[fse-esf] 27/5 - 2/6. The Iraqi Week for Combating Violence

[fabio alberti]

The power of nonviolence: a transformative force for the Iraqi conflict

by Martina Pignatti Morano - Centro Gandhi (Pisa - Italy) / Zaid Wardi - al Mesalla (Baghdad - Iraq)

26th May 2006

Seeds of hope are being spread in the Iraqi civil society these days. A network of organizations and

individuals belonging to different ethnic, ideological and religious groups is being established

through the on-line publication www.laonf.org (laonf can be translated as "no to violence"). As they

state in the website, "they all agreed to adopt the strategy of NONVIOLENCE as the best way to

struggle for building an independent, democratic, peaceful, strong and wealthy Iraq". They gather

documents and articles on historical examples of nonviolent strategies that led to people's liberation

from domination systems or to reconciliation processes in divided societies. After experiencing the

violence of a dictatorship, that of the embargo, and finally that of the military occupation, the Iraqi

civil society is now being broken by sectarian conflicts whose real political factions are hard to

map. Anyway a large share of the population endorses simple and transparent objectives: peace by

peaceful means, and self-determination for the Iraqi people in a united country.

These unifying principles allowed the participation of various organizations in a campaign that is

now being launched by the network: the Iraqi week for combating violence, that will be held

between the 27th of May and the 2nd of June. The organization that is coordinating the initiative is

al-Mesalla, based in Baghdad and aiming at the empowerment of the Iraqi civil society. It managed

to collect in the same leaflet the logos of the League of Ulema El-Deen (a major Sunni religious

organization), the Iraqi Democratic Youth Federation (the youth wing of the Iraqi Communist

Party) and other organizations that are close to the Shiite movement of Moktad Al-Sadr. The

document is addressed to "the loyal sons of Iraq" and asks them to stop the circle of violence and

vengeance which serves the interests of "agitators of sedition" that are striving to make them

become enemies of each other. The central part of the document is an invitation to pledge the

following and commit to it during the week of nonviolence: "I swear by my honor and my firmest

convictions to never resort to violence for any reason whatsoever, but instead I will say what

Adam's son said to his brother: 'If thou dost stretch thy hand against me, to slay me, it is not for me

to stretch my hand against thee to slay thee: for I do fear Allah, the cherisher of the worlds'."

The campaign has been organized in collaboration with student unions, who strongly believe that

violence can be resisted just by social movements with a bottom-up approach, since political leaders

at the moment do not want or manage to address the hunger of simple citizens for peace and unity.

Some of these students already held an initiative to have the largest possible number of students,

professors and colleagues of different sects and religions, signing a covenant for the unity of all

Iraqis, denying and refusing the principle of fighting violence by violence whether at a personal or

political level. During the last weeks, in spite of the danger involved in performing this task and the

personal threats received by activists, hundreds of posters saying "To the loyal sons of Iraq an

invitation to renounce violence" have been affixed in Baghdad. The core of the campaign will be

the distribution of 20.000 leaflets with the document and the pledge in four major university

complexes in Baghdad (Jadiriya, Bab-Muadam, Mustansiriya, Technology complex), and other

locations in Karbala, Basrah, Samarra and Najaf. Universities are not safe places to organize public

events on this issue, and even a visible banner would be putting at risk the safety of the activists,

hence the major activities and speeches will be held during the Friday prayer in Baghdad, Basrah,

Dayala, Wasit, and hopefully Najaf. Moreover, a Christian church in Basrah promised to speak

about the event in a special pontifical mass, which will be held on Friday instead of the usual date

of Sunday. Other organizations from the North of Iraq showed interest in the campaign and will

probably get involved in the next stages.

These initiatives stem from a strong faith of the members of al-Mesalla in the power of nonviolent

action for social and political change. In January 2005, at the World Social Forum, representatives

of al-Mesalla and of the Studies Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (Falluja) met a network

of European associations dedicated to promoting the culture of gandhian nonviolence and the

implementation of civilian peace corps in conflict transformation. The partnership established

during that event led to the organization of a training program on Active Nonviolence for Iraqi

activists and politicians, which took place in Amman in January 2006. The 25 participants were

selected by the two Iraqi associations from all over the country and covered a wide spectrum of the

religious, political and ethnical components of the Iraqi population. The European organizers of the

program, which was funded by the Catalan Agency for Cooperation and Development, were NOVA

(Spain), MAN (France), Centro Gandhi and Un ponte per. (Italy). The one-week course was very

successful in dismissing the idea that nonviolence amounts to simple passive resistance, and

explaining how a nonviolent strategy can be planned using gradually more and more interventionist

means of fight. Nonviolent action, requiring a wide consensus and encouraging participation of the

whole population (women, elder people and children included) involves a collective process of

conscientization and empowerment of the masses, which tends to unite people in the pursuit of

common objectives. Social harmony in the quest for peace and justice is the objective of the Iraqi

civil society, and the Iraqi week for combating violence is an extremely significant first step in this

direction.

The first adherents to the initiative, who have their logo on the leaflet, are:

1- Al-Mesalla (Baghdad based, secular organization)

2- The Iraqi Democratic Youth Federation (Baghdad based centre, youth wing of the Iraqi

Communist Party)

3- The League of Ulema El-Deen (Baghdad based, Islamic organization managed by Sunni

clerics)

4- The Observer of Human Rights Center (Najaf based organization with Shiite background,

but claims to be independent and neutral with respect to religion or ethnicity)

5- The Youth Federation of New Iraq (Baghdad based, close to the Shiite current of Sader)

6- Al-Shahidain Al-Sadrain's Center for General Research & Studies (Baghdad based, close to

the Shiite Sader current)

7- The Independent Federation of Iraqi Trade Unions (Baghdad based, close to the Shiite Sader

current)

8- The Independent Federation of Cooperative Farmers Unions (Baghdad based, close to the

Shiite Sader current)

9- The National Center for Social & Historical Studies (Basrah based, managed by scholars

supported by the Shiite party of Al-Fadhila, which claims to represent the original Sader

current).

For further information, or to support the initiative, contact: info at laonf.org

---------------------------------------------------------

The English translation of the leaflet follows.

The Iraqi Week for Combating Violence

To the Loyal Sons of Iraq

An Invitation to Combat Violence

Agitators of sedition are striving to make us become enemies of one another. They want to ignite a

war that will turn our cities into wastelands where owls croak. This is an invitation to you son of

Iraq to prevent sedition, stop the circle of violence and vengeance, and to foil the deceit of the

unjust. Fulfill it if you are fit to live in an Iraq of peace and pledge the following:

I swear by my honor and my firmest convictions to never resort to violence for any

reason whatsoever, but instead I will say what Adam's son said to his brother: "If

thou dost stretch thy hand against me, to slay me, it is not for me to stretch my hand

against thee to slay thee: for I do fear Allah, the cherisher of the worlds. For me, I

intend to let thee draw on thyself my sin as well as thine, for thou wilt be among the

companions of the fire, and that is the reward of those who do wrong." This will be

through the Iraqi week for combating violence from 27th of May to the 2nd of June, so

that I can prevent sedition, put out its fire, and deserve living in an Iraq of peace.

Your conscience is the only witness on your commitment to this pledge, so do commit to it and

sleep with a rested conscience. Contribute to the campaign by committing to this invitation and

spreading it to the largest number of your Iraqi brothers through any means you find suitable. This

is your and our response to violence. The faster and wider our movements are, the greater our

contribution in stopping its instigation.

In the case of any views or ideas or comments that can promote peace do not hesitate in

involving us and sending them to us on the following email:

info at laonf.org

www.laonf.org
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