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In Need of a Muslim Gandhi
–by Preeti Aroon | November 06, 2006

Violence as a means to an end has been the tactic of choice for Palestinians in their struggle for self-determination. For all their efforts, the end seems to be nowhere in sight. So it is time for a new tactic. History provides an obvious, yet difficult answer:

Mahatma Gandhi, brought the British Empire to its knees through non-violent resistance.

Photo credit: dbking

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., mobilized religious groups and tapped the conscience of America with non-violent civil disobedience.

And now, if Arabs wish to fight Israeli oppression, a “Muslim Gandhi” must rise and lead the Palestinians in non-violent resistence.

The eternal struggle for land has put Israelis and Arabs on opposing sides of the political fence. For decades we’ve watched as Palestinian homes have been bulldozed or as suicide bombers have blown up Israeli pizza parlors. The Israeli-Hezbollah war is just the latest in years of aggression and violence in the Middle East, that has set the two sides into a never-ending cycle of retaliation.

A Muslim version of the Mahatma, could break the cycle of aggression. A Muslim Gandhi who led non-violent mass protests in the Middle East would give Arabs the moral high ground—the one crucial thing they lack right now. An oppressed group and its supporters become morally unimpeachable when they embrace non-violent tactics.

A non-violent leader in the Middle East would need the oral eloquence of MLK and the passionate dedication of Gandhi. He must draw his teachings from Islamic principles that exhort peace and unity among men.

A Muslim Gandhi will have to be exceptionally bold. Both Gandhi and King met untimely deaths as a result of standing for their convictions. In the Middle East, a Muslim Gandhi will face all manner of persecution.

But if no Muslim Gandhi emerges, what alternative solution is there to violence and terrorism? Currently, only violent groups such as Hezbollah are giving a loud voice to Palestinian grievances. Yet, violence doesn’t prick the world’s conscience; it only reinforces negative stereotypes.

A Muslim Gandhi who led non-violent mass protests in the Middle East would give Arabs the moral high ground... An oppressed group and its supporters become morally unimpeachable when they embrace non-violent tactics.

That’s exactly why Arabs need their own Gandhi—someone who can win by moral authority. But, is it possible? It has been attempted in the past, and those figures should be our guiding principals in the attempt for peace.

Most notable is Abdul Ghaffar Khan. As a Muslim leader from the Pashtun tribe in what is today Pakistan, he organized 100,000 Muslim followers in non-violent resistance against the British during colonial times. In 1930 they shut down Peshawar for five days through non-violent tactics.

Ghaffar Khan defied the stereotype of the violent Pashtun fighter. He embraced non-violence and required all his followers to sign a 10-point pledge that included a renunciation of violence. Unlike today’s so-called Middle Eastern freedom fighters, he saw Islam as a religion of non-violence. He believed that non-violence was a form of jihad: non-violence could lead to the purest form of martyrdom because it put one’s life at the mercy of one’s enemies.

Mohammed Abu-Nimer, a professor of international peace and conflict resolution at American University in Washington, DC, believes that Ghaffar Khan sets a precedent for Muslim non-violence. He writes, “Palestinians can follow the same path in mobilizing hundreds of thousands [of] nonviolent soldiers instead of relying on small armed groups or individual bombers.”

For young Arabs in the Middle East, the ball is in their court. Arabs there cannot choose how they are treated by Israel, but they can choose how they respond. Decades of fighting hasn’t brought jobs, prosperity or peace. It’s time to change tactics.

Decades of fighting hasn’t brought jobs, prosperity or peace. It’s time to change tactics.

It is time to put down the sword and pick up a more powerful weapon. That weapon is the one described by Abdul Ghaffar Khan when he said to his fellow Muslims, “I am going to give you such a weapon that the police and the army will not be able to stand against. It is the weapon of the Prophet, but you are not aware of it. That weapon is patience and righteousness. No power on earth can stand against it.”

Some Arabs in the Middle East may think that a Gandhi-style resistance movement is too idealistic or too naïve. Without a non-violent champion, however, the Arab cause lacks the moral high ground needed to shame Israel and the United States into a resolution to the conflict.

In a New York Times article last month, Yomana Samaha, a radio talk-show host in Cairo, she said, “Hezbollah is a resistance movement that has given us a solution.”

Wouldn’t it be great if Samaha could say instead that a non-violent leader has given Arabs a solution?

Preeti, 28, recently graduated from Duke University with a master's degree in public policy. Her background in writing includes stints as an op-ed columnist at The Chronicle (Duke's student newspaper) and at the Lexington Herald-Leader newspaper in her hometown of Lexington, Kentucky.

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