Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosophy of abstention from violence. It may be based on moral, religious or spiritual principles, or the reasons for it may be strategic or pragmatic . Failure to distinguish between the two types of nonviolent approaches can lead to distortion in the concept's meaning and effectiveness, which can subsequently result in confusion among the audience. Although both principled and pragmatic nonviolent approaches preach for nonviolence, they may have distinct motives, goals, philosophies, and techniques. However, rather than debating the best practice between the two approaches, both can indicate alternative paths for those who do not want to use violence.
174-618: Rachel Aliene Corrie (April 10, 1979 – March 16, 2003) was an American nonviolence activist and diarist . She was a member of the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and was active throughout the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories . In 2003, Corrie was in Rafah , a city in the Gaza Strip , where the Israeli military was demolishing Palestinian houses at
348-500: A fruitarian diet so as to avoid the destruction of plants. Scholars claim the principles of ecological non-violence is innate in the Hindu tradition, and its conceptual fountain has been Ahimsa as their cardinal virtue. The dharmic philosophy of ancient India exists in all Indian languages and culture. For example, the Tirukkuṛaḷ , written between 200 BCE and 500 CE, and sometimes called
522-715: A "committed peace activist" arranging peace events through a local group called "Olympians for Peace and Solidarity". She later joined the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) organization in order to protest the policies of the Israeli army in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. She had gone to Gaza as part of her college's senior-year independent-study proposal to connect Olympia and Rafah with each other as sister cities . While in Rafah on March 16, 2003, she joined other ISM activists in efforts to nonviolently prevent Israel's demolition of Palestinian property, where she
696-466: A "thorough, credible, and transparent investigation". Later, Capt. Jacob Dallal, a spokesman for the Israeli army, called Corrie's death a "regrettable accident" and said that she and the other ISM activists were "a group of protesters who were acting very irresponsibly, putting everyone in danger—the Palestinians, themselves and our forces—by intentionally placing themselves in a combat zone". An autopsy
870-419: A British participant was wounded by shrapnel while retrieving the body of a Palestinian man killed by a sniper, and an Irish ISM activist had a close encounter with an armored bulldozer. Palestinian militants expressed concern that the "internationals" staying in tents between the Israeli watchtowers and the residential neighborhoods would get caught in crossfire , while other residents were concerned that
1044-496: A demonstration as part of the February 15, 2003 anti-war protest against the invasion of Iraq . She was photographed burning a makeshift U.S. flag. After her death the ISM released a statement quoting Corrie's parents on the widely circulated picture of the incident: In the words of Rachel's parents: "The act, while we may disagree with it, must be put into context. Rachel was partaking in
1218-611: A demonstration in Gaza opposing the War on Iraq. She was working with children who drew two pictures, one of the American flag, and one of the Israeli flag, for burning. Rachel said that she could not bring herself to burn the picture of the Israeli flag with the Star of David on it, but under such circumstances, in protest over a drive towards war and her government's foreign policy that was responsible for much of
1392-515: A different face of the United States to the Palestinian people, a face of compassion. It is this image of Rachel with the American flag that we hope will be remembered most. Rachel Corrie sent a series of emails to her mother while she was in Gaza, four of which were later published by The Guardian . In January 2008, Norton published a book titled Let Me Stand Alone by Corrie, which included
1566-522: A few days, new fighting broke out. On 1 February, Hamas killed 6 people in an ambush on a Gaza convoy which delivered equipment for Abbas' Palestinian Presidential Guard . Fatah fighters stormed a Hamas-affiliated university in the Gaza Strip. Officers from Abbas' presidential guard battled Hamas gunmen guarding the Hamas-led Interior Ministry. In May 2007, new fighting broke out between
1740-409: A hierarchy of life. Mobile beings are given higher protection than immobile ones. For the mobile beings, they distinguish between one-sensed, two-sensed, three-sensed, four-sensed and five-sensed ones; a one-sensed animal has touch as its only sensory modality. The more senses a being has, the more they care about non-injuring it. Among the five-sensed beings, the precept of non-injury and non-violence to
1914-413: A historical figure, followed by Parshvanatha (Pārśvanātha) the twenty-third Tirthankara lived in about the 8th century BCE. He founded the community to which Mahavira's parents belonged. Ahimsa was already part of the "Fourfold Restraint" ( Caujjama ), the vows taken by Parshva's followers. In the times of Mahavira and in the following centuries, Jains were at odds with both Buddhists and followers of
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#17328558722432088-430: A human being can ever live his or her life without harming animal and plant life in some way; which and when plants or animal meat may be eaten, whether violence against animals causes human beings to become less compassionate, and if and how one may exert least harm to non-human life consistent with ahimsa precept, given the constraints of life and human needs. The Mahabharata permits hunting by warriors, but opposes it in
2262-477: A hunter defends his profession in a long discourse. Many of the arguments proposed in favor of non-violence to animals refer to the bliss one feels, the rewards it entails before or after death, the danger and harm it prevents, as well as to the karmic consequences of violence. The ancient Hindu texts discuss Ahimsa and non-animal life. They discourage wanton destruction of nature including of wild and cultivated plants. Hermits ( sannyasins ) were urged to live on
2436-696: A level of institutional recognition and endorsement at the global level. On November 10, 1998, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the first decade of the 21st century and the third millennium, the years 2001 to 2010, as the International Decade for the Promotion of a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World . The nonviolence approach involves accepting that violence
2610-617: A major utility for the latter by supplying the country with a large unskilled and semi-skilled workforce. Gaza's agricultural sector was adversely affected as one-third of the Strip was appropriated by Israel, competition for scarce water resources stiffened, and the lucrative cultivation of citrus declined with the advent of Israeli policies, such as prohibitions on planting new trees and taxation that gave breaks to Israeli producers, factors which militated against growth. Gaza's direct exports of these products to Western markets, as opposed to Arab markets,
2784-523: A massacre were reported to the United Nations General Assembly on 15 December 1956 by UNRWA director Henry Labouisse , who reported from "trustworthy sources" that 275 people were killed in the massacre, of which 140 were refugees and 135 local residents. On 12 November, days after the hostilities had ended, Israel killed 111 people in the Rafah refugee camp during Israeli operations, provoking international criticism. Israel ended
2958-688: A moral sense, is in the Kapisthala Katha Samhita of the Yajurveda (KapS 31.11), which may have been written in about the 8th century BCE. Bowker states the word appears but is uncommon in the principal Upanishads. Kaneda gives examples of the word Ahimsa in these Upanishads. Other scholars suggest Ahimsa as an ethical concept that started evolving in the Vedas, becoming an increasingly central concept in Upanishads. The Chāndogya Upaniṣad , dated to
3132-483: A number of arts courses. She took a year off from her studies to work as a volunteer in the Washington State Conservation Corps . According to the ISM, she spent three years making weekly visits to mental patients. While at Evergreen State College she became a "committed peace activist" arranging peace events through a local pro-ISM group called "Olympians for Peace and Solidarity". She later joined
3306-462: A pile of earth, dumped her on the ground and ran over her twice." However, "Smith" later acknowledged that after Corrie fell down the dirt pile, the bulldozer operator could well have lost sight of Corrie. The bulldozer operator was interviewed on Israeli TV and insisted he had no idea she was in front of him: You can't hear, you can't see well. You can go over something and you'll never know. I scooped up some earth, I couldn't see anything. I pushed
3480-778: A powerful tool for social protest and revolutionary social and political change. There are many examples of their use. Fuller surveys may be found in the entries on civil resistance , nonviolent resistance and nonviolent revolution . Certain movements which were particularly influenced by a philosophy of nonviolence have included Mahatma Gandhi 's leadership of a successful decades-long nonviolent struggle for Indian independence , Martin Luther King Jr. 's and James Bevel 's adoption of Gandhi's nonviolent methods in their Civil rights movement campaigns to remove legalized segregation in America, and César Chávez 's campaigns of nonviolence in
3654-443: A pragmatic justification, in that the technique of separating the deeds from the doers allows for the possibility of the doers changing their behaviour, and perhaps their beliefs. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, "Nonviolent resistance... avoids not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. The nonviolent resister not only refuses to shoot his opponent, but he also refuses to hate him." Nonviolence has obtained
