Our host is Michael Beer, NVI Director, who provided much needed support for the Sudanese people during the uprising.
Time Stamps:
Anthony Haggar - 6:25
US Rep. Pramila Jayapal - 16:13
Asma Ismail Ahmed - 29:53
Jalelah Sophia Ahmed - 38:36
Q&A and Group Discussion - 45:12
Below is a clip from the same webinar featuring US Representative Pramila Jayapal speaking about the people power nonviolent revolution in Sudan. She represents Washington's 7th congressional district and is co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Rep. Jayapal joined us for a webinar led by our Sudanese colleagues.
She has just released an important new book. Use the Power You Have: A Brown Woman’s Guide to Politics and Political Change. https://thenewpress.com/books/use-power-you-have
You can follow her on Twitter @RepJayapal.
For more on this important topic, please see:
https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/sudan_mural
https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/zunes_on_sudan
https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/zunes_sudan_june_2020
From October 2020
NVI is proud to announce Michael Beer and Mubarak Elamin's (of the Sudan Policy Group) recent and important piece on Common Dreams. In their op-ed, they call on the US to revoke its decision to extort $335 million from the Sudanese People. Sudan is one of the poorest countries in the world with not enough food or medicine for their citizens. Thus, punishing the people of Sudan for overthrowing their dictator in a nonviolent revolution is nonsensical.
Here is a short snippet from the article:
"US policies are adding to a nightmare for the Sudanese people who have just suffered from the worst flooding in a century. While the US wasted a year to free Sudan from this terrorist designation, Sudan was unable to trade worldwide and obtain support from multilateral institutions to rebuild its economy and deal with covid19. The US is extorting the Sudanese people for the terrorist attacks by Al Qaeda on US citizens. However the Sudanese people and the present government are in no way responsible for those criminal acts. It was the government of the Sudanese dictator Al-Bashir that protected Al Qaeda during the early to mid-1990s, prior to the attacks against U.S. interests in Kenya and Tanzania. In 2019, the Sudanese people revolted in a nonviolent struggle and successfully ousted the dictator and his ruling party. The new government has succeeded in signing peace agreements ending three civil wars.
The victims of bombings deserve reparations. If reparations are to be paid, let the US and Saudi Arabia lead the way. The US and Saudi are not solely responsible for Al Qaeda but their policies greatly boosted its growth. Al Qaeda was founded by Osama bin Laden who used the Saudi supported Salafi theology to create a violent group opposing non-Sunnis and, ironically, later to the Saudi monarchy. Its success was attributed to the presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia and by the US support for Israel."
From September 2020
As some of you may know, Nonviolence International has been collaborating closely with brave nonviolent activists working in Sudan. We just received this amazing photo of a mural that was recently completed. We are told this is at the crossroads of major roads that connect Khartoum North with Omdurman in Sudan.
The mural displays the names of friends and allies who have supported the nonviolent movements in Sudan during their time of crisis. You will see the names of:
Michael Beer - Director of Nonviolence International.
Stephen Zunes - Professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco with a concentration in strategic nonviolence. Long time supporter and colleague of NVI.
Michael Nagler - President of the Metta Center for Nonviolence Education, and Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Long time support of NVI.
Stephanie Van Hook - Executive Director of the Metta Center.
Steve Williamson - Human rights activist and educator.
Walter Turner - Host of Radio, KPFK, about Africa and the African Diaspora.
Pramila Jayapal - Washington State representative in Congress and Co-Chair of the Progressive Caucus.
Michael Beer and NVI provided support for the people of Sudan by
- Offering webinars on nonviolent resistance seen by 350,000 people.
- Spoke at major Sudan protests in Washington, DC.
- Provided expert testimony for a Congressional briefing on Sudan,
- Provided daily coaching for some of the mediators from May through July.
- Raising humanitarian funds for the nonviolent resistance.
We have co-founded a new Sudanese network called Madania. This is a network of Sudanese educators who want to promote civic education in Sudan. After being under a dictator for 30 years, many people don’t know how to participate in their own governance. Madania will be mapping the extent of civic education (human rights, nonviolence, voter, political party, etc) efforts in Sudan, begin creating networks of Sudanese civic educators, and provide a vehicle on the internet for mass education on citizen empowerment. Please support us monthly as we continue our Sudanese solidarity work.
We thank the Sudanese for creating and sharing this beautiful mural and for the deep and lasting impact their brave, creative, and constructive witness has had on all of us.
In these challenging times, the Sudanese people inspire us to keep focused on the much needed transformation in our own society.
Summary: In 2019, Sudanese activists succeeded in ending the autocratic rule of Omar al-Bashir and instituting democratic reforms. However, on 25 October 2021, the Sudanese military led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan took control of the government in an attempted military coup. At least five senior government figures were initially detained. Civilian Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok refused to declare support for the coup and on 25 October called for popular resistance; he was shifted to house arrest on 26 October. Widespread internet outages were also reported. Later the same day, the Sovereignty Council was dissolved, a state of emergency was put in place, and a majority of the Hamdok Cabinet and a large number of pro-government supporters had been arrested.
Major civilian groups including the Sudanese Professionals Association and Forces of Freedom and Change called for civil disobedience and refusal to cooperate with the coup organisers. Mass protests took place on 25 and 26 October against the coup, with lethal responses by the military. At least 10 civilians were killed and over 140 injured during the first day of protests. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Information and the Prime Minister's Office refused to recognize the transfer of power, stating that the coup was a crime and that Hamdok remained Prime Minister.
