Our good friends at Beautiful Trouble just posted this wonderful piece on Waging Nonviolence, an impressive project that got its start as a fiscally sponsored partner of NVI.
We celebrate their loving and irreverent approach to this challenging moment. See excerpt below and read the full piece on Waging Nonviolence.
HOLY SH*T! 7 things to do instead of hoarding toilet paper
We’re facing down a global pandemic. If you find yourself saying “Holy shit! What do I do?!” you’re not alone.
A renegade bug is showing how deeply broken our system is. Beyond the absolutely critical tasks of taking care of yourself, harm-reduction, social distancing, hand-washing, and looking out for those around us who are most struggling, we must also make that brokenness plain.
We do not get to choose the historic moments we are born into, but we do get to choose how we respond. And as we recover, and put our world back together, we have a chance to put it back together differently and better.
In that spirit, we’ve done a roundup of the most creative and effective social movement responses to COVID-19, filtered through seven of the most relevant tools from the Beautiful Trouble toolbox, with links to resources compiled especially for this moment:
Read the full important and timely piece on Waging Nonviolence.
By Stephen Zunes who thanks the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict for supporting his research.
When the turbulent and often tragic history of the past decade in the Middle East and North Africa is written, the 2019 pro-democracy revolution in Sudan will likely be considered one of the few bright spots. One of the world’s most brutal dictatorships—in power for over 30 years—was overthrown in a massive nonviolent civil insurrection involving millions of Sudanese, and a liberal technocratic civilian administration put into place. Whether civilian democratic rule will survive the serious challenges still facing the country remains to be seen, but for now a key question is: how did they do it?
One of the world’s most brutal dictatorships was overthrown in a massive nonviolent civil insurrection, and a liberal technocratic civilian administration put into place.
Sudan did not fit into what some Western analysts see as the conditions for a successful pro-democracy civil resistance movement. The regime was thought to be too oppressive, too entrenched, and too successful in their divide-and-rule tactics of the large and ethnically heterogeneous nation. Their reactionary Islamist rule disempowered women. Civil society had been decimated under the three decades of military rule and the Sudanese people were seen as too impoverished, uneducated, and isolated. Over five million of the country’s brightest, most educated, and most ambitious potential leaders had emigrated. Wealthy Gulf monarchies were helping to prop up the military regime. And most of the West had largely written off Sudan as a hopeless case.
Despite this, starting in December 2018, a movement emerged which eventually brought millions of Sudanese into the streets. By April 2019, General Omar al-Bashir was overthrown by fellow military officers. Protests continued and, despite hundreds of additional deaths, by August the military stepped down in favor of a civilian-led transitional government.
The reasons for their success appear to include the following:
There was precedence: Long before the Arab Spring, the Eastern European revolutions, and other popular democratic uprisings which caught the world’s attention, the Sudanese had toppled dictatorships in 1964 and 1985 through massive civil resistance campaigns.
One advantage was that some of the main elements of the repressive apparatus of the regime—the police, intelligence, military, and special forces—were divided, and the opposition did an excellent job of exacerbating those divisions and using them to the movement’s advantage. Another factor was that the African Union and the Europeans were on the movement’s side, thanks in part to efforts of the exile community and others to mobilize their support. An additional factor was that business people, even those who had supported the ruling party, realized that—for the sake of the economy and therefore their own self-interest—they had to end their support for military rule and support democratic governance.
The Sudanese regime was also simply incompetent. The economy was in shambles.
The Sudanese regime was also simply incompetent. The economy was in shambles. Education, transport, health care, agriculture and other basic infrastructure had deteriorated significantly during their three decades in power. They had lost the southern third of the country along with most of the oil reserves when South Sudan became independent in 2011. International sanctions added to chronic corruption and mismanagement in weakening the economy of an already impoverished nation. Despite its brutality, the state was in many respects weak. Young Sudanese had had enough. They felt they had no future and they had nothing more to lose.
More important was what happened on the ground. A critical factor was the scope and the scale of the movement. Unlike some civil insurrections—which were almost exclusively in the capital with mostly middle class support—the Sudanese revolution took place all over country, in all the different regions, with diverse class and ethnic participation. Professional associations played a key leadership role, but popular resistance committees were also active in even the poorest neighborhoods. Indeed, the ability to build such a broad coalition of forces was vitally important, given the size and complexity of the country.
For decades, the regime tried to divide Sudanese by North and South, Arab and non-Arab, Muslim and non-Muslim. The pro-democracy protesters recognized that national unity was critically important and consciously resisted efforts at divide-and-rule.
For example, though historically in the Arab-dominated part of the Sudan, greater Khartoum is a multi-ethnic urban area, as those from minority regions fleeing violence and poverty have flocked to the capital area. When the protests began, the regime tried to blame the uprising on Furs, the people indigenous to the Darfur region who have been subjected to a genocidal campaign by the regime. In response, the largely-Arab but multi-ethnic protesters began chanting “We are all Darfur!” In solidarity, protesters in Al Fashir, the Darfur capital, started chanting “We are all Khartoum!”