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#17328558722433828-486: A prominent feature of the fighting and mainly targeted Israeli civilians, contrasting with the relatively less violent nature of the First Intifada . With a combined casualty figure for combatants and civilians, the violence is estimated to have resulted in the deaths of approximately 3,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis, as well as 64 foreigners. Between December 2000 and June 2001, the barrier between Gaza and Israel
4002-648: A result of violence: Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip ( / ˈ ɡ ɑː z ə / ; Arabic : قِطَاعُ غَزَّةَ Qiṭāʿ Ġazzah [qɪˈtˤɑːʕ ˈɣaz.za] ), also known simply as Gaza , is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories , the other being the West Bank , that make up the State of Palestine . Inhabited by mostly Palestinian refugees and their descendants , Gaza
4176-425: A series of air strikes against targets in Gaza following the breakdown of a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas. Israel began a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip on 3 January 2009. Various sites that Israel claimed were being used as weapons depots were struck from the air : police stations, schools, hospitals, UN warehouses, mosques, various Hamas government buildings and other buildings. Israel said that
4350-426: A shift away from violence towards non-violent forms of protest. Some demonstrators were setting tires on fire and launching Molotov cocktails and rocks toward the troops on the opposite side of the border. Israeli officials said the demonstrations were used by Hamas as cover for launching attacks against Israel. In late February 2019, a United Nations Human Rights Council 's independent commission found that of
4524-510: A specific context while advocating violence in other contexts. For example, someone who passionately opposes abortion or meat eating may concurrently advocate violence to kill an abortion care provider or attack a slaughterhouse, which makes that person a violent person. Nonviolence or ahimsa is one of the cardinal virtues and an important tenet of Jainism , Buddhism , and Hinduism . Jain and Buddhist thoughts have explored nonviolence very deeply, not limiting it to humans but extending it to
4698-642: A strict blockade on Gaza in order to isolate Hamas from Islamist insurgents in the Sinai." In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip and dismantled its settlements. Israel also withdrew from the Philadelphi Route , a narrow strip of land adjacent to the border with Egypt, after Egypt agreed to secure its side of the border after the Agreement on Movement and Access , known as the Rafah Agreement . The Gaza Strip
4872-446: A student of Gandhian nonviolent resistance, concurred with this tenet, concluding that "nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek." Proponents of nonviolence reason that the actions taken in the present inevitably re-shape the social order in like form. They would argue, for instance, that it is fundamentally irrational to use violence to achieve a peaceful society. Respect or love for opponents also has
5046-496: A valid excuse, saying "you're responsible for knowing what's in front of your blade... It's a no brainer that this was gross negligence". He added that "they had three months to figure out how to deal with the activists that were there." In March 2003, U.S. Representative Brian Baird introduced a resolution in the U.S. Congress calling on the U.S. government to "undertake a full, fair, and expeditious investigation" into Corrie's death. The House of Representatives took no action on
5220-633: A youth unemployment rate of 70%. Despite this, the area's 97% literacy rate is higher than that of nearby Egypt , while youth literacy is 88%. Gaza has throughout the years been seen as a source of Palestinian nationalism and resistance. Historically part of the Palestine region , the area was controlled since the 16th century by the Ottoman Empire ; in 1906, the Ottomans and the British Empire set
5394-405: Is 11 kilometres (7 miles) long. The First Intifada was a sustained series of protests and violent riots carried out by Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories and Israel. It was motivated by collective Palestinian frustration over Israel's military occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, as it approached a twenty-year mark, having begun after Israel's victory in
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5568-494: Is a profusion of ideas about the virtue of Ahimsa when applied to non-human life, but without a universal consensus. Alsdorf claims the debate and disagreements between supporters of vegetarian lifestyle and meat eaters was significant. Even suggested exceptions – ritual slaughter and hunting – were challenged by advocates of Ahimsa. In the Mahabharata both sides present various arguments to substantiate their viewpoints. Moreover,
5742-456: Is also the daughter of all Palestinians. She is ours too now." On March 21, 2003, the U.S. Green Party called for an investigation of the "murder of American Peace Activist Rachel Corrie by Israeli Forces". Nonviolence Nonviolence has "active" or "activist" elements, in that believers generally accept the need for nonviolence as a means to achieve political and social change . Thus, for example, Tolstoyan and Gandhism nonviolence
5916-642: Is both a philosophy and strategy for social change that rejects the use of violence , but at the same time it sees nonviolent action (also called civil resistance ) as an alternative to passive acceptance of oppression or armed struggle against it. In general, advocates of an activist philosophy of nonviolence use diverse methods in their campaigns for social change, including critical forms of education and persuasion, mass noncooperation, civil disobedience , nonviolent direct action , constructive program , and social, political, cultural and economic forms of intervention. In modern times, nonviolent methods have been
6090-467: Is captured in a 2008 documentary film Pray the Devil Back to Hell . The term "nonviolence" is often linked with peace or it is used as a synonym for it, and despite the fact that it is frequently equated with pacifism , this equation is rejected by nonviolent advocates and activists. Nonviolence specifically refers to the absence of violence and it is always the choice to do no harm or the choice to do
6264-479: Is considered hiṃsā (to injure) and abstaining from such an act is ahimsā (noninjury). The vow of ahimsā is considered the foremost among the 'five vows of Jainism'. Other vows like truth (Satya) are meant for safeguarding the vow of ahimsā. In the practice of Ahimsa, the requirements are less strict for the lay persons ( sravakas ) who have undertaken anuvrata (Smaller Vows) than for the Jain monastics who are bound by
6438-523: Is increasingly refined and emphasised, ultimately Ahimsa becomes the highest virtue by the late Vedic era (about 500 BCE). For example, hymn 10.22.25 in the Rig Veda uses the words Satya (truthfulness) and Ahimsa in a prayer to deity Indra; later, the Yajur Veda dated to be between 1000 BCE and 600 BCE, states, "may all beings look at me with a friendly eye, may I do likewise, and may we look at each other with
6612-463: Is like injury caused by deliberate action. Eating honey is strictly outlawed, as it would amount to violence against the bees. Some Jains abstain from farming because it inevitably entails unintentional killing or injuring of many small animals, such as worms and insects, but agriculture is not forbidden in general and there are Jain farmers. Theoretically, all life forms are said to deserve full protection from all kinds of injury, but Jains recognise
6786-614: Is now Israel. They protested against Israel's land, air and sea blockade of the Gaza Strip and the United States recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel . Most of the demonstrators demonstrated peacefully far from the border fence. Peter Cammack, a fellow with the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace , argued that the march indicated a new trend in Palestinian society and Hamas, with
6960-420: Is one of the most densely populated territories in the world . Gaza is bordered by Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the east and north. The territory has been under Israeli occupation since 1967 . The territorial boundaries were established while Gaza was controlled by Egypt at the conclusion of the 1948 Arab–Israeli war , and it became a refuge for Palestinians who fled or were expelled during
7134-585: Is part of the Five Precepts ( Pañcasīla ), the first of which has been to abstain from killing. This precept of Ahimsa is applicable to both the Buddhist layperson and the monk community. The Ahimsa precept is not a commandment and transgressions did not invite religious sanctions for layperson, but their power has been in the Buddhist belief in karmic consequences and their impact in afterlife during rebirth. Killing, in Buddhist belief, could lead to rebirth in
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7308-627: Is seen as inevitable, and the rejection of violence is an effective way to challenge power. Those who follow pragmatic nonviolence ideology are willing to engage in nonviolent coercion, and try to avoid suffering. Nicolas Walter noted the idea that nonviolence might work "runs under the surface of Western political thought without ever quite disappearing". Walter noted Étienne de La Boétie 's Discourse on Voluntary Servitude (sixteenth century) and P.B. Shelley's The Masque of Anarchy (1819) contain arguments for resisting tyranny without using violence. In 1838, William Lloyd Garrison helped found
7482-568: Is speculative, and though Jainism is an ancient tradition the oldest traceable texts of Jainism tradition are from many centuries after the Vedic era ended. Chāndogya Upaniṣad also names Ahimsa, along with Satyavacanam (truthfulness), Arjavam (sincerity), Danam (charity), Tapo (penance/meditation), as one of five essential virtues (CU 3.17.4). The Sandilya Upanishad lists ten forbearances: Ahimsa , Satya, Asteya, Brahmacharya, Daya, Arjava, Kshama, Dhriti, Mitahara and Saucha. According to Kaneda,
