How women wage conflict without violence
-
0:01 - 0:05Twelve years ago, I picked up
a camera for the first time -
0:05 - 0:09to film the olive harvest
in a Palestinian village in the West Bank. -
0:10 - 0:12I thought I was there
to make a single documentary -
0:12 - 0:15and would then move on
to some other part of the world. -
0:15 - 0:17But something kept bringing me back.
-
0:18 - 0:22Now, usually, when international audiences
hear about that part of the world, -
0:22 - 0:26they often just want
that conflict to go away. -
0:26 - 0:30The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is bad,
and we wish it could just disappear. -
0:30 - 0:33We feel much the same way
about other conflicts around the world. -
0:34 - 0:37But every time we turn
our attention to the news, -
0:37 - 0:40it seems like one more country
has gone up in flames. -
0:42 - 0:43So I've been wondering
-
0:43 - 0:46whether we should not start
looking at conflict in a different way -- -
0:47 - 0:51whether instead of simply
wishing to end conflict, -
0:51 - 0:55we focus instead on how to wage conflict.
-
0:55 - 0:57This has been a big question for me,
-
0:57 - 1:01one I've pursued together with my team
at the nonprofit Just Vision. -
1:02 - 1:06After witnessing several different kinds
of struggles in the Middle East, -
1:06 - 1:11I started noticing some patterns
on the more successful ones. -
1:11 - 1:15I wondered whether these variables
held across cases, and if they did, -
1:15 - 1:20what lessons we could glean
for waging constructive conflict, -
1:20 - 1:23in Palestine, Israel and elsewhere.
-
1:24 - 1:26There is some science about this.
-
1:27 - 1:31In a study of 323
major political conflicts -
1:31 - 1:34from 1900 to 2006,
-
1:34 - 1:39Maria Stephan and Erica Chenoweth
found that nonviolent campaigns -
1:39 - 1:46were almost 100 percent more likely
to lead to success than violent campaigns. -
1:46 - 1:50Nonviolent campaigns are also
less likely to cause physical harm -
1:50 - 1:52to those waging the campaign,
-
1:52 - 1:54as well as their opponents.
-
1:55 - 2:00And, critically, they typically lead
to more peaceful and democratic societies. -
2:01 - 2:06In other words, nonviolent resistance
is a more effective and constructive way -
2:06 - 2:07of waging conflict.
-
2:09 - 2:12But if that's such an easy choice,
why don't more groups use it? -
2:13 - 2:16Political scientist Victor Asal
and colleagues -
2:16 - 2:18have looked at several factors
-
2:18 - 2:20that shape a political group's
choice of tactics. -
2:21 - 2:24And it turns out
that the greatest predictor -
2:25 - 2:29of a movement's decision
to adopt nonviolence or violence -
2:29 - 2:34is not whether that group
is more left-wing or right-wing, -
2:34 - 2:39not whether the group is more or less
influenced by religious beliefs, -
2:39 - 2:42not whether it's up against
a democracy or a dictatorship, -
2:42 - 2:46and not even the levels of repression
that that group is facing. -
2:47 - 2:51The greatest predictor of a movement's
decision to adopt nonviolence -
2:52 - 2:57is its ideology regarding
the role of women in public life. -
2:57 - 3:01(Applause)
-
3:03 - 3:06When a movement includes in its discourse
-
3:06 - 3:08language around gender equality,
-
3:08 - 3:11it increases dramatically
the chances it will adopt nonviolence, -
3:11 - 3:14and thus, the likelihood it will succeed.
-
3:14 - 3:17The research squared up
with my own documentation -
3:17 - 3:20of political organizing
in Israel and Palestine. -
3:20 - 3:25I've noticed that movements which
welcome women into leadership positions, -
3:25 - 3:28such as the one I documented
in a village called Budrus, -
3:28 - 3:31were much more likely
to achieve their goals. -
3:32 - 3:36This village was under a real threat
of being wiped off the map -
3:36 - 3:39when Israel started building
the separation barrier. -
3:40 - 3:41The proposed route would require
-
3:41 - 3:46the destruction of this community's
olive groves, their cemeteries -
3:46 - 3:49and would ultimately
enclose the village from all sides. -
3:50 - 3:52Through inspired local leadership,
-
3:52 - 3:55they launched a nonviolent resistance
campaign to stop that from happening. -
3:56 - 4:00The odds were massively
stacked against them. -
4:01 - 4:04But they had a secret weapon:
-
4:06 - 4:08a 15-year-old girl
-
4:08 - 4:10who courageously jumped
in front of a bulldozer -
4:10 - 4:14which was about to uproot
an olive tree, stopping it. -
4:15 - 4:18In that moment, the community
of Budrus realized what was possible -
4:18 - 4:23if they welcomed and encouraged women
to participate in public life. -
4:24 - 4:27And so it was that the women of Budrus
went to the front lines day after day, -
4:27 - 4:32using their creativity and acumen
to overcome multiple obstacles they faced -
4:32 - 4:34in a 10-month unarmed struggle.
