PA daily reports on Palestinian participation in seminar rejecting violence
“[Participants] in a seminar held yesterday [Oct. 13, 2013] by the Italian Comunità Papa Giovanni XXIII organization, in cooperation with the [Palestinian] Popular Committee for Non-Violent Resistance in Yatta, recommended following the way of non-violent popular resistance to obtain rights [from Israel].
[Participants in] the seminar, which is funded by the European Union, emphasized the way and the principle of non-violence… as the choice of the residents of South Hebron…
Hafez Al-Harini, representative of the residents, spoke of the suffering of the residents of Al-Mufaqqarah and the surrounding villages, which is caused by their being encircled by settlements, so that residents do not enjoy freedom of movement on all their lands due to the settlements and the occupation army’s training areas. He noted that most residents live in caves because they are prohibited from building, and they do not receive the electricity and water services enjoyed by the settlers. Yet despite these conditions and suffering, the residents are determined to stand firm on their land and, using all forms of popular non-violent resistance, oppose attempts to uproot and displace them…
Franco Bonisoli, a former member of the Italian Red Brigades (Brigate Rosse) spoke about the violence used by the leftist Red Brigades organization in Italy in the 1970s, and described how this caused bloodshed and destruction and did not lead to anything substantial in terms of the support for the people, despite the fact that its (the organization’s) goal was to kill the people’s enemies.
He said: ‘I lived underground for four years while the Italian police searched for me. When I was arrested, I was sentenced to four life sentences and another 105 years, but as the years passed I came to believe that peaceful struggle is the best way to prevent injustice and create as much popular and human solidarity as possible. For this reason, my fellow prison mates and I held a hunger strike to signal our opposition to the violence used by our former organization, the Red Brigades. Through our personal suffering, we were able to break away from armed and violent struggle and play a role in ending the Red Brigades organization’s violence.’
He added: ‘This experience and this role led to my release from prison after serving 22 years inside.’ […]
Sociologist and criminologist Giovanni Ricci… said: ‘Violence leads only to violence and the one who gets hurt is always the victim, who must know how to resist peacefully, stressing his right to a dignified life and justice.’”
From WAFA, official PA news agency
[Participants in] the seminar, which is funded by the European Union, emphasized the way and the principle of non-violence… as the choice of the residents of South Hebron…
Hafez Al-Harini, representative of the residents, spoke of the suffering of the residents of Al-Mufaqqarah and the surrounding villages, which is caused by their being encircled by settlements, so that residents do not enjoy freedom of movement on all their lands due to the settlements and the occupation army’s training areas. He noted that most residents live in caves because they are prohibited from building, and they do not receive the electricity and water services enjoyed by the settlers. Yet despite these conditions and suffering, the residents are determined to stand firm on their land and, using all forms of popular non-violent resistance, oppose attempts to uproot and displace them…
Franco Bonisoli, a former member of the Italian Red Brigades (Brigate Rosse) spoke about the violence used by the leftist Red Brigades organization in Italy in the 1970s, and described how this caused bloodshed and destruction and did not lead to anything substantial in terms of the support for the people, despite the fact that its (the organization’s) goal was to kill the people’s enemies.
He said: ‘I lived underground for four years while the Italian police searched for me. When I was arrested, I was sentenced to four life sentences and another 105 years, but as the years passed I came to believe that peaceful struggle is the best way to prevent injustice and create as much popular and human solidarity as possible. For this reason, my fellow prison mates and I held a hunger strike to signal our opposition to the violence used by our former organization, the Red Brigades. Through our personal suffering, we were able to break away from armed and violent struggle and play a role in ending the Red Brigades organization’s violence.’
He added: ‘This experience and this role led to my release from prison after serving 22 years inside.’ […]
Sociologist and criminologist Giovanni Ricci… said: ‘Violence leads only to violence and the one who gets hurt is always the victim, who must know how to resist peacefully, stressing his right to a dignified life and justice.’”
From WAFA, official PA news agency