7656-449: Is that evil-doers who deserve death should be killed, and that a king in particular is obliged to punish criminals and should not hesitate to kill them, even if they happen to be his own brothers and sons. Other scholars conclude that the scriptures of Hinduism suggest sentences for any crime must be fair, proportional and not cruel. The Hindu precept of 'cause no injury' applies to animals and all life forms. This precept isn't found in
7830-499: Is the highest virtue , Ahimsa is the highest self-control, Ahimsa is the greatest gift, Ahimsa is the best suffering, Ahimsa is the highest sacrifice, Ahimsa is the finest strength, Ahimsa is the greatest friend, Ahimsa is the greatest happiness, Ahimsa is the highest truth, and Ahimsa is the greatest teaching. Some other examples where the phrase Ahimsa Paramo Dharma are discussed include Adi Parva , Vana Parva and Anushasana Parva . The Bhagavad Gita , among other things, discusses
8004-457: Is the highest moral virtue. For example, Mahaprasthanika Parva has the verse: अहिंसा परमो धर्मस् तथाहिंसा परो दमः। अहिंसा परमं दानम् अहिंसा परमस् तपः। अहिंसा परमो यज्ञस् तथाहिंसा परं बलम्। अहिंसा परमं मित्रम् अहिंसा परमं सुखम्। अहिंसा परमं सत्यम् अहिंसा परमं श्रुतम्॥ The above passage from Mahabharata emphasises the cardinal importance of Ahimsa in Hinduism, and literally means: Ahimsa
8178-426: Is wrong and nonviolence is the best ethical response to any conflict. The followers of this approach believe in human harmony and a moral rejection of violence and coercion. They accept the total commitment to nonviolence and encourage those who want to use nonviolent actions to reject all forms of violence and coercion. Principled nonviolence has a religious or ideological basis. This type of nonviolence aims to change
8352-522: The 1948 Palestine war and more specifically the 1948 Arab–Israeli War , tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees fled or were expelled to the Gaza Strip. By the end of the war, 25% of Mandatory Palestine's Arab population was in Gaza, though the Strip constituted only 1% of the land. The same year, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East ( UNRWA )
8526-631: The 1948 Palestine war . Later, during the 1967 Six-Day War , Israel captured and occupied the Gaza Strip, initiating its decades-long military occupation of the Palestinian territories . The mid-1990s Oslo Accords established the Palestinian Authority (PA) as a limited governing authority, initially led by the secular party Fatah until that party's electoral defeat in 2006 to the Sunni Islamic Hamas . Hamas would then take over
8700-561: The 1967 Arab–Israeli War . The uprising lasted from December 1987 until the Madrid Conference of 1991 , though some date its conclusion to 1993, with the signing of the Oslo Accords . The intifada began on 9 December 1987, in the Jabalia refugee camp of the Gaza Strip after an Israeli army truck collided with a civilian car, killing four Palestinian workers. Palestinians charged that
8874-927: The Al-Aqsa compound on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem ; the visit itself was peaceful, but, as anticipated, sparked protests and riots that Israeli police put down with rubber bullets and tear gas. The Second Intifada also marked the beginning of rocket attacks and bombings of Israeli border localities by Palestinian guerrillas from the Gaza Strip, especially by the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad movements. High numbers of casualties were caused among civilians as well as combatants. Israeli forces engaged in gunfire, targeted killings , and tank and aerial attacks, while Palestinians engaged in suicide bombings , gunfire, stone-throwing , and rocket attacks . Palestinian suicide bombings were
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#17328558722439048-626: The Egypt–Israel peace treaty . Among other things, the treaty provided for the withdrawal by Israel of its armed forces and civilians from the Sinai Peninsula, which Israel had captured during the Six-Day War. The Egyptians agreed to keep the Sinai Peninsula demilitarized. The final status of the Gaza Strip, and other relations between Israel and Palestinians, was not dealt with in the treaty. Egypt renounced all territorial claims to territory north of
9222-933: The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) organisation in order to protest the policies of the Israeli army in the West Bank and Gaza Strip . In her senior year, she "proposed an independent-study program in which she would travel to Gaza, join the ISM team, and initiate a 'sister city' project between Olympia and Rafah ". Before leaving, she also organized a pen-pal program between children in Olympia and Rafah. While in Rafah, Corrie stood in front of armored bulldozers, in an alleged attempt to impede house demolitions which were being carried out. These military operations were criticized as " collective punishment " by some human rights groups. Israel authorities said that demolitions were necessary because "Palestinian gunmen used
9396-628: The Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories and Israel. The general triggers for the unrest are speculated to have been centred on the failure of the 2000 Camp David Summit , which was expected to reach a final agreement on the Israeli–Palestinian peace process in July 2000. Outbreaks of violence began in September 2000, after Ariel Sharon , then the Israeli opposition leader , made a provocative visit to
9570-612: The Israel–Hamas war , Hamas had said that it did not want a military escalation in Gaza partially to prevent exacerbating the humanitarian crisis after the 2021 conflict. A tightened blockade since the start of the Israel–Hamas war has contributed to an ongoing famine . The Gaza Strip is 41 kilometres (25 miles) long, from 6 to 12 km (3.7 to 7.5 mi) wide, and has a total area of 365 km (141 sq mi). With around 2 million Palestinians on approximately 365 km (141 sq mi) of land, Gaza has one of
9744-687: The Jewish Agency's " 11 points in the Negev " plan, in which 11 Jewish villages were built across the Negev in a single night as a response to the Morrison-Grady Plan , which threatened to exclude the Negev from a future Jewish State. In total, between 1967 and 2005, Israel established 21 settlements in Gaza, comprising 20% of the total territory. The economic growth rate from 1967 to 1982 averaged roughly 9.7 percent per annum, due in good part to expanded income from work opportunities inside Israel, which had
9918-563: The Mahavrata "Great Vows". The statement ahimsā paramo dharmaḥ is often found inscribed on the walls of the Jain temples . Like in Hinduism, the aim is to prevent the accumulation of harmful karma. When lord Mahaviraswami revived and reorganized the Jain faith in the 6th or 5th century BCE, Rishabhanatha (Ādinātha), the first Jain Tirthankara , whom modern Western historians consider to be
10092-512: The New England Non-Resistance Society , a society devoted to achieving racial and gender equality through the rejection of all violent actions. In modern industrial democracies, nonviolent action has been used extensively by political sectors without mainstream political power such as labor, peace, environment and women's movements. Lesser known is the role that nonviolent action has played and continues to play in undermining
10266-700: The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) signed a second agreement , extending the Palestinian Authority to most West Bank towns. Between 1994 and 1996, Israel built the Gaza–Israel barrier to improve security in Israel. The barrier was largely torn down by Palestinians at the beginning of the Second Intifada in September 2000. The Second Intifada was a major Palestinian uprising in
10440-691: The Satyagraha movement with the Gujarati/Hindi term ahimsa (અહિંસા/अहिंसा) only after 1915. Furthermore, Gandhi started adopting the English term "nonviolence" only after the Rowlatt Satyagraha in 1919. Before Gandhi, scholars of Oriental studies translated the Sanskrit term ahimsa as "non-killing" or "non-injury," but never as "non-violence." Thus, "nonviolence" represents a modern concept that emerged in
10614-555: The Tamil Veda , is one of the most cherished classics written in a South Indian language. The Tirukkuṛaḷ dedicates Chapters 26, 32 and 33 of Book 1 to the virtue of ahimsa, namely, moral vegetarianism , non-harming , and non-killing , respectively. The Tirukkuṛaḷ says that ahimsa applies to all life forms. In Jainism, the understanding and implementation of Ahimsā is more radical, scrupulous, and comprehensive than in any other religion. Killing any living being out of passions
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#173285587224310788-644: The Tirukkuṛaḷ , which is believed to be of Hindu or Jain origin, decrees ahimsa and moral vegetarianism as the most fundamental of all personal virtues. These ideas can also be found in Western mystical and Neoplatonic traditions. In modern times, several scholars have endeavored to clarify the theoretical intellectual foundations for principled nonviolence and the manner in which such principles might be implemented in practical terms. Included among them are Kevin P. Clements and Robert L. Holmes . Mahatma Gandhi
10962-461: The governance of Gaza in a battle the next year, subsequently warring with Israel. The restrictions on movement and goods in Gaza imposed by Israel date back to the early 1990s. In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew its military forces from Gaza, dismantled its settlements , and implemented a temporary blockade of Gaza . The blockade became indefinite after the 2007 Hamas takeover. Egypt also began its blockade of Gaza in 2007. Despite
11136-488: The non-cooperation campaign for Indian independence led by Mahatma Gandhi , the Civil Rights Movement in the United States , and the People Power Revolution in the Philippines . Also of primary significance is the notion that just means are the most likely to lead to just ends. When Gandhi said that "the means may be likened to the seed, the end to a tree," he expressed the philosophical kernel of what some refer to as prefigurative politics . Martin Luther King Jr.,
