Post on 21-Feb-2023
Jonathan Smith
English Instructor
Lebanese American University
Teaching Nonviolence through
Student-centered Discussions
Why Peace Education?
Fostering a culture of peace (UNESCO)
“…can only be achieved with international,
sustained and systematic education for peace.”
– Hague Agenda for the 21st Century
“I felt afraid in that day. There is no
security, no safety, the situation is
getting worse.”
“I felt weak and ashamed. I feel that all the Arab people are weak and have
no power. On the other hand this is a shame for us when they kill our
leaders…that means they will kill and can kill anyone.”
Palestinian Context
Theory on Teaching Nonviolence in
Contexts of Intractable Conflict
Role-play of Class Debate
Reflection on the Debate
Actual Palestinian student responses
Overview of Workshop
Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
Ongoing since the
early 20th century
Currently seems as
un-resolvable as ever
Policy of mutual non-
recognition
Increasing physical and
psychological barriers
Internal instability
Jenin District
Jenin District
Pop. ~280,000 in 70 plus villages
Primarily agricultural area
More conservative and more isolated than Ramallah or Bethlehem
City of Jenin
Pop. ~40,000 including 14,000 in Jenin Refugee Camp
Arab American University-Jenin
Private Palestinian university founded in 1990s
Located in the countryside 6 miles from the city of Jenin
~3,000 Palestinian students from all over the West Bank and Jerusalem
majority (60 percent) from Jenin district
Why English Language Teaching (ELT) to
teach nonviolence?
Skills-based nature of
ELT courses
Effectiveness of using
sustained content
Communicative
approach to learning
Allows for sharing of
perspectives
English Courses at AAUJ
Intensive English courses
Required for all new university students
Three levels based on placement test
Students from all majors participate in courses
Integrated Skills (Reading, Writing, Listening,
Speaking)
3 credit course, 5 hours of instruction
Two hours a week in Language Lab for listening and
speaking
Peace & Conflict Advanced English
Taught a total of 8 sections with 25 students in each section from 2003-2005
Students drawn from all majors and locations
Four English instructors involved: three Americans, one Palestinian
Two had degrees in Conflict Resolution
Context of Ongoing Conflict
Purpose of course is to help students to
understand and reflect upon a conflict they
experience daily.
Limited freedom of movement
Daily checkpoints, frequent military curfews in Jenin,
building of separation barrier.
Some students missed 1/3 of all classes due to curfews
Frequent interruptions in study
During the semester: assassination of Yasin and Rantisi,
killing of a university professor by Israeli army (claimed
mistaken identity)
Student story (if time)
Peace & Conflict Advanced English
Three content modules
Introduction to Basic Concepts
What causes conflict?
What causes peace?
Skills
Each module provides practice in reading,
writing, speaking and listening
Context of Intractable Conflict
Focus shifts from interpersonal to communal
conflict (Salomon & Nevo, 2002)
Source: Salomon, G. and Nevo, B. (2002). The Dilemmas of Peace Education in Contexts
of Intractable Conflict. Palestine-Israel Journal, 8(3): 65-77.
Context of Intractable Conflict
Asymmetry of Conflict Parties“When it comes to extreme inequalities, the
agenda of the oppressed…focuses more on the experienced inequality and on the desire to correct it.” (Salomon & Nevo, 2002).
Example: Meaning of the word “nonviolence”.
Focus shifted toward how to correct injustice, to achieve positive peace.
Source: Salomon, G. and Nevo, B. (2002). The Dilemmas of Peace Education in Contexts of Intractable Conflict. Palestine-Israel Journal, 8(3): 65-77.
Applying Peace Education Pedagogy
From convincing to empowering
Student-centered classroom; teacher as
facilitator
Goal of bringing out each student’s unique
perspective
Allow students to teach each other
Encouraging open discussion
Giving students freedom to choose not to
engage with content
Alternate assignments always available
Debate Overview
Question: What is the best method of achieving positive peace for Palestinians and Israelis?
Two students argue for each of four positionsBelief in Nonviolence
Strategic Nonviolence
Strategic Violence
Belief in Violence
Debate Overview
Opening Statements (2 min. each)
Why is your method the best?