Related to this diversity was the strong participation and leadership by women, which not only helped increase the numbers of protesters, but provided a perspective that encouraged nonviolent discipline.
Related to this diversity was the strong participation and leadership by women, which not only helped increase the numbers of protesters, but provided a perspective that encouraged nonviolent discipline, democratic process, greater credibility, and better popular perception of the movement and its goals. Under al-Bashir’s rule, women had been severely repressed in terms of dress codes, employment, and even the ability to leave home without the accompaniment of a close male relative. A frequent theme illustrated in murals, signs, and elsewhere during the revolution involved the Kandaka, a matrilineal dynasty of powerful queens from the first millennium BCE. It served as an inspiration for women and a reminder that the ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam, which severely circumscribed their rights was not inherent to Sudanese history or culture.
Perhaps the single most important factor was nonviolent discipline. Remaining nonviolent despite enormous provocation made it difficult for the regime to depict the movement in a negative light. Nonviolence gained the movement sympathy it would have otherwise lost through violent tactics and made it possible for people to feel more comfortable joining the protests, thereby increasing their numbers.
The opposition stressed the importance of maintaining nonviolent discipline not out of any moral commitment to nonviolence per se, but because of an understanding that tactically and strategically it was the best way they could win. If they had used violence, the regime would always have the advantage. By choosing what amounted to a different weapons system—peaceful protests, sit-tins, strikes, and more—they were unable to depict the protesters as terrorists who would bring violence and chaos.
The Sudanese opposition had engaged in violent struggle previously. Beginning in 1993, operating out of bases in Eritrea, an armed guerrilla movement was launched but it never got far, failing to provoke a more widespread popular uprising. The rebellion formally ended in 2005. Similarly, repression against the civil insurrection of 2013 resulted in many protesters fighting back and was crushed within days after scores of civilian deaths.
Recognizing that both armed struggle and rioting played into the regime’s hands, the opposition recognized that nonviolent discipline was critical.
Recognizing that both armed struggle and rioting played into the regime’s hands, the opposition recognized that nonviolent discipline was critical.
Importantly, the pro-democracy movement did not stop when al-Bashir was pushed aside by the military in April. Unlike in Egypt, where the opposition naively trusted the military, the Sudanese demanded they step down and allow for civilian leadership. A result was the June 3 massacre, causing well over 100 deaths. But this seemed to underscore to the military that they would have to engage in massive violence to suppress the rebellion which would discredit them further and put them in an even more untenable situation.
There is still much to do to consolidate democracy and civilian rule in Sudan. Though civilians dominate the transitional government, the military and other elements of the old guard are still part of the system.
The toppling of al-Bashir and his military backers is still an amazing accomplishment, however. It demonstrates that whatever the structural obstacles may be, good strategic thinking and tenacity by a popular opposition movement can ultimately win. This should be a lesson to those struggling for greater political freedom and social justice through the greater Middle East. Indeed, if an unarmed democratic civil insurrection can succeed in a country like Sudan, it can succeed almost anywhere.
Dr. Stephen Zunes is a Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, where he serves as coordinator of the program in Middle Eastern Studies. Recognized as one the country’s leading scholars of U.S. Middle East policy and of strategic nonviolent action, Professor Zunes serves as a senior policy analyst for Foreign Policy in Focus project of the Institute for Policy Studies, an associate editor of Peace Review, and a contributing editor of Tikkun.
For a quick post about a mural in Sudan thanking Stephen Zunes and NVI's longtime Executive Director Michael Beer, please see: https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/sudan_mural
Celebrating 30 Years of Nonviolence International
Daryn Cambridge
Check out this video produced by our friends at
Nonviolence International NY
https://daryncambridge.com/
This is part of a series celebrating our proud history and calling us to do even more in the years to come.
Here is the full interview with Daryn:
While you are on this page meeting Daryn, you might also enjoy this video on teaching and learning peace online.
Celebrating 30 Years of Nonviolence International
Shaazka Beyerle
Check out this video produced by our friends at
Nonviolence International NY.
Shaazka Beyerle is a senior research advisor for USIP's Program on Nonviolent Action.
This is part of a series celebrating our proud history and calling us to do even more in the years to come.
Please check back for more.
Celebrating 30 Years of Nonviolence International
Phil Bogdonoff
Check out this video produced by our friends at
Nonviolence International NY.
Phil Bogdonoff was the first director of Nonviolence International.
This is part of a series celebrating our proud history and calling us to do even more in the years to come.
Please check back for more.
