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PER LA PAU PEACE IN PROGRESS ICIP E-REVIEW ISSN 2013-5777 Issue 7 MARCH 2011 EDITORIAL New hopes I have a dream... – Martin Luther King Jr. That is both the beginning and the title of one of Dr King’s most famous speeches, which he gave in 1963 and is considered one of the inspirations behind the non- violent revolution by the black population of the United States. Today, almost fifty years later, his words seemed to resonate elsewhere, in a year in which the first two months have given us some hopeful news. First, on 10 January, there was the latest communiqué by ETA, which was in itself insufficient and highlighted internal debates. However, it followed the GRIT strategy Photo: Ahmad Hammoud of unilateral steps, and was in broad agreement with the demands by the interna- flickr.com/photos/ahmadhammoudphotography/ tional group headed by Brian Currin. A little later, ETA’s political counterparts pre- 5409748371/ sented the statutes for a new political group that clearly stated that its rejection of violence was explicit, unilateral and the irrevocable. This has created an optimistic scenario, which Pedro Ibarra examines in Platform. Second, and almost simultaneously, an uprising began in Tunisia after an increase in the price of basic foodstuffs. It was not the first time this had happened, but on this occasion the consequences were unforeseeable. A few days later, the Tunisian president was forced to resign by popular pressure, which continued until the prime minister also resigned. Other countries in the Arab and Islamic world have also been shaken by popular uprisings with an obvious domino effect - Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Libya, Oman, opposition movements in Iran... the list is incomplete, as the snowball effect is still in action. Some people have already christened 2011 as the year of uprisings. These events have also coincided with this issue dedicated to nonviolence, and in our In depth section Rafael Grasa’s article examines these events from the perspective of nonviolence, given the important role played by nonviolent civil disobedience in these processes of change, with the exception of Libya. In our In depth section, we have also attempted to provide an overview of the various aspects of nonviolence: from its theory and history to its implementation. The articles by Jaume Botey, Pere Ortega, Luca Gervasoni and Carlos Pérez provide us with an perspective on nonviolent thought and action, from the perspective of the Catalan tradition and from the theoretical and practical viewpoint. In Platform we have an article by Xavier Alcalde that reminds us of the pacifist roots of the universal language: Esperanto. Nonetheless, hope does not blind us to persistent problems, such as military expenditure, the securitisation of development and the increasing importance of the privatisation of security. Or harrowing events which continue to fester due to the incapa- city of those directly involved and the international community, such as the situation in Côte d’Ivoire, where the post-electoral impasse continues, with ongoing violence and a series of unsuccessful mediation missions, which is making governability and everyday life in particular very difficult. Meanwhile, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict remains in a dead end, and in this context, the uprisings in the Arab world appear to reinforce trend towards stagnation. No significant improvements can be glimpsed in Colombia, despite the expectations in early 2011 also being very optimistic, or in Afghanistan. In short, the international landscape is uncertain and at the same time exciting. It remains to be seen in which direction the winds of change and peace will blow over the next few months. PER LA PAU / PEACE IN PROGRESS | Issue 7 MARCH 2011 Page 1 PER LA PAU PEACE IN PROGRESS ICIP E-REVIEW CONTENTS EDITORIAL ..................................................................................... 1 INTERVIEW ................................................................................... 11 IN DEPTH ........................................................................................ 2 PLATFORM ................................................................................... 12 INTRODUCCTION ......................................................................... 2 The future of ETA and the democratic question ............................ 12 CENTRAL ARTICLES..................................................................... 3 Esperanto, a tool for peace ........................................................... 13 The tradition of Nonviolence in Catalonia ....................................... 3 News in nonviolent thought ............................................................ 5 RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................. 17 Resisting violence, disturbing peace .............................................. 6 Nonviolent action at the NATO summit ........................................... 7 NEWS ............................................................................................ 20 The new faces of nonviolence: from hunger riots to white ICIP News ...................................................................................... 20 revolutions. Gandhi or La Boétie .................................................... 8 International News ......................................................................... 21 FINDING OUT MORE .................................................................... 9 IN DEPTH INTRODUCTION Nonviolence, a tool for transformation Pablo Aguiar ICIP Expert Nonviolence is a very strong force. The word comes from the Sanskrit (ahimsa) and describes both a philosophy of life and a specific way of achieving political and social change. Its distinguishing feature, as the word suggests, is rejection of the use of violence, but this rejection does not imply resignation or submission, but instead quite the opposite. Nonviolence carries out actions of resistance or civil disobedience in order to achieve its objectives. It has strong links with pacifism, but the two terms are not synonymous. Pacifism is not necessarily linked to a desire for change, but instead emphasises a rejection of violence. However, there is an implicit objective of social and political change in nonviolent action. The events in North Africa and the Middle East in recent weeks are a good example of nonviolence. Despite the fact that those events are not the subject of this article, I believe a few short comments are necessary. Because all types of commentators and media warn us constantly of the need for armies - and of the uselessness, inef- fectiveness and slowness of nonviolent alternatives - we need to hold our heads high on occasions like this. We need to educate and undertake an empirical demonstration by example. Society in Egypt and Tunisia has succeeded in quickly - so far on a nonviolent basis - changing governments that had refused to move for over three decades. The levels of discontent are so high that without any foreign support, and with practically no organisational structure, it has only taken a spark to make people to take to the street and to make their respective governments totter. Quickly and effectively ... and nonviolently. We need to emphasise this! Finally, to end this short discussion of current events, I have another thought. If these events have been a problem for anyone, it is the Western powers, which were willing to sacrifice respect for human rights and democratic principles in return for a guarantee of stability, advantageous trade policies and energy supplies, in some countries. Their rhetoric - they have always considered themselves lifelong democrats - has shown scrupulous respect for pluralist systems. Their actions and those of those they supported suggested quite the opposite. Hopefully their rhetoric will continue, but from PER LA PAU / PEACE IN PROGRESS | Issue 7 MARCH 2011 Page 2 PER LA PAU PEACE IN PROGRESS ICIP E-REVIEW now on they will decide to make a real effort towards consistency. It is obvious - but it also needs to be remembered - that these governments act in our name and represent us. Returning to the subject that concerns us here, nonviolence includes a variety of mechanisms aimed at social transforma- tion. Using these mechanisms does not guarantee victory, or that the objectives of the transformation may be considered positive. What is certain is that if one of the two parties to a conflict uses violence, the opportunities for resolving it, or positive transformation, are drastically reduced. It is also true that in Catalonia there have been many individuals and organisations who have advocated nonviolence as a means for transformation. Indeed, one of those people, Pepe Beunza, is featured in our interview. But taking advantage of this wealth and diversity in the nonviolent tradition in Catalonia, we also thought it appropriate to include an article on this subject written by another of the central figures in the movement, Jaume Botey. Continuing the theme of returning to the roots and discovering the sources, we have an article by Pere Ortega, who revi- ews the tradition of nonviolent thought and its central figures, and gives us a summary. The second part of the articles focuses on putting nonviolence into practice. The first, by Luca Gervasoni, makes a neces- sary distinction for the uninitiated. Nonviolent resistance and pacifism is not the same thing, although they may coincide, particularly in inspiring principles rather than in practice. He highlights

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