-
4:35 - 4:37And as you can probably
tell at this point, -
4:37 - 4:38they win at the end.
-
4:40 - 4:43The separation barrier
was changed completely -
4:43 - 4:45to the internationally
recognized green line, -
4:45 - 4:49and the women of Budrus
came to be known across the West Bank -
4:49 - 4:51for their indomitable energy.
-
4:53 - 4:55(Applause)
-
4:55 - 4:57Thank you.
-
5:01 - 5:03I want to pause for a second,
which you helped me do, -
5:03 - 5:07because I do want to tackle
two very serious misunderstandings -
5:07 - 5:09that could happen at this point.
-
5:10 - 5:13The first one is that I don't believe
-
5:13 - 5:18women are inherently or essentially
more peaceful than men. -
5:20 - 5:23But I do believe that in today's world,
-
5:23 - 5:26women experience power differently.
-
5:27 - 5:30Having had to navigate
being in the less powerful position -
5:30 - 5:33in multiple aspects of their lives,
-
5:33 - 5:36women are often more adept
-
5:36 - 5:39at how to surreptitiously
pressure for change -
5:39 - 5:42against large, powerful actors.
-
5:42 - 5:46The term "manipulative," often charged
against women in a derogatory way, -
5:46 - 5:50reflects a reality in which women
have often had to find ways -
5:50 - 5:53other than direct confrontation
to achieve their goals. -
5:54 - 5:58And finding alternatives
to direct confrontation -
5:58 - 6:01is at the core of nonviolent resistance.
-
6:02 - 6:05Now to the second
potential misunderstanding. -
6:05 - 6:08I've been talking a lot about
my experiences in the Middle East, -
6:08 - 6:10and some of you might be thinking now
-
6:10 - 6:14that the solution then is for us
to educate Muslim and Arab societies -
6:14 - 6:15to be more inclusive of their women.
-
6:16 - 6:19If we were to do that,
they would be more successful. -
6:21 - 6:24They do not need this kind of help.
-
6:25 - 6:28Women have been part
of the most influential movements -
6:28 - 6:30coming out of the Middle East,
-
6:31 - 6:36but they tend to be invisible
to the international community. -
6:36 - 6:39Our cameras are largely focused on the men
-
6:39 - 6:42who often end up involved
in the more confrontational scenes -
6:42 - 6:45that we find so irresistible
in our news cycle. -
6:46 - 6:50And we end up with a narrative
that not only erases women -
6:50 - 6:52from the struggles in the region
-
6:52 - 6:57but often misrepresents
the struggles themselves. -
6:58 - 7:03In the late 1980s,
an uprising started in Gaza, -
7:03 - 7:06and quickly spread to the West Bank
and East Jerusalem. -
7:08 - 7:12It came to be known as the First Intifada,
-
7:12 - 7:14and people who have
any visual memory of it -
7:14 - 7:17generally conjure up something like this:
-
7:18 - 7:22Palestinian men
throwing rocks at Israeli tanks. -
7:23 - 7:24The news coverage at the time
-
7:24 - 7:29made it seem like stones,
Molotov cocktails and burning tires -
7:29 - 7:32were the only activities
taking place in the Intifada. -
7:34 - 7:40This period, though, was also marked
by widespread nonviolent organizing -
7:40 - 7:45in the forms of strikes, sit-ins
and the creation of parallel institutions. -
7:46 - 7:47During the First Intifada,
-
7:47 - 7:51whole sectors of the Palestinian
civilian population mobilized, -
7:51 - 7:54cutting across generations,
factions and class lines. -
7:55 - 7:58They did this through networks
of popular committees, -
7:58 - 8:01and their use of direct action
and communal self-help projects -
8:01 - 8:04challenged Israel's very ability
-
8:04 - 8:07to continue ruling the West Bank and Gaza.
