Creating a Culture of Peace

In a brief speech today, Barak Obama attributed the success of the revolution in Egypt to "the moral force of nonviolence."  But the story of how nonviolence was used to organize the movement over the past three weeks is little known. 

These two photos posted on Twitter by Nevine Zaki, for example, illustrate one of the innovative nonviolent tactics used in the field.  They show Christians holding hands (see the Coptic cross wrist tatoo in the second photo) in a demonstration of protection during Muslim prayers in Tahrir Square. 

This took place one week ago, after protesters had been attacked by Mubarak supporters.  Furthermore, it was only a month after the bombing of a church in Alexandria where many Christians died.  "Yet," Zaki writes, "we all stood by each other."  Last Sunday the roles were reversed, with Muslim protesters providing a nonviolent barrier around a Christian worship service in Tahrir Square.

Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim led an orchestra of European musicians in a concert in Gaza on May 3.  This represents a creative use of musical nonviolence intended (as Barenboim is quoted by the New York Times as saying), "to demonstrate European solidarity with Gazan civil society.”

Here is a new video from the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers, a group of young Afghans committed to living according to Gandhian principles.  The video was made last month by the founder, Hakim, as they were visited by a Voices for Creative Nonviolence delegation from the United States.  For more info, see:  http://ourjourneytosmile.com.