11310-439: The 1956 Suez Crisis (the Second Arab–Israeli war), Israel invaded Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula. On 3 November, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) attacked Egyptian and Palestinian forces at Khan Yunis . The city of Khan Yunis resisted being captured, and Israel responded with a heavy bombing campaign that inflicted heavy civilian casualties. After a fierce battle, the Israeli 37th Armored Brigade's Sherman tanks broke through
11484-424: The 1960s to protest the treatment of Mexican farm workers in California . The 1989 " Velvet Revolution " in Czechoslovakia that saw the overthrow of the Communist government is considered one of the most important of the largely nonviolent Revolutions of 1989 . Most recently the nonviolent campaigns of Leymah Gbowee and the women of Liberia were able to achieve peace after a 14-year civil war. This story
11658-530: The 1967 Arab-Israeli War, "various international agencies struggled to respond" and American Near East Refugee Aid was founded to help victims of the conflict by providing immediate emergency relief. Subsequent to this military victory, Israel created the first Israeli settlement bloc in the Strip, Gush Katif , in the southwest corner near Rafah and the Egyptian border on a spot where a small kibbutz had previously existed for 18 months between 1946 and 1948. The kibbutz community had been established as part of
11832-454: The 1967 war. Ultimately, the Strip lost 25% (a conservative estimate) of its prewar population between 1967 and 1968. In 1970-1971 Ariel Sharon implemented what became known as a 'five finger' strategy, which consisted in creating military areas and settlements by breaking the Strip into five zones to better enable Israeli occupation, settlement and, by discontinuous fragmentation of the Palestinian zones created, allow an efficient management of
12006-415: The 22-day war. The conflict damaged or destroyed tens of thousands of homes, 15 of Gaza's 27 hospitals and 43 of its 110 primary health care facilities, 800 water wells, 186 greenhouses, and nearly all of its 10,000 family farms; leaving 50,000 homeless, 400,000–500,000 without running water, one million without electricity, and resulting in acute food shortages. The people of Gaza still suffer from
12180-402: The 489 cases of Palestinian deaths or injuries analyzed, only two were possibly justified as responses to danger by Israeli security forces. The commission deemed the rest of the cases illegal, and concluded with a recommendation calling on Israel to examine whether war crimes or crimes against humanity had been committed, and if so, to bring those responsible to trial. On 28 February 2019,
12354-496: The 8th or 7th century BCE, one of the oldest Upanishads , has the earliest evidence for the Vedic era use of the word Ahimsa in the sense familiar in Hinduism (a code of conduct). It bars violence against "all creatures" ( sarvabhuta ) and the practitioner of Ahimsa is said to escape from the cycle of rebirths (CU 8.15.1). Some scholars state that this 8th or 7th-century BCE mention may have been an influence of Jainism on Vedic Hinduism. Others scholar state that this relationship
12528-486: The Commission said it had " 'reasonable grounds' to believe Israeli soldiers may have committed war crimes and shot at journalists, health workers and children during protests in Gaza in 2018." Israel refused to take part in the inquiry and rejected the report. Before the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis , Gaza had 48% unemployment and half of the population lived in poverty. During the crisis, 66 children died (551 children in
12702-741: The Gandhian era, there was only one recorded instance, almost coincidental, of the term "nonviolence" being used as a political concept, which appeared in a Wisconsin newspaper published in 1914. The term spread globally during India's first Non-cooperation movement (1919–1922) , gaining recognition as a distinct concept. E. Hazama conducted the first comprehensive analysis of Gandhi's writings in three languages (Gujarati, Hindi, and English) from three versions of Gandhi's Collected Works: Gāndhījīnō Aksharadēha (ગાંધીજીનો અક્ષરદેહ), Sampūrn Gāndhī Vāngmay (सम्पूर्ण गाँधी वांग्मय), and Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi . This analysis revealed that Gandhi began linking
12876-519: The Gaza Strip. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas responded by declaring a state of emergency , dissolving the unity government and forming a new government without Hamas participation. PNA security forces in the West Bank arrested a number of Hamas members. In late June 2008, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan declared the West Bank-based cabinet formed by Abbas as "the sole legitimate Palestinian government". Egypt moved its embassy from Gaza to
13050-504: The Gaza–Egypt border for fear of being kidnapped or harmed. Arab foreign ministers and Palestinian officials presented a united front against control of the border by Hamas. Meanwhile, Israeli and Egyptian security reports said that Hamas continued smuggling in large quantities of explosives and arms from Egypt through tunnels. Egyptian security forces uncovered 60 tunnels in 2007. On 23 January 2008, after months of preparation during which
13224-560: The IDF initiated Operation Brother's Keeper , in which some 350 Palestinians, including nearly all of the active Hamas militants in the West Bank, were arrested. Hamas subsequently fired a greater number of rockets into Israel from Gaza, triggering a seven-week-long conflict between the two sides. It was one of the deadliest outbreaks of open conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in decades. The combination of Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli airstrikes resulted in thousands of deaths,
13398-524: The IDF operation. Corrie placed herself in the path of a Caterpillar D9R armored bulldozer in the area and was run over by the bulldozer and fatally injured. After she was injured she was taken by a Red Crescent ambulance to the Palestinian Najar hospital, arriving at the emergency room at 5:05 pm, still alive but in critical condition. At 5:20 pm she was declared dead. The events surrounding Corrie's death are disputed. Fellow ISM activists said that
13572-490: The ISM described as "a densely populated neighborhood along the Pink Line and frequent target of gunfire from an Israeli watchtower". By situating themselves visibly between the Palestinians and the Israeli snipers manning the watchtowers they hoped to discourage shooting by displaying banners stating that they were "internationals". When Israeli soldiers fired warning shots, Corrie and her colleagues dismantled their tent and left
13746-474: The Israeli District Command Office and the fact that they were carrying "banners and megaphones the activists and workers were fired upon several times over a period of about one hour. One of the bullets came within two metres of three internationals and a municipal water worker close enough to spray bits of debris in their faces as it landed at their feet." While in Gaza, Corrie took part in
13920-562: The Israeli disengagement, Gaza is still considered occupied by Israel under international law . The current blockade prevents people and goods from freely entering or leaving the territory, leading to Gaza often being called an "open-air prison". The UN, as well as at least 19 human-rights organizations, have urged Israel to lift the blockade. Israel has justified its blockade on the strip with wanting to stop flow of arms, but Palestinians and rights groups say it amounts to collective punishment and exacerbates dire living conditions. Prior to
14094-473: The Israeli soldiers on scene had acted with reckless neglect. They sued for a symbolic US$ 1 in damages. However, an Israeli court rejected their suit in August 2012 and upheld the results of the military's investigation, ruling that the Israeli government was not responsible for Corrie's death, again attracting criticism from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and various activists. An appeal against this ruling
14268-518: The Oslo Accords, a phased transfer of governmental authority to the Palestinians took place. Much of the Strip came under Palestinian control, except for the settlement blocs and military areas. The Israeli forces left Gaza City and other urban areas, leaving the new Palestinian Authority to administer and police those areas. The Palestinian Authority, led by Yasser Arafat , chose Gaza City as its first provincial headquarters. In September 1995, Israel and
14442-543: The Pacific Northwest in San Francisco . The ISM rejected the Israeli report, stating that it contradicted their members' eyewitness reports and that the investigation had not been credible and transparent. Corrie's death sparked controversy and led to international media coverage. In 2012, Corrie's father, Craig Corrie said "I know there's stuff you can't see out of the double glass windows." But he has denied that as
14616-445: The Palestinian Authority , although some aid money was redirected to humanitarian organizations not affiliated with the government. The resulting political disorder and economic stagnation led to many Palestinians emigrating from the Gaza Strip. In January 2007, fighting erupted between Hamas and Fatah . The deadliest clashes occurred in the northern Gaza Strip. On 30 January 2007, a truce was negotiated between Fatah and Hamas. After
14790-507: The Semai believe that as Malaysia industrialises, it will be harder for the Semai to use their strategy of fleeing and they will have to fight instead. Ahimsa as an ethical concept evolved in Vedic texts . The oldest scripts, along with discussing ritual animal sacrifices, indirectly mention Ahimsa, but do not emphasise it. Over time, the Hindu scripts revise ritual practices and the concept of Ahimsa
14964-556: The Semai's non-violence is a response to historic threats from slaving states; as the Semai were constantly defeated by slavers and Malaysian immigrants, they preferred to flee rather than fight and thus evolved into a general norm of non-violence. This does not mean the Semai are incapable of violence however; during the Malayan Emergency , the British enlisted some Semai to fight against MNLA insurgents and according to Robert Knox Dentan
