The Hindu Business Line : Gandhigiri in Palestine

Tibetan Buddhists demonstrated their displeasure against their Chinese masters by vandalising shops and indulging in arson. Some want independence, others at least autonomy in managing their affairs. We saw the Buddhist monks in Myanmar, not too long ago, protest against their military rulers, which also involved some violence. Both began peacefully enough but deteriorated into violence soon enough. When those who propagate peace and ahimsa against all sentient beings ar e seen throwing stones, then one must wonder whether their sense of oppression could have pushed them beyond a limit.

The reverse situation is when a community that has tried violent uprising might be encouraged to try a non-violent approach to reform. Is there a toggle switch between violence and non-violence? I visited the Ramallah (Palestine) office of Reform International, a California-based NGO that initiated the Gandhi Project in the West Bank and Gaza, to find out.

The Gandhi Project was funded by two California philanthropies, the Global Catalyst Foundation and Skoll Foundation and began in April 2005. The idea was simple. To use visual media to initiate a discussion on peace, non-violence, and community development. They took Richard Attenborough’s award winning film Gandhi and dubbed it in Arabic using about 130 Palestinian voice actors, with English sub-titles. This was then screened, with the help of local community organisations, in schools and community centres in various towns of the West Bank and Gaza several hundred times since then. After each screening, there would be a discussion/debriefing around topics that came up in the movie. These included the problem of poverty, non-violent resistance as a method, unity among diverse groups, solidarity, character of a leader, taking the initiative to help marginalised people, importance of group work and conflict resolution.

Showing a film about non-violence in an area steeped in violence was an experiment that at least needed an official nod lest it be seen as subversive. My host, Jawad Abu Own, the Coordinator for the West Bank Centres, said that they premiered the film in the Palestinian Ministry of Education building with several officials in attendance, along with about 90 school children. Even though the Minister was a conservative, he not only permitted but also appreciated the initiative. The effort also had the blessing of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) Chairman, Mahmoud Abbas.

After that launch, they spread out across the Palestinian Territories with several hundred screenings and estimate that about 60,000 people have attended them. For example, in one town, Jenin, they had 34 screenings with over 1,750 in attendance during 2006. In keeping with the social and religious sensitivities of the people, the audience was at various times only women, or only men, and sometimes mixed.

Sparking off a start

The film made an impact on its viewers. The debriefing that followed brought out several interesting issues that the audience vigorously discussed. One common response was that Gandhi’s non-violent philosophy was all right for India, but it will not work in the Palestinian Territories. This would lead to further discussion of what were the principles of the approach, their relevance and local applicability. Not all were convinced but a start had been made to think of alternative solutions.

Another topic for discussion was on quality and style of leadership. Some would comment that their leaders lived in a grand style and they were not likely to adopt Gandhi’s simple lifestyle. The facilitators would then try to engage the audience to think of how they can change themselves and emerge as leaders in what they try to do rather than try to find fault with the existing leadership. The focus was to try and see the underlying principles rather than the superficiality of the contexts. This was particularly sensitive since Relief International is an apolitical organisation and did not want to be seen as being subversive or critical of the existing leadership of the territories.

Abu Own’s example of how the issue of conflict resolution came up was particularly interesting. He said that sometimes followers of the two political factions (Al Fatah and Hamas) would start an acrimonious dialogue during the debriefing, triggered by some comment from one of them.

Then the facilitators would engage both groups to think of how Gandhi encouraged the warring Hindus and Muslims to think of the larger interests of India rather than their particular sectional interests. The Palestinians have a larger goal of being free of Israeli occupation and factional fighting was dissipating their energies. (The organisers have even repeated the screening for the same audience to review segments and ensure that they got the intended message from the film.) According to Abu Own, the emotional final segment of the film was particularly impactful to send the message of peaceful conflict resolution. This is where Gandhi asks a Hindu father who had lost his child in the partition violence to adopt a similarly orphaned Muslim boy and bring him up as a Muslim. Abu Own remarked that people would cry watching the film.

Spin-offs from screenings

There have been various spin-offs from the screenings. For example, in two towns, Salfeet and Qalqilah, students who saw the film went on to form groups to engage in social entrepreneurship. They have taken up projects on recycling, tree planting, adult education, candle making, and so on.

Though the initial phase of Gandhi Project of systematic screenings is over, Relief International now shows the film in its own centres, through its local partners, and as and when there is a request. Recently, the students of Al-Quds University asked for a screening and debriefing session.

The Palestinians have been kept under a microscope by the Israelis due to security considerations. I had to specially hire a taxi driven by a Palestinian living in Jerusalem and therefore had the permission, to be able to visit Ramallah, the headquarters of the PLO. The violence seems endless. One side fires rockets and sends out suicide bombers while the other side sends the army in regular incursions and builds controversial settlements within disputed areas. It is too complex to figure out who is retaliating against whom, and the cycle goes on. Many innocents die in the process. During times of public events and festivals in Israel, the West Bank is sealed, which means the Palestinians cannot come to Jerusalem to work or do business. An ugly tall concrete wall now separates Palestine physically from Israel. All the frequent flyer miles clocked by the diplomats from the US have not produced any perceivable difference in peace of mind and the lives of the people on both sides.

Gandhigiri, (the new term to represent Gandhian philosophy popularised by the film Lage raho munnabhai), may well seem old-fashioned in our seductive era of greed, consumerism and aggressive individualism. However, it may well find a new lease of life in West Asia where the Palestinians, who have been hurting for so long, need to try something different. I left Abu Own’s office with hope and the old song, ‘Give peace a chance’ playing in my head.

(The author is professor of international business and strategic management at Suffolk University, Boston, US. He can be reached at cgopinat@suffolk.edu)

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