Sami Awad: Palestinian Nonviolence: Muslims, Not Christians, Are the Leaders
►http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sami-awad/palestinian-nonviolence-c_b_905095.html?ref=tw
Even though we never look at it through a religious lens, the reality on the ground is that when it comes to nonviolence in Palestine, it is not Christians but Muslims who are engaging in this tremendous work. It is Palestinian Muslims who are the main leaders, the organizers, the activists and the strategists, and only some Christians are active in nonviolent resistance.
The men and women organizing the protests each week in villages where land is being confiscated and the separation wall is being built, chaining themselves to olive trees so they don’t get uprooted and laying in front of bulldozers are Muslims. When we organize protests that fall on Christian holidays, like an Easter protest or the Palm Sunday march to Jerusalem, 90 percent of the protestors were Muslims, standing in solidarity with the rights of the Christian brothers and sisters to pray in Jerusalem. Many Muslims, some of whom are my closest friends, like Basim and Naji Tamimi from a small village called Nabi Saleh whom I have worked with and trained with for years, are now locked up in Israeli prisons because of their nonviolent actions.