Rebuttal of Opening Statements (10 min.)
Open Discussion
Closing Statements (2 min. each)
How is your method superior to other methods?
Floor speeches and responses (10 min.)
Methods of resistance used by different leaders in history
Belief in Nonviolence Strategic Nonviolence Strategic Violence Belief in Violence
“There is nothing surprising in a Muslim or a Pathan like me believing in the creed of nonviolence. It is not a new creed. It was followed fourteen hundred years ago by the Prophet all the time he was in Mecca, and it has since been followed by all those who wanted to throw off the oppressor’s yoke.“ “Through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder. Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can't establish truth… Nonviolent resistance is not aimed against oppressors, but against oppression. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him. By nonviolent resistance, the Negro can also enlist all men of good will in his struggle for equality. The problem is not a struggle between people at all, but a tension between justice and injustice.”
“I do not deny that I planned sabotage. I did not plan it in a spirit of recklessness, nor because I have any love of violence. I planned it as a result of a calm assessment of the political situation after many years of oppression of my people by the Whites. We believed that as a result of Government policy, violence by the African people had become inevitable, and that unless responsible leadership was given to canalize and control the feelings of our people, there would be outbreaks of terrorism…we chose to break the law. We first broke the law in a way which avoided violence; when this form was legislated against, and then the Government resorted to a show of force to crush opposition to its policies, only then did we decide to answer violence with violence…but the violence which we chose to adopt was not terrorism.”
"We are nonviolent with people who are nonviolent with us. There is nothing in our book, the Koran, that teaches us to suffer peacefully. Our religion teaches us to be intelligent. Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery. That’s a good religion."
''Violence 'is a cleansing force. It frees the native from his Inferiority complex and from his despair and inaction; it makes him fearless and restores his self-respect.'' ''To shoot down a European is to kill two birds with one stone, to destroy an oppressor and the man he oppresses at the same time.'' “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun…Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed...We shall support whatever the enemy opposes and oppose whatever the enemy supports.”
nahK raffahG ludbA
,gniK rehtuL nitraM
rJ
alednaM nosleN X mloclaM nonaF znarF
gnuT esT oaM
Bios of Great Leaders Resisting
Oppression
What did they choose?
Diversity of opinions
All agreed that “Education is the best
resistance”
Those who supported violence were not
planning to participate in it.
Student Perspectives
Belief in Violence
“We are resisting against an occupier that
occupied our land. And the occupier himself
logically believes in violence, so diamonds cut
diamonds”
“The oppressor (Israel) just understands only
one language and that is violence…”
Student Perspectives
Strategic Violence
….by violent resistance we can achieve a terror
balance and raise the cost of occupation”
The first intifada did not give the Palestinian
people anything, in fact more settlements were
built during the “peaceful years” than the
years before, and nonviolence gave the Israelis
a chance to take more land from us.”
Student Perspectives
Strategic Nonviolence
“With violence we do not achieve any progress. It only makes the situation worse and brings more destruction and humiliation…non-violence is a strategy that the Israelis are not always able to bring it down”
“Israel has more power than Palestinians, so if the Palestinians kill Israeli person or make operations Israeli soldiers will come and kill more Palestinians and destroy their homes.”
Nonviolence shows that we are not terrorists because when you use violence, you will be called a “terrorist” even if it’s your right to use it.”
Student Perspectives
Belief in Nonviolence
“If you don’t use violence that doesn’t mean
you are weak. On the contrary that will make
you stronger than your opponent, and make
you a different person.”
Challenges and Possibilities
Outsider-insider
Americans teaching peace
Encourages facilitation model
Flexibility to deal with ever-changing
situation
Course always under development
Lesson plans change as situation changes
Moving from interpersonal to communal and
back
Challenges and Possibilities
Humility to learn from students and from
mistakes
Long-term rather than short-term
perspective
Student story
Role of Institutional Support
Flexibility in course design essential for a
sustained content course
Support of administration also key
But…
Peace content can still be integrated into ELT
in other ways