15138-416: The Six-Day War, IDF captured Gaza. Under the then head of Israel's Southern Command Ariel Sharon , dozens of Palestinians, suspected of being members of the resistance, were executed without trial. Between 1967 and 1968, Israel evicted approximately 75,000 residents of the Gaza Strip who Golda Meir described as a "fifth column". In addition, at least 25,000 Gazan residents were prevented from returning after
15312-589: The Strip, but instead treated it as a controlled territory and administered it through a military governor. The influx of over 200,000 refugees from former Mandatory Palestine, roughly a quarter of those who fled or were expelled from their homes during, and in the aftermath of, the 1948 Arab–Israeli War into Gaza resulted in a dramatic decrease in the standard of living. Because the Egyptian government restricted movement to and from Gaza, its inhabitants could not look elsewhere for gainful employment. In June 1967, during
15486-688: The U.S. Congress in April 2003, and Corrie's family released the document to the media in June 2003, according to the Gannett News Service. In March 2004, the family said that the entire report had not been released, and that only they and two American staffers at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv had been allowed to view it. The family said they were allowed to look at the report in the Consulate General of Israel to
15660-558: The Vedic religion or Hindus, whom they accused of negligence and inconsistency in the implementation of Ahimsa. According to the Jain tradition either lacto vegetarianism or veganism is mandatory. The Jain concept of Ahimsa is characterised by several aspects. It does not make any exception for ritual sacrificers and professional warrior-hunters. Killing of animals for food is absolutely ruled out. Jains also make considerable efforts not to injure plants in everyday life as far as possible. Though they admit that plants must be destroyed for
15834-502: The West Bank and Gaza Strip. These contrasted with civil efforts including general strikes , boycotts of Israeli Civil Administration institutions in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, an economic boycott consisting of refusal to work in Israeli settlements on Israeli products, refusal to pay taxes, and refusal to drive Palestinian cars with Israeli licenses. In May 1994, following the Palestinian-Israeli agreements known as
16008-484: The West Bank. Saudi Arabia and Egypt supported reconciliation and a new unity government and pressed Abbas to start talks with Hamas. Abbas had always conditioned this on Hamas returning control of the Gaza Strip to the Palestinian Authority. After the takeover, Israel and Egypt closed their border crossings with Gaza . Palestinian sources reported that European Union monitors fled the Rafah Border Crossing , on
16182-501: The activists might be spies . To overcome this suspicion Corrie learned a few words of Arabic and participated in a mock trial denouncing the "crimes of the Bush Administration ". While the ISM members were eventually provided with food and housing, a letter was circulated in Rafah that cast suspicion on them. "Who are they? Why are they here? Who asked them to come here?" On the morning of Corrie's death they planned to counteract
16356-405: The animal world as well as nature, in a very explicit fashion. In Jainism, it is the very core idea of very 'way of life' practicing it in mun (thoughts), vachan (spoken word) and karm (action). It is a multidimensional concept, inspired by the premise that all living beings have the spark of the divine spiritual energy; therefore, to hurt another being is to hurt oneself. It has also been related to
16530-409: The area. Qishta, a Palestinian who worked as an interpreter , noted: "Late January and February was a very crazy time. There were house demolitions taking place all over the border strip and the activists had no time to do anything else." Qishta also stated of the ISM activists: "They were not only brave; they were crazy." The safety of the protestors was frequently jeopardized by these confrontations—
16704-466: The area. Thousands of homes were bulldozed and large numbers of Bedouin families were exiled to the Sinai. Between 1973 (after the Yom Kippur War ) and 1987, official policy on economic development in the Gaza Strip remained the same as in 1969 with limited local investment and economic opportunity coming primarily from employment in Israel. According to Tom Segev , moving the Palestinians out of
16878-530: The attack was a response to Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel, which totaled over 3,000 in 2008 , and which intensified during the few weeks preceding the operation. Israel advised people near military targets to leave before the attacks. Israeli defense sources said that Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the IDF to prepare for the operation six months before it began, using long-term planning and intelligence-gathering. A total of 1,100–1,400 Palestinians (295–926 civilians) and 13 Israelis were killed in
17052-418: The attacker, and avoid the conflict. The best defence is one where the victim is protected, as well as the attacker is respected and not injured if possible. Under Ahimsa and Aikido, there are no enemies, and appropriate self-defence focuses on neutralising the immaturity, assumptions and aggressive strivings of the attacker. Tähtinen concludes that Hindus have no misgivings about death penalty; their position
17226-868: The border. Egypt arrested and later released several armed Hamas militants in the Sinai who presumably wanted to infiltrate into Israel. At the same time, Israel increased its state of alert along the length of the Israel–Egypt Sinai border, and warned its citizens to leave Sinai "without delay." In February 2008, the Israel–Gaza conflict intensified, with rockets launched at Israeli cities. Aggression by Hamas led to Israeli military action on 1 March 2008, resulting in over 110 Palestinians being killed according to BBC News, as well as 2 Israeli soldiers. Israeli human rights group B'Tselem estimated that 45 of those killed were not involved in hostilities, and 15 were minors. On 27 December 2008, Israeli F-16 fighters launched
17400-505: The bulldozer operator had limited visibility. The ruling attracted criticism from Amnesty International , Human Rights Watch , B'Tselem , and Yesh Din . HRW stated that the ruling represented a pattern of impunity for Israeli forces. In 2005, Corrie's parents filed a civil lawsuit, charging the Israeli state with not conducting a full and credible investigation into the case and therefore holding responsibility for her death. They contended that she had either been intentionally killed or that
17574-473: The bulldozer, and began waving her arms and shouting, just as activists had successfully done dozens of times that day.... When it got so close that it was moving the earth beneath her, she climbed onto the pile of rubble being pushed by the bulldozer.... Her head and upper torso were above the bulldozer's blade, and the bulldozer operator and co-operator could clearly see her. Despite this, the operator continued forward, which caused her to fall back, out of view of
17748-466: The bulldozer: her head was above the level of the blade, and just a few meters from the driver." Joe Carr, an American ISM activist who used the assumed name of Joseph Smith during his time in Gaza, gave the following account in an affidavit recorded and published by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR): Still wearing her fluorescent jacket, she knelt down at least 15 meters in front of
17922-455: The cabin. At one stage, he turned around toward the building. The bulldozer kept moving, and she slipped and fell off the plow. But the bulldozer kept moving, the shovel above her. I guess it was about 10 or 15 meters that it dragged her and for some reason didn't stop. We shouted like crazy to the operator through loudspeakers that he should stop, but he just kept going and didn't lift the shovel. Then it stopped and backed up. We ran to Rachel. She
18096-538: The case of hermits who must be strictly nonviolent. Sushruta Samhita , a Hindu text written in the 3rd or 4th century, in Chapter XLVI suggests proper diet as a means of treating certain illnesses, and recommends various fishes and meats for different ailments and for pregnant women, and the Charaka Samhita describes meat as superior to all other kinds of food for convalescents. Across the texts of Hinduism, there
18270-523: The cessation of hostilities, the Israel–Egypt Armistice Agreement of 24 February 1949 established the line of separation between Egyptian and Israeli forces, as well as the modern boundary between Gaza and Israel, which both signatories declared not to be an international border. The southern border with Egypt was unchanged. Palestinians living in Gaza or Egypt were issued All-Palestine passports. Egypt did not offer them citizenship. From
18444-399: The chest (mechanical asphyxiation ) with fractures of the ribs and vertebrae of the dorsal spinal column and scapulas , and tear wounds in the right lung with hemorrhaging of the pleural cavities ." The Israeli army's report [seen by The Guardian ], said: The army was searching for explosives in the border zone when Corrie was "struck as she stood behind a mound of earth that
18618-432: The collision was a deliberate response for the killing of an Israeli in Gaza days earlier. Israel denied that the crash, which came at time of heightened tensions, was intentional or coordinated. The Palestinian response was characterized by protests, civil disobedience , and violence. There was graffiti , barricading , and widespread throwing of stones and Molotov cocktails at the IDF and its infrastructure within
18792-430: The context of Gandhi's political movement. In the political realm, advocates of nonviolent action believe cooperation and consent are the roots of civil or political power: all regimes, including bureaucratic institutions, financial institutions, and the armed segments of society (such as the military and police); depend on compliance from citizens. On a national level, the strategy of nonviolent action seeks to challenge