Michael Beer, our longtime Executive Director, is off to Korea and Japan to promote peace. His first destination is PyeongChang for the Peace Forum that seeks to strengthen the unification initiatives from the 2018 Winter Olympics. The PyeongChang Peace Forum is an effort involving the Olympics and peace co-hosted by the President of the Korean Olympic Committee. Conference participants will also visit the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. The Peace Forum will also address issues of world-wide militarism and war. We hope to initiate some new campaigns against war and militarism so we hope everyone will read the closing resolutions and announcements expected on February 12.
Michael will join a delegation to Tokyo to meet with potential hosts and venues for a convocation of sports people and peace activists at the time of the Olympics and the 75th anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This would be the first of a series of such convocations to be held every two years in connection with the summer and winter Olympics. The current partners in the initiative include members of the International Olympic Committee, former Olympic and Paralympic athletes, representatives of sports and peace organisations and some leading peace and disarmament organisations including Basel Peace Office, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament and the World Future Council. We hope to strengthen the global peace movement and deepen connections between sport and peace and the spirit of Olympism.
Follow along with him on this trip by checking our website in the coming week.
To support this important work, please visit: https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/donate
This just in... Michael sent a group photo from the opening session. See more about this impressive event at: http://ppf.or.kr/en/
Recap: The PyeongChang Peace Forum in South Korea
Written by Micheal Beer, Director of Nonviolence International
I have just returned home from the PyeongChang Peace Forum in South Korea! The Peace Forum worked to help develop an action plan to end the Korean War, building on the rapprochement of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games between North and South Korea. We also discussed how best to link UN sustainable development goals with the pursuit of global peace. To accomplish these goals, the Peace Forum is developing an action plan with four tracks:
Sports and Peace
The Peace Forum addressed the role of sports in peace, including the role of the Olympic Truce Foundation and the International Olympic Truce Center. During this discussion, I asked the keynote speakers: “What more can the Olympics do to lessen a focus on nationalism and increase its role in promoting peace and international understanding?” (noted on the slide at 0:47 in the video) As an organization, we feel this is an important issue that represents a broader need to consider how all of the work we do is interconnected.
Nonviolence International seeks to invigorate the role of sports in promoting peace by organizing events this summer surrounding the Olympics. This summer marks the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the founding of the United Nations whose primary purpose was to stop the scourge of war. We hope to remember these monumental events during the Olympics this summer. Details should be forthcoming by the beginning of March.
Peace and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
SDGs are incredibly important to the well being of humanity and the planet. Peace is not just incorporated in Article 16 but cuts across many of the SDGs. Unfortunately, we had an early report from civil society leaders that countries are falling short of their pledges. At Nonviolence International, we simply take this as further motivation to pursue our work across the world and spread the mission of nonviolence.
Other initiatives are also responding to the increased need to push for action. Peace 2045 is a new campaign calling on all countries to pass laws and constitutional changes that will outlaw war in each country by the year 2045. Additional campaigns include Stand Together Now that is pushing for sustainable development, and UN2020 which is calls for strengthening the United Nations more broadly.
Peace and Economy
This track largely focuses on efforts to improve the economy of Korea through unification and cooperative efforts between North and South Korea with regards to railroads, roads, trade, and tourism.
Michael Beer and international attendees at the never used Railway station in the Demilitarized Zone of Korea.
Peace and Ecology
This track emphasizes the relationship between peace and the environment. At the Peace forum, we discussed turning the Demilitarized Zone into an eco-peace park and an international Peace Zone, upon the reunification of North and South Korea.
Many of us traveled to the DMZ to see the horrific scar of Korea. The barbed wire, the guns, and the checkpoints were a reminder of the mistrust, the misallocation of resources, and the existential dangers of modern war.
Nonviolence International supports the vital efforts to promote peace which were promoted at this conference. Nonviolent civil society movements, as well as nonviolent government policies, are urgently needed to end militarism, violent crime, and structural violence.
We’ll update you soon upon the publication of the Action Plan for peace and our efforts to promote nonviolence and peace at the Olympics in August in Japan.
Michael Beer has provided an update on the PyeongChang Peace Forum he attended in February. The committee recently released their message for peace which includes: peace between North and South Korea, transformation of the demilitarized zone (DMZ), and peace deliberations at the Tokyo Olympic games in Summer 2020. Click here to read the PyeongChang Peace Forum's Action Plan.
Celebrating 30 Years of Nonviolence International
Mubarak Awad
Check out this video produced by our friends at Nonviolence International NY.
Mubarak Awad co-founded Nonviolence International in 1989 and devoted his life to educating about the power of nonviolence.
Mubarak has been an adjunct professor at the American University in Washington, DC since 1989 at the School of International Studies. He focuses on promoting peace dialogue and transforming post-conflict societies, as well as teaching graduate courses on the methods and theory of nonviolence.
This video is part of a series celebrating our proud history and calling us to do even more in the years to come.
