News

Gandhi-King Season of Nonviolence

Report on opening session

30 January 2003 at UN Headquarters, attended by David Grant

The Gandhi-King "season” will last the 64 days between the 60th anniversary of Gandhi’s assassination, January 30th (the opening session), to the 40th anniversary of King’s assassination, April 4th (closing session). At this opening session the World Health Organization presented its just-released report on "Violence and Health”. Some random items of note:

• Their typology of violence is three-fold: self-directed, interpersonal and collective.

• Of the 1.6 million non-accidental deaths by violence worldwide, approximately _ is by suicide, 1/3 by homicide and 1/5 by warfare.

• In some countries the first sexual experience is by force for 40% of women and 30% of men.

• Cultures with rigid gender roles have higher levels of violence.

• Only a holistic approach will be effective, dealing with the inseparable, intertwining and interconnected sectors: society, community, family and individual.

• Their definition of "violence” is wide-ranging. The definition could easily be the basis of a deployment of NP to the United States (from which springs the "threatened use of mass violence”, identified by WHO as a root cause of global dis-ease).

Several speakers spoke of individual responsibility. In the very short question-and-answer period afterwards, the subject of the impending war against Iraq came up. I was unable to be recognized but wanted to suggest that the activity which most of the 800 individuals -- nearly all USAers -- in the conference room were doing to support research, development and deployment of by far the greatest stockpile of the world’s weapons of mass destruction was to pay their federal income taxes, one-half of which goes to the U.S. military.

It might be just as well that I did not get recognized to say this because I was frustrated enough to think further about how individuals might enact their principles on behalf of the Nonviolent Peaceforce. I came up with an idea which has been in use by others for decades but which could still be utilized by NP. Namely: we set up an escrow account for people to place the funds they refuse to pay for war (or for the weapons of mass destruction part of their nation’s military budget) ... and all or part of the interest accrued can be allotted for development of NP.

If there were one or two high-profile "celebrities” to join in, the publicity value might far outweigh the actual interest accrued, especially in the beginning. This kind of "fundraising” allows everyone to be not only a refusenik also a "yes-nik” to the development of an alternative to armed intervention. It is a non-partisan civilian intervention based upon, among others, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the World Court’s opinion on nuclear weapons and the WHO report on "Violence and Health”.

I ask for debate on this idea and submit it to NP’s International Governance Committee as a proposal to be considered for all countries, but especially for those living in nuclear states (declared or undeclared).

N.B. This event was webcast and is archived, available via internet, at: http://www.un.org/webcast. See especially the moving 17-minute "Armed and Innocent”! There is also an audio cassette and a video cassette available, apparently for the asking, from: +1-212-963-7234 or dpingo@un.org.