Democracy Now: Norman Finkelstein on What Gandhi Says About Nonviolence, Resistance and Courage

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Comment by Tony Nuspl on August 27, 2012 at 1:09pm

Family of slain US activist awaits verdict

 

Sunday, Aug. 26, 2012, in Jerusalem --. Almost a decade after their daughter was crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer as she tried to block its path in a Gaza Strip war zone, Rachel Corrie's parents are bracing for the judge's ruling in their high-profile civil lawsuit against the military.

Corrie, a pro-Palestinian activist, was 23 when she was killed in March 2003 while she and other activists sought to block an Israeli military bulldozer they believed was about to demolish Palestinian homes in the Gaza border town of Rafah. The driver has said he didn't see Corrie, and the death was accidental.

The Israeli army had been undertaking systematic house demotions in the densely populated border area, trying to halt shooting and mortar attacks against soldiers and Jewish settlers who used the route. The house destruction sparked international condemnation at the time.

While several foreign activists were killed or wounded in confrontations with the Israeli military during the last decade, Corrie's case has taken on special meaning for Palestinian activists.

For her supporters, she became a symbol of what they say is Israel's harsh repression of nonviolent protest to occupation. They saw in her a young middle class American who died believing that she was defending the homes of strangers. She was a passionate writer whose works showed how deeply moved she was by the suffering she saw around her.

Corrie belonged to the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement, whose activists enter conflict zones and try interfere with activities of Israel's military. Supporters of Israel argue that Corrie, like thousands of other foreign activists, recklessly chose to risk her life.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501713_162-57500555/family-of-slain-us-...

Comment by Tony Nuspl on June 16, 2012 at 1:45pm

Norman Finkelstein points out that Gandhi is "like the Occupy Movement" because its non-violent activism started where people are already at. Successful non-violence taps into a sentiment that is already there, starting from the consciousness of where everybody is. In the case of OWS, no one had to educate us about corruption. OWS found the perfect slogan, "We are the 99%", that quickened the conscience of the public to get them to act on what they already know is wrong. That's the Gandhian strategy.