Please check back for more.
Celebrating 30 Years of Nonviolence International
Barbara Wien
Check out this video produced by our friends at
Nonviolence International NY.
Barbara Wien, professor at American University and peace educator of the year, discusses the effectiveness of nonviolent protest. Barbara tells us about the many nonviolent movements she has worked with, her students, and how protests can shift the conversation.
This is part of a series celebrating our proud history and calling us to do even more in the years to come.
Please check back for more.
Written by David Hart
Nonviolence International Welcomes The Isaiah Project
We are thrilled to welcome our latest fiscally sponsored partner - The Isaiah Project. Please be on the look out for much more about their important work in the months to come. 2020 is the 40th anniversary of the Plowshares Movement and there is some exciting news coming about how we can celebrate together.
Many months ago, I dreamed of a series of profiles on our website that could begin to tell the story of a powerful, diverse, creative nonviolent movement growing all over the world. A movement that inspires us to continue taking daily action to build Nonviolence International and thus strengthen our capacity to make a difference in this brutal world.
Tonight I’ve been reading about seven amazing nonviolent leaders and giving thanks that they are now, in a way, part of the Nonviolence International family. I hope you will join me in learning about these guiding lights at: https://kingsbayplowshares7.org/about/bios/
They inspired me to draft a piece about them and their witness against the most horrific weapons in the world. In his history of the Plowshares Movement, Art Laffin reminds us that we are, “trying to build a new world within the shell of the old.” This is a challenging and essential task. The old world is fading. If the new world is not born quickly, the decay of the old may crush all our hopes.
Today I had the opportunity to work with the amazing Interns at Nonviolence International and a new friend, former NVI staff, and Plowshares leader, Paul Magno, to create a donation page for The Isaiah Project.
I love the beautiful graphic Meagan Hanlon, NVI Intern, found on the Kings Bay Plowshares 7 website. Together we decided to use this image of painted rocks as the background photo for the new donation page. I don’t know who took this photo, but I can see that the collection of rocks is not just a colorful image to make a webpage pop; it is also the result of committed people coming together to create something unique and precious together. I imagine many hands painting their messages on these rocks.
Maybe someday I will learn the true story of this photo. Now as I ponder this image, I see it as a reflection of the inspirational Plowshares movements that have taken shape over the last 40 years. 40 years we’ve spent in the wilderness. It is time to come home to peace.
There is a rock painted with the words, “Blessed are the Peacemakers.” One that reads, “Friendship Not Warship.” Another says “Seek Peace.” And one made me laugh with the simple power of its truth, it reads, “It is not ok to kill people.”
When we realize that we are all part of one another killing people doesn't seem like a good idea. As a Jew, I remember hearing the question - what would we have done if a concentration camp was being built in our neighborhood. I celebrate these faith leaders who decided that they would take it upon themselves to notice the ultimate horror of nuclear weapons being built and deployed in our communities and do what they could to knock down these crematorium towers rising among us.
The Jewish prophet Isaiah said, “they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift the sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”
40 years ago dedicated peacemakers inspired by the disarmed Jesus took action against evil. They didn’t know what ripple effects would come of their bold, creative, nonviolent direct action, but they decided they would witness in a way in keeping with their heart’s calling for peace. So armed only with love, they beat the most destructive weapons in the world into plowshares.
Without any expectation of future actions they created an international movement that has challenged runaway militarism for decades. The movement has shifted and grown in a variety of ways including actions in the US, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Scotland, New Zealand and Australia. I predict more to come in additional regions of this beautiful and broken world.
Decades after that first action, Nonviolence International is proud to welcome the Isaiah Project as our latest fiscally sponsored partner. The Isaiah Project is actively supporting the Kings Bay Plowshares 7. You can learn more about their much needed work at: https://kingsbayplowshares7.org
And starting today, you can donate to support this work right here on our site. https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/donate_isaiah Check out the photo of the colorful rocks, be inspired by their actions, donate, and spread the word. And, ponder what you can to put your values into action. How can you live out the beliefs that are core to who you are?
I’m still asking myself these questions and while I find no perfect answers, I celebrate the inspiration in the light shining from those whose commitment to peace seems to know no bounds. Thank you to all the Plowshares activists who for decades have declared that the world can be better than it is today and who, by their actions, have shown us a path out of the darkness and into a future of peace, justice, and environmental sanity.
I am grateful for the Plowshares Movement and all those whose spirits move them to take bold creative nonviolent action.
We are proud to share this wonderful video featuring our partner
Rev. Amy Yoder McGloughlin.
The roots of Zionism run deep in Christianity and Judaism, and their impacts are felt in Palestine. In this webinar, Rabbi Linda Holtzman and Rev. Amy Yoder McGloughlin share stories about their recent trip to Palestine, and how they see Zionism impacting this occupied territory. More at: https://www.cpt.org