Sudan action steps in 2019:
Worldwide:
Please contact your governments to demand a strong response in opposition to the putsch. Special attention should be paid to countries that have not condemned the coup including Egypt, Israel, Russia, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
US Residents:
We are asking all Sudanese-Americans and Friends of Sudan in the United States to call the leaders below and ask them to hold an emergency hearing on the crisis in Sudan.
Civil society in Sudan is calling on all Sudanese and the world to fly white flags for a ceasefire and a return to democracy.
Unfortunately, the Sudanese Army has threatened anyone calling for a ceasefire as a traitor to the army and the nation. Fighting has been particularly severe in Khartoum and in the west of Sudan. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Wednesday that as many as 2.5 million more people could slip into hunger in Sudan as a result of the conflict, raising the number of people suffering acute food insecurity to 19 million.
More than 700,000 people are now internally displaced by battles that began on April 15, and another 150,000 have fled the country, UN agencies said this week.
People in Khartoum are without food, water, and cash. Electricity and internet are intermittent.
Many people have died. All the major factories of Khartoum have been destroyed.
Besides just trying to survive, Sudanese civil society is largely united in calling for a ceasefire and return to Democracy. Here is a political statement of the Civilian Front to Stop the War and Restore Democracy, that was largely organized by the neighborhood committees and has wide support.
Please fly a white flag at your home and on your social media.
Here are photos from Sudan of white flags flying outside homes and buildings. Thes are flown often a personal risk.
US groups are speaking up as well as people in Sudan.
The Adams Center in Virginia USA speaks out strongly for a ceasefire.
Friends Peace Teams from many countries meeting in Pennsylvania call out for a ceasefire and a transition to democracy in Sudan.
To see NVI's earlier work on Sudan, please visit this page.
NVI Raises Up The Good Work of the Damai Pangkal Damai
We met Diah Kusumaningrum, an impressive nonviolent trainer and activist, through collaboration on our Malaysia training.
She just shared with us this impressive report. As far as we know, there is no place else in the world where there has been an ongoing effort to catalogue every nonviolent direct action. They use Gene Sharp's groundbreaking work on NV Tactics and kindly thank NVI's own Michael Beer in this report.
This important work not only records and categoriezes NVDA, but also makes important suggestions on how to increase our impact.
NVI is inspired by all the good work being done around the world. Even as struggle to face the painful reality of the as it is, people everywhere are building towards a better future.
Diah wrote,
As usual, the annual reflection has 4 parts -- respectively, on Indonesia, maximalist campaigns around the world, issue-based campaigns across the globe, and a special topic.
The first part underlines how nonviolent resistance in Indonesia has stagnated in 2022 and suggests building a number of infrastructures of resistance to overcome it.
The second part highlights how a number of maximalist campaigns around the world stagnated, transformed into (or from) reformist campaigns, or emerged in 2022.
The third offers a global outlook on a number of issue-based campaigns: gender equality, climate justice, and workers’ rights.
The fourth looks into nonviolent resistance in the face of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine, calling for the need to revisit and revamp the literature on nonviolent defense and civilian-based defense.
Damai Pangkal Damai is a database project that records nonviolent actions that took place in Indonesia 1999 onwards -- that is, after the fall of Suharto’s dictatorship. Its database can be accessed here: ugm.id/DPDdatabase (case sensitive), its monthly kaleidoscope through Instagram @damaipangkaldamai, and its other products here: linktr.ee/DamaiPangkalDamai
Please feel free to forward the above information to your networks. Also, please do not hesitate to write to me if you have ideas for collaboration or you’d like to be a contributor to next year’s reflection or next month's kaleidoscope. If scholars on democracy studies can put together several annual reports on the state of democracy worldwide, I don’t see why a group of scholars on civil resistance can’t put together an annual reflection on the matter that’s close to their heart.
Nonviolence International's longtime director, Michael Beer, has released his first book.
Michael has updated Gene Sharp's seminal text training the world in the value of nonviolent tactics.
https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/nv_book
Michael Beer was quoted in this LA Times article on effective activism.
Michael spoke recently with Science for Peace - a Canadian group about the Civil Rights Movement in the US.
Michael Beer shares learnings and re-learnings from the civil rights movement for social movements today. He stresses the need for nonviolence training and tune-ups. The need for strong civil society institutions such as religious groups and labor unions to sustain campaigns. The need to maximize participation particularly by women, girls and the elderly, since they are the majority of the population and that violence by young men often discourages broader participation.
Michael talks about his book Civil Resistance Tactics of the 21st Century. Building on the work of Gene Sharp, Beer has added new tactics and new categories of action to our understanding of nonviolence today.
Michael joined the celebration of former NVI staff leader, Andrés Thomas Conteris 60th Birthday!
While at NVI from 2002-2016, he served as Program Director of the Americas.
The GREAT Joanna Macy joined the PARTY!
So did the wonderful David Hartsough
Solidarity 2020 & Beyond holds historic gathering of nonviolent activists in Nepal
From March 15 to 19th, 2023, NVI Director, Michael Beer joined 75 nonviolent activists from 40 countries in Nepal to strengthen global solidarity, particularly in the global south. We compared stories of organizing campaigns, prisons, and social movements. A child soldier shared stories of organizing for their rights in Nepal, Latin America activists shared the stories of women organizing to find and remember their disappeared loved ones, and African and Myanmar activists shared their struggles against dictators. To learn more about this new transnational network that NVI is fiscally sponsoring, please read more below.