18966-655: The country had been a persistent element of Zionist thinking from early times. In December 1967, during a meeting at which the Security Cabinet brainstormed about what to do with the Arab population of the newly occupied territories, one of the suggestions Prime Minister Levi Eshkol proffered regarding Gaza was that the people might leave if Israel restricted their access to water supplies. A number of measures, including financial incentives, were taken shortly afterwards to begin to encourage Gazans to emigrate elsewhere. Following
19140-411: The devastation that she was witness to in Gaza, she felt it OK to burn the picture of her own flag. We have seen photographs of memorials held in Gaza after Rachel's death in which Palestinian children and adults honor our daughter by carrying a mock coffin draped with the American flag. We have been told that our flag has never been treated so respectfully in Gaza in recent years. We believe Rachel brought
19314-530: The doubts and questions about appropriate response when one faces systematic violence or war. These verses develop the concepts of lawful violence in self-defence and the theories of just war . However, there is no consensus on this interpretation. Gandhi, for example, considers this debate about nonviolence and lawful violence as a mere metaphor for the internal war within each human being, when he or she faces moral questions. The classical texts of Hinduism devote numerous chapters discussing what people who practice
19488-410: The driver. [ sic ] He continued forward, and she tried to scoot back, but was quickly pulled underneath the bulldozer. We ran towards him, and waved our arms and shouted; one activist with the megaphone. But the bulldozer operator continued forward, until Corrie was all the way underneath the central section of the bulldozer. On March 18, 2003, two days after Corrie's death, Joe (Smith) Carr
19662-464: The e-mails along with some of her other writings. Yale Professor David Bromwich said that Corrie left "letters of great interest". The play My Name is Rachel Corrie and the cantata The Skies are Weeping were based on Corrie's letters. On March 16, 2003, the IDF was engaged in an operation involving the demolition of Palestinian houses in Rafah. Corrie was part of a group of three British and four American ISM activists attempting to disrupt
19836-533: The earth, and I didn't see her at all. Maybe she was hiding in there. The IDF produced a video about Corrie's death that includes footage taken from inside the cockpit of a D9 . The video makes a "credible case", wrote Joshua Hammer in Mother Jones , that "the operators, peering out through narrow, double-glazed, bulletproof windows, their view obscured behind pistons and the giant scooper, might not have seen Corrie kneeling in front of them". In April 2011, during
20010-668: The eighth time, (Corrie) hid behind an earth embankment. The D9 operator didn't see her. She thought he saw her," he said. An infantry major later testified that the activists were endangering troops and had ignored numerous warnings to leave the area. The judge in the Corrie case asserted that between September 2000 and the date of Corrie's death, Israeli forces in the area had been subjected to 1,400 attacks involving gunfire, 150 involving explosive devices, 200 involving anti-tank rockets, and 6,000 involving hand grenades or mortar fire. Prime Minister of Israel Ariel Sharon promised President Bush
20184-572: The end of 1949, they received aid directly from UNRWA. During the Suez Crisis (1956), Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula were occupied by Israeli troops, who withdrew under international pressure. The All-Palestine government was accused of being little more than a façade for Egyptian control, with negligible independent funding or influence. It subsequently moved to Cairo and dissolved in 1959 by decree of Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser . During
20358-563: The end of the Fatah-Hamas coalition government , and possibly the end of the Palestinian authority. Hamas spokesman Mousa Abu Marzook blamed the conflict between Hamas and Fatah on Israel, stating that the constant pressure of economic sanctions resulted in the "real explosion." From 2006 to 2007 more than 600 Palestinians were killed in fighting between Hamas and Fatah. 349 Palestinians were killed in fighting between factions in 2007. 160 Palestinians killed each other in June alone. Following
20532-597: The eyes of a friend". The term Ahimsa appears in the text Taittiriya Shakha of the Yajurveda (TS 5.2.8.7), where it refers to non-injury to the sacrificer himself. It occurs several times in the Shatapatha Brahmana in the sense of "non-injury". The Ahimsa doctrine is a late Vedic era development in Brahmanical culture. The earliest reference to the idea of non-violence to animals ("pashu-Ahimsa"), apparently in
20706-475: The factions. Interior Minister Hani Qawasmi , who had been considered a moderate civil servant acceptable to both factions, resigned due to what he termed harmful behavior by both sides. Fighting spread in the Gaza Strip, with both factions attacking vehicles and facilities of the other side. Following a breakdown in an Egyptian-brokered truce, Israel launched an air strike which destroyed a building used by Hamas. Ongoing violence prompted fear that it could bring
20880-409: The founder of Aikido, described his inspiration as Ahimsa. According to this interpretation of Ahimsa in self-defence, one must not assume that the world is free of aggression. One must presume that some people will, out of ignorance, error or fear, attack other persons or intrude into their space, physically or verbally. The aim of self-defence, suggested Ueshiba, must be to neutralise the aggression of
21054-420: The future. The level of command of similar operations would be raised, said the spokesman, and civilians in the area would be dispersed or arrested before operations began. Observers will be deployed and CCTV cameras will be installed on the bulldozers to compensate for blind spots, which may have contributed to Corrie's death. The IDF gave copies of the report, titled "The Death of Rachel Corrie", to members of
21228-510: The heavily fortified lines outside of Khan Yunis held by the 86th Palestinian Brigade. After some street-fighting with Egyptian soldiers and Palestinian fedayeen , Khan Yunis fell to the Israelis. Upon capturing Khan Yunis, the IDF committed an alleged massacre . Israeli troops started executing unarmed Palestinians, mostly civilians; in one instance men were lined up against walls in central square and executed with machine guns . The claims of
21402-627: The height of the Second Intifada . While protesting the demolitions as they were being carried out, she was killed by an Israeli armored bulldozer that crushed her. Corrie was born in Olympia, Washington, the United States in 1979. After graduating from Capital High School, Corrie went on to attend Evergreen State College . She took a year off from her studies to work as a volunteer in the Washington State Conservation Corps, where she spent three years making weekly visits to mental patients. While at Evergreen State College she became
21576-444: The hellish realm, and for a longer time in more severe conditions if the murder victim was a monk. Saving animals from slaughter for meat, is believed to be a way to acquire merit for better rebirth. These moral precepts have been voluntarily self-enforced in lay Buddhist culture through the associated belief in karma and rebirth. The Buddhist texts not only recommended Ahimsa, but suggest avoiding trading goods that contribute to or are
21750-429: The impulse to be hateful and holding love for everyone, even those with whom one strongly disagrees. In this view, because violence is learned, it is necessary to unlearn violence by practicing love and compassion at every possible opportunity. For some, the commitment to non-violence entails a belief in restorative or transformative justice , an abolition of the death penalty and other harsh punishments. This may involve
21924-523: The independence movement in India ...), the figure reaches 3,337,400,000, a staggering 65% of humanity! All this in the teeth of the assertion, endlessly repeated, that nonviolence doesn't work in the 'real' world." As a technique for social struggle, nonviolent action has been described as "the politics of ordinary people", reflecting its historically mass-based use by populations throughout the world and history. Movements most often associated with nonviolence are
22098-462: The international border. The Gaza Strip remained under Israeli military administration. The Israeli military became responsible for the maintenance of civil facilities and services. After the 1979 Egypt–Israel peace treaty, a 100-meter-wide buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt known as the Philadelphi Route was established. The international border along the Philadelphi corridor between Egypt and Gaza
22272-399: The last resort. If war becomes necessary, its cause must be just, its purpose virtuous, its objective to restrain the wicked, its aim peace, its method lawful. War can only be started and stopped by a legitimate authority. Weapons used must be proportionate to the opponent and the aim of war, not indiscriminate tools of destruction. All strategies and weapons used in the war must be to defeat
22446-444: The least amount of harm, and passivity is the choice to do nothing. Sometimes nonviolence is passive, and other times it isn't. For example, if a house is burning down with mice or insects in it, the most harmless appropriate action is to put the fire out, not to sit by and passively let the fire burn. At times there is confusion and contradiction about nonviolence, harmlessness and passivity. A confused person may advocate nonviolence in
22620-491: The letter's effects. According to one of them, "We all had a feeling that our role was too passive. We talked about how to engage the Israeli military." According to a January 2003 article by Gordon Murray, a fellow ISM activist, in the last month of her life Corrie "spent a lot of time at the Canada Well helping protect Rafah municipal workers" who were trying to repair damage to the well done by Israeli bulldozers. Canada Well
