How poignant… on a day when the BBC announced Hamas had agreed to implicitly accept Israel, I had lunch with a delightful 21-year-old woman who has already begun her vocation working for non-violent strategies in the world.

Aline Jaccottet, a Swiss native, has traveled to the Occupied Palestinian Territories five times. She is currently an intern at the information office at the United Nations. When she is not at the U.N., she is the Public Relations officer for the Palestinian Center for the Study of NonViolence in Lausanne, Switzerland.
http://www.pnn.ps

Her job at the Palestinian Center includes writing and editing stories for the Palestine Press Network, a press agency established in 2001. She said the idea behind PPN was to create a media focused on non-violent action to ensure this non-violent action would succeed. “Non-violent strategies need to be demonstrated in the media so they work,” she said.

Aline has studied the non-violent strategies of Martin Luther King and Bernard LaFayette, from the Center for Non-Violence and Peace Studies at the University of Rhode Island.

Unfortunately, most U.S. people believe all Palestinians as terrorists. But, Aline said many people in the Occupied Territories are experimenting with non-violent strategies. She said all cities in the Occupied Territories now have non-violent training centers. Her sources tell her even Hamas may be interested with the idea of non-violent approaches. And this would be a challenge for a regime whose origins were developed around violent action. “When people see (Palestinians) using non-violent strategies, (the people) are impressed.”

Aline is a true believer in non-violent strategies. She said it is vital for people to realize hatred is a product of suffering. To illustrate this point she told me of a conversation she had with a young woman from the OPT. The 20-year-old told Aline she wanted to be a suicide bomber. The young woman was not motivated by religion. She didn`t wear a head scarf or pray. The main reason she wanted to commit this heinous act was to reestablish her family’s pride. The woman had seen many children killed in her short life and she had also witnessed her father’s field destroyed five times by the Israelis.

Aline said she appealed to the woman with several points. Aline first told her by becoming a suicide bomber she would not gain anything for her family, but lose her family physically and spiritually. Her family would be horrified by her action because her father was a believer in non-violent action. As a result of her action, her brothers would not be able to go to school; her family could be imprisoned, lose their home or be killed.

Aline also told the young woman if she committed such an act of violence, the action could kill Aline. “I could be on the bus,” she told her. “And I want to help you.” Aline told her that her actions could result in one less advocate for the Palestinians.

Aline then appealed to the young woman’s spirituality. Even though the young woman didn’t practice Islam in the strictest sense, the young woman was aware of the Islamic teachings against killing.

Finally, Aline asked the young woman if it was difficult to hate. “It’s horrible,” she responded. In the end, the young woman was moved by Aline’s pleas. That was the most Aline had hoped to accomplish.

The most important message Aline said she wanted to share with U.S. students about non-violence is an adage she learned from Bernard LaFayette: “Don’t trust your first impression.” She added, first impressions lead you to think one side is right and one side is wrong... But you must discover what is behind the hatred. When you discover this, you can begin a real dialogue toward peace.

Talking to Aline has made me realize how powerful young people can be in their quest for peace.