-
8:08 - 8:10According to the Israeli Army itself,
-
8:10 - 8:1697 percent of activities
during the First Intifada were unarmed. -
8:17 - 8:21And here's another thing that is not
part of our narrative about that time. -
8:21 - 8:24For 18 months in the Intifada,
-
8:24 - 8:28women were the ones
calling the shots behind the scenes: -
8:28 - 8:30Palestinian women from all walks of life
-
8:30 - 8:34in charge of mobilizing
hundreds of thousands of people -
8:34 - 8:37in a concerted effort to withdraw
consent from the occupation. -
8:39 - 8:44Naela Ayesh, who strived to build
a self-sufficient Palestinian economy -
8:44 - 8:49by encouraging women in Gaza
to grow vegetables in their backyards, -
8:49 - 8:53an activity deemed illegal
by the Israeli authorities at that time; -
8:54 - 8:58Rabeha Diab, who took over
decision-making authority -
8:58 - 8:59for the entire uprising
-
8:59 - 9:01when the men who had been running it
-
9:01 - 9:02were deported;
-
9:03 - 9:09Fatima Al Jaafari, who swallowed leaflets
containing the uprising's directives -
9:09 - 9:12in order to spread them
across the territories -
9:12 - 9:13without getting caught;
-
9:15 - 9:16and Zahira Kamal,
-
9:16 - 9:20who ensured the longevity of the uprising
-
9:20 - 9:21by leading an organization
-
9:21 - 9:26that went from 25 women
to 3,000 in a single year. -
9:29 - 9:31Despite their extraordinary achievements,
-
9:31 - 9:36none of these women have made it
into our narrative of the First Intifada. -
9:38 - 9:40We do this in other parts
of the globe, too. -
9:41 - 9:45In our history books, for instance,
and in our collective consciousness, -
9:45 - 9:48men are the public faces and spokespersons
-
9:48 - 9:52for the 1960s struggle
for racial justice in the United States. -
9:53 - 9:57But women were also
a critical driving force, -
9:57 - 10:00mobilizing, organizing,
taking to the streets. -
10:01 - 10:03How many of us think of Septima Clark
-
10:03 - 10:06when we think of the United States
Civil Rights era? -
10:08 - 10:09Remarkably few.
-
10:11 - 10:15But she played a crucial role
in every phase of the struggle, -
10:15 - 10:19particularly by emphasizing
literacy and education. -
10:19 - 10:21She's been omitted, ignored,
-
10:21 - 10:25like so many other women
who played critical roles -
10:25 - 10:27in the United States
Civil Rights Movement. -
10:30 - 10:32This is not about getting credit.
-
10:33 - 10:35It's more profound than that.
-
10:36 - 10:41The stories we tell matter deeply
to how we see ourselves, -
10:41 - 10:43and to how we believe movements are run
-
10:43 - 10:45and how movements are won.
-
10:46 - 10:49The stories we tell about a movement
like the First Intifada -
10:49 - 10:51or the United States Civil Rights era
-
10:51 - 10:55matter deeply
and have a critical influence -
10:55 - 10:58in the choices Palestinians,
-
10:58 - 10:59Americans
-
10:59 - 11:01and people around the world will make
-
11:01 - 11:03next time they encounter an injustice
-
11:03 - 11:06and develop the courage to confront it.
-
11:07 - 11:11If we do not lift up the women who played
critical roles in these struggles, -
11:11 - 11:15we fail to offer up role models
to future generations. -
11:16 - 11:19Without role models, it becomes harder
-
11:19 - 11:22for women to take up their rightful space
-
11:22 - 11:24in public life.
-
11:25 - 11:27And as we saw earlier,
-
11:27 - 11:29one of the most critical variables
-
11:29 - 11:33in determining whether
a movement will be successful or not -
11:34 - 11:38is a movement's ideology
regarding the role of women -
11:38 - 11:39in public life.
-
11:40 - 11:42This is a question of whether we're moving
-
11:42 - 11:45towards more democratic
and peaceful societies. -
11:47 - 11:50In a world where so much
change is happening, -
11:50 - 11:54and where change is bound to continue
at an increasingly faster pace, -
11:55 - 11:59it is not a question
of whether we will face conflict, -
12:00 - 12:01but rather a question
-
12:01 - 12:05of which stories will shape
-
12:05 - 12:08how we choose to wage conflict.
-
12:09 - 12:10Thank you.
-
12:10 - 12:15(Applause)
- Title:
- How women wage conflict without violence
- Speaker:
- Julia Bacha
- Description:
-
Are you setting out to change the world? Here's a stat you should know: nonviolent campaigns are 100 percent more likely to succeed than violent ones. So why don't more groups use it when faced with conflict? Filmmaker Julia Bacha shares stories of effective nonviolent resistance, including eye-opening research on the crucial leadership role that women play.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 12:27
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How women wage conflict without violence | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How women wage conflict without violence | ||
Helene Batt edited English subtitles for How women wage conflict without violence | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How women wage conflict without violence | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How women wage conflict without violence | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How women wage conflict without violence | ||
Brian Greene approved English subtitles for How women wage conflict without violence | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How women wage conflict without violence |