22794-501: The loss of these facilities and homes, especially since they have great challenges to rebuild them. On 5 June 2014, Fatah signed a unity agreement with the Hamas political party. The 2014 Gaza War , also known as Operation Protective Edge, was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip. Following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank by Hamas-affiliated Palestinian militants,
22968-755: The necessity of caring for those who are violent. Nonviolence, for many, involves a respect and reverence for all sentient , and perhaps even non-sentient, beings . This might include abolitionism against animals as property, the practice of not eating animal products or by-products ( vegetarianism or veganism ), spiritual practices of non-harm to all beings, and caring for the rights of all beings. Mahatma Gandhi , James Bevel , and other nonviolent proponents advocated vegetarianism as part of their nonviolent philosophy. Buddhists extend this respect for life to animals and plants , while Jainism extend this respect for life to animals , plants and even small organisms such as insects . The classical Indian text of
23142-454: The notion that any violence has karmic consequences. While ancient scholars of Hinduism pioneered and over time perfected the principles of ahimsa , the concept reached an extraordinary status in the ethical philosophy of Jainism. According to historian David Hardiman , the English term "nonviolence" first appeared in Britain and the United States in the 19th century as a medical term. Before
23316-555: The occupation in March 1957, amid international pressure. During the four-month Israeli occupation, 900–1,231 people were killed. According to French historian Jean-Pierre Filiu , 1% of the population of Gaza was killed, wounded, imprisoned or tortured during the occupation. After the dissolution of the All-Palestine Government in 1959, under the excuse of pan-Arabism, Egypt continued to occupy Gaza until 1967. Egypt never annexed
23490-432: The oldest verses of Vedas, but increasingly becomes one of the central ideas between 500 BC and 400 AD. In the oldest texts, numerous ritual sacrifices of animals, including cows and horses, are highlighted and hardly any mention is made of Ahimsa to non-human life. Hindu scriptures, dated to between 5th century and 1st century BC, while discussing human diet, initially suggest kosher meat may be eaten, evolving it with
23664-483: The operators of the armored personnel carriers (APCs) that accompany bulldozers are responsible for directing the operators towards their targets because the Caterpillar D9 bulldozers have a restricted field of vision with several blind spots. An ISM activist using the name "Richard", saying he had witnessed Corrie's death, told Haaretz : There's no way he didn't see her, since she was practically looking into
23838-506: The opponent's heart and mind by showing love to them rather than hatred, partnering with the opponents to bring about social change by ending all violence and social injustices, and seeking a solution whereby all parties win. The techniques they use include persuasion while trying to avoid coercion, and they accept that suffering is part of the means to transform themselves and others. For many, practicing nonviolence goes deeper than abstaining from violent behavior or words. It means overriding
24012-445: The opponent, not designed to cause misery to the opponent; for example, use of arrows is allowed, but use of arrows smeared with painful poison is not allowed. Warriors must use judgment in the battlefield. Cruelty to the opponent during war is forbidden. Wounded, unarmed opponent warriors must not be attacked or killed, they must be brought to your realm and given medical treatment. Children, women and civilians must not be injured. While
24186-535: The power misuse of rulers by organising and encouraging (oppressed) people to withdraw their consent and cooperation. The forms of nonviolence draw inspiration from both religious or ethical beliefs and political analysis. Religious or ethically based nonviolence is sometimes referred to as principled, philosophical, or ethical nonviolence, while nonviolence based on political analysis is often referred to as tactical, strategic, or pragmatic nonviolent action. Commonly, both of these dimensions may be present within
24360-474: The power of repressive political regimes in the developing world and the former eastern bloc. Susan Ives emphasizes this point by quoting Walter Wink : "In 1989, thirteen nations comprising 1,695,000,000 people experienced nonviolent revolutions that succeeded beyond anyone's wildest expectations ... If we add all the countries touched by major nonviolent actions in our century (the Philippines, South Africa ...
24534-514: The protective cage he was working in.... The driver and his commanders were interrogated extensively over a long period of time with the use of polygraph tests and video evidence. They had no knowledge that she was standing in the path of the tractor. An autopsy of Corrie's body revealed that the cause of death was from falling debris and not from the tractor physically rolling over her. It was a tragic accident that never should have happened. Howard Blume told that IDF stated: [a bulldozer with 2 crews]
24708-477: The rational ones (humans) is strongest in Jain Ahimsa. Jains agree with Hindus that violence in self-defence can be justified, and they agree that a soldier who kills enemies in combat is performing a legitimate duty. Jain communities accepted the use of military power for their defence, there were Jain monarchs, military commanders, and soldiers. In Buddhist texts Ahimsa (or its Pāli cognate avihiṃsā )
24882-601: The region's international border with Egypt . With the defeat of the Central Powers in World War I and the subsequent partition of the Ottoman Empire , the British deferred the governance of the Gaza Strip area to Egypt, which declined the responsibility. Britain itself kept and ruled the territory it occupied in 1917–18, from 1920 until 1948 under the internationally accepted frame of " Mandatory Palestine ". During
25056-400: The resolution. The Corrie family joined Representative Baird in calling for a U.S. investigation. Yasser Arafat , the first President of the Palestinian Authority , offered his condolences and gave the "blessings of the Palestinian people " to Corrie, promising to name a street in Gaza after her. According to Cindy Corrie, Arafat told Craig Corrie that Rachel Corrie "is your daughter but she
25230-425: The sake of food, they accept such violence only inasmuch as it is indispensable for human survival, and there are special instructions for preventing unnecessary violence against plants. Jains go out of their way so as not to hurt even small insects and other minuscule animals. For example, Jains often do not go out at night, when they are more likely to step upon an insect. In their view, injury caused by carelessness
25404-433: The soldier operating the bulldozer deliberately ran Corrie over while she was acting as a human shield to prevent the demolition of the home of local pharmacist Samir Nasrallah. They said she was between the bulldozer and a wall near Nasrallah's home, in which ISM activists had spent the night several times. An IDF officer testified in court that her death was accidental because the bulldozer operator did not see Corrie due to
25578-401: The steel reinforcement of the border barrier was weakened, Hamas destroyed several parts of the wall dividing Gaza and Egypt in the town of Rafah . Hundreds of thousands of Gazans crossed the border into Egypt seeking food and supplies. Due to the crisis, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ordered his troops to allow the Palestinians in but to verify that they did not bring weapons back across
25752-471: The structures as cover to shoot at their troops patrolling in the area, or to conceal arms-smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border ." Corrie was a member of a group of about eight activists from outside of the Palestinian territories who tried to prevent the Israeli army's activities by acting as human shields . On Corrie's first night there, she and two other ISM members set up camp inside Block J, which
25926-446: The suggestion that only meat obtained through ritual sacrifice can be eaten, then that one should eat no meat because it hurts animals, with verses describing the noble life as one that lives on flowers, roots and fruits alone. Later texts of Hinduism declare Ahimsa one of the primary virtues, declare any killing or harming any life as against dharma (moral life). Finally, the discussion in Upanishads and Hindu Epics shifts to whether
26100-440: The term Ahimsa is an important spiritual doctrine shared by Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. It literally means 'non-injury' and 'non-killing'. It implies the total avoidance of harming of any kind of living creatures not only by deeds, but also by words and in thoughts. The Mahabharata , one of the epics of Hinduism, has multiple mentions of the phrase Ahimsa Paramo Dharma (अहिंसा परमॊ धर्मः), which literally means: non-violence
26274-408: The thinking of particular movements or individuals. The fundamental concept of pragmatic ( tactical or strategic ) nonviolent action is to create a social dynamic or political movement that can project a national and global dialogue that affects social change without necessarily winning over those who wish to maintain the status quo. Gene Sharp promoted the pragmatic nonviolence approach. Sharp
26448-488: The trial of the civil suit brought by Corrie's parents, an IDF officer testified that Corrie and other activists had spent hours trying to block the bulldozers under his command. He went on to say that it was a war zone "where Palestinian militants used abandoned homes as firing positions and exploited foreign activists for cover". He shouted over a megaphone for the activists to leave, tried to use tear gas to disperse them and moved his troops several times. "To my regret, after
