Smarter without Violence

"Smarter without Violence"- This was the slogan which was being promoted by the charity Middle East Non Violence & Democracy (MEND UK).

I attended a talk organised by LSE on " Children & Women in Palestine " which marked the launch of MEND UK. The main aim of the charity to tackle the problems in the Middle East via non violence measures.

There were five people speaking on the panel:
1) Robin Kealy( Chair Panel ) : Consulate General for Jerusalem in 1998-2001
2)Hind Khoudy: Minister of State of the Palestinian Authority
3)Lucy Nusseibeh : Director of MEND
4)Dana Abdul Fattah: a 15yr old Palestinian girl who participated in the MEND program

The talk touched on four main themes:
a) The current situation in the West Bank and Gaza
b) The cultural background/history behind non violence campaigning
c) Origins of MEND
d) the difference MEND has made on the people who have participated in the MEND programs

It was interesting to hear the various speakers:

a) Hind Khoudy gave us an account of the difficulties Palestinian children and women are faced living in occupied territory. Nearly half the population are children and women. In this long suffering conflict it has been the women and chldren who have suffered the most.
Jerusalem is the worst affected area where Israeli troops have tightened restrictions thus making it difficult for people to travel from the West Bank into East Jerusalem.
Doctors and teachers who live in the West Bank will need permits to go to work in East Jerusalem.

The education sector has also suffered where children who live in West Bank are facing difficulties travelling into East Jerusalem to attend school. My 2 hour journey commuting into work doesn't seem so bad compared to what these people have to face in their everyday lives.

Due to limited resources there are also not enough classrooms to accomodate these children. As a result families don't send their kids to school.
Children are not getting their education and are resorting to drugs and violence. This is a growing problem as children are feeling confused, unwanted and have no sense of belonging.
This aggravates dissatisfaction and can lead to hatred which has been linked to terrorism acts.

b) Jonathan Benthall (Member of MEND, NGO member,anthropologist expert) touched on the issues that it is possible to make a difference in the world through non violence campaigning.
Islam is a peaceful religion which is evidenced in the way we greet each other with Assalamualaikum which means " Peace be upon you ". Due to recent events like 9/11 and the 7/7 London Bombings, Islam is being portrayed as one which promotes violence. By having programs like MEND and educating people on Islam we hope to change that. There have been successful non violent campaigns such as those led by Mahatman Gandhi and Martin Luther King.

c) Lucy Nusseibeh ( Director of MEND ) believes that we can make a difference in changing the situation in the Middle East. Women & children living in the current conflict are facing fear and anxiety every single day. Through MEND, Lucy believes we can offer hope to these people.
Currently, MEND are devoting projects to benfit children and youth in East Jerusalem & West Bank.
Workshops are set up on projects such as conflict resolution, summer camps and participatory videos.

d) Dana Abdul Fattah was one of the children who participated in the projects. She shared her experience with the audience on the activities MEND provided for them. One which Dana particularly enjoyed was the drama workshop where they would perform in front of an audience a drama portraying issues which they are concerned about e.g.domestic violence in the family.
After the drama, they would discuss on possible solutions to the issues.
There is also a radio "soap opera " which has proved popular where youth & children can listen and discuss on issues which affect them most. By having these issues out in the open they can work together in finding the best way to resolve the conflict.

I think this is a great idea. If the children learn from a young age on way to resolve conflicts in a non violent manner, they will be better at controlling the anger and hatred which we see in many of the youths today. This can possibly be linked to the increase in terrorism acts which we see in the news every so often e.g. suicide bombers.

After the talk, I felt inspired that there are people out there who feel that there is still hope for peace and are doing something about it instead of merely talking about it.
I wish MEND the best of luck in their causes and goals! :)