26622-506: The vast majority of which were Gazan Palestinians. In 2018–2019, a series of protests , also known as the Great March of Return, were held each Friday in the Gaza Strip near the Israel–Gaza barrier from 30 March 2018 until 27 December 2019, during which a total of 223 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces. The demonstrators demanded that the Palestinian refugees must be allowed to return to lands they were displaced from in what
26796-478: The vehicle's obstructed view, and that on that day they were only clearing vegetation and rubble from houses that were previously demolished, and that no new houses were slated for demolition. The major points of dispute are whether the bulldozer operator saw Corrie and whether her injuries were caused by being crushed under the blade or by the mound of debris the bulldozer was pushing. An IDF spokesman has acknowledged that Israeli army regulations normally require that
26970-459: The victory of Hamas in the 2006 Palestinian legislative election , Hamas and Fatah formed the Palestinian authority national unity government headed by Ismail Haniyeh . Shortly after, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in the course of the Battle of Gaza (June 2007), seizing government institutions and replacing Fatah and other government officials with its own. By 14 June, Hamas fully controlled
27144-500: The virtue of Ahimsa, can and must do when they are faced with war, violent threat or need to sentence someone convicted of a crime. These discussions have led to theories of just war, theories of reasonable self-defence and theories of proportionate punishment. Arthashastra discusses, among other things, why and what constitutes proportionate response and punishment. The precepts of Ahimsa under Hinduism require that war must be avoided, with sincere and truthful dialogue. Force must be
27318-648: The war is in progress, sincere dialogue for peace must continue. In matters of self-defence, different interpretations of ancient Hindu texts have been offered. For example, Tähtinen suggests self-defence is appropriate, criminals are not protected by the rule of Ahimsa, and Hindu scriptures support the use of violence against an armed attacker. Ahimsa is not meant to imply pacifism. Alternate theories of self-defence, inspired by Ahimsa, build principles similar to theories of just war. Aikido , pioneered in Japan, illustrates one such principles of self-defence. Morihei Ueshiba ,
27492-440: The world's highest population densities . More than 70% of Gaza's population are Palestinian refugees , half of whom are under the age of 18. Sunni Muslims make up most of Gaza's population, with a Palestinian Christian minority. Gaza has an annual population growth rate of 1.99% (2023 est.), the 39th-highest in the world. Gaza's unemployment rate is among the highest in the world, with an overall unemployment rate of 46% and
27666-477: Was an American political scientist known for his nonviolent struggle work. Those who follow Sharp's pragmatic nonviolence approach believe in practicality rather than the moral aspect of the struggle. They believe that violence is too costly to engage in. The goals are to change their oppressor's behavior; end a specific injustice or violent situation; and seek a win for themselves, while opponents they perceive as enemies with conflicting interests should lose. Conflict
27840-492: Was built in 1999 with CIDA funding. It, along with El Iskan Well, had supplied more than 50% of Rafah's water before the damage. The city had been under "strict rationing (only a few hours of running water on alternate days)" since. Murray writes that ISM activists were maintaining a presence there since "Israeli snipers and tanks routinely shot at civilian workers trying to repair the wells." In one of her reports, Corrie wrote that despite her group's having received permission from
28014-527: Was conducted on March 24 at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv by Chief Pathologist Yehuda Hiss . The final report was not released publicly, but in their report on the matter Human Rights Watch says a copy was provided to them by Craig Corrie, with a translation supplied by the U.S. Department of State . In the report they quote Hiss as concluding, "Her death was caused by pressure on
28188-416: Was created by an engineering vehicle operating in the area and she was hidden from the view of the vehicle's operator who continued with his work. Corrie was struck by dirt and a slab of concrete resulting in her death.... The finding of the operational investigations shows that Rachel Corrie was not run over by an engineering vehicle but rather was struck by a hard object, most probably a slab of concrete which
28362-409: Was engaged in "routine terrain leveling and debris clearing", not building demolition. Quoting from the IDF report, Corrie died "as a result of injuries sustained when earth and debris accidentally fell on her.... Ms. Corrie was not run over by the bulldozer," he added, IDF also claimed she was possibly "in a blindspot for the bulldozer operators and "behind an earth mound", so they did not see that she
28536-780: Was established to administer various refugee programmes. On 22 September 1948 (near the end of the Arab–Israeli War), in the Egyptian-occupied Gaza City , the Arab League proclaimed the All-Palestine Government, partly to limit Transjordan 's influence over Palestine. The All-Palestine Protectorate was quickly recognized by six of the Arab League's then-seven members (excluding Transjordan): Egypt, Syria , Lebanon , Iraq , Saudi Arabia , and Yemen . After
28710-649: Was heard on May 21, 2014, but was ultimately rejected by the Supreme Court of Israel on February 14, 2015. Corrie was born on April 10, 1979, and raised in Olympia, Washington , United States. She was the youngest of three children of Craig Corrie, an insurance executive, and Cindy Corrie. Cindy describes their family as "average Americans—politically liberal, economically conservative, middle class". After graduating from Capital High School , Corrie went on to attend The Evergreen State College , also in Olympia, where she took
28884-616: Was in harm's way. In later IDF operations, the house was damaged (a hole was knocked in a wall) and was later destroyed. By that time, the Nasrallah family had moved into a different house. It was reported in 2006 that the house that Corrie was trying to protect was rebuilt with funds raised by The Rebuilding Alliance . A spokesman for the IDF told the Guardian that, while it did not accept responsibility for Corrie's death, it intended to change its operational procedures to avoid similar incidents in
29058-408: Was interviewed by British Channel 4 and The Observer reporter Sandra Jordan for a documentary, The Killing Zone , which aired in June 2003. He stated, "It was either a really gross mistake or a really brutal murder." According to The Seattle Times , "Smith, who witnessed Sunday's incident, said it began when Corrie sat down in front of the bulldozer. He said the operator scooped her up with
29232-413: Was killed by an Israeli bulldozer that crushed her. Physicians present and fellow ISM activists claimed that Corrie was wearing a high visibility vest and deliberately driven over, while the Israeli army claimed that it was an accident because the bulldozer operator did not see her. Following the incident, an Israeli military investigation concluded that Corrie's death was the result of an accident and that
29406-562: Was left under the control of the Palestinian Authority . In the Palestinian parliamentary elections held on 25 January 2006, Hamas won a plurality of 42.9% of the total vote and 74 out of 132 total seats (56%). When Hamas assumed power the next month, Israel, the United States, the EU, Russia and the UN demanded that Hamas accept all previous agreements, recognize Israel's right to exist, and renounce violence; when Hamas refused, they cut off direct aid to
29580-425: Was moved or slid down while the mound of earth which she was standing behind was moved. On June 26, 2003, The Jerusalem Post quoted an Israeli military spokesman as saying that Corrie had not been run over and that the operator had not seen her: The driver at no point saw or heard Corrie. She was standing behind debris which obstructed the view of the driver and the driver had a very limited field of vision due to
29754-514: Was one of the most well-known advocates for and practitioners of principled nonviolence. The Semai ethnic group living in the center of the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia are known for their nonviolence. The Semai punan ethical or religious principle strongly pressures members of the culture towards nonviolent, non-coercive, and non-competitive behaviour. It has been suggested that
29928-465: Was prohibited except through Israeli marketing vehicles, in order to assist Israeli citrus exports to the same markets. The overall result was that large numbers of farmers were forced out of the agricultural sector. Israel placed quotas on all goods exported from Gaza, while abolishing restrictions on the flow of Israeli goods into the Strip. Sara Roy characterised the pattern as one of structural de-development. On 26 March 1979, Israel and Egypt signed
30102-644: Was reconstructed. A barrier on the Gaza Strip-Egypt border was constructed starting in 2004. The main crossing points are the northern Erez Crossing into Israel and the southern Rafah Crossing into Egypt. The eastern Karni Crossing used for cargo, closed down in 2011. Israel controls the Gaza Strip's northern borders, as well as its territorial waters and airspace. Egypt controls Gaza Strip's southern border, under an agreement between it and Israel. Neither Israel or Egypt permits free travel from Gaza as both borders are heavily militarily fortified. "Egypt maintains
30276-451: Was still breathing. Eyewitness and ISM member Tom Dale, commenting on the 2012 verdict said: "Whatever one thinks about the visibility from a D9 bulldozer, it is inconceivable that at some point the driver did not see her, given the distance from which he approached, while she stood, unmoving, in front of it. As I told the court, just before she was crushed, Rachel briefly stood on top of the rolling mound of earth which had gathered in front of
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