Lewis: Peace still possible between Israel, Palestinians

Although the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. did not start the civil rights movement, the world would be a very different place if he hadn't catalyzed it.

Today, Palestinians live in a situation similar to that of pre-1960s African Americans but their approach to changing that is very different -- and likely to fail -- unless they take a look at how King's nonviolence approach.

Desegregation of the United States in the 1960s was not accomplished by attacking civilians, but mostly by the focused, unrelenting leaders and followers of the peaceful civil rights movement who put themselves in harms way to attain their rights. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is fueled by the exact opposite, violence and strife.

Today, Palestinians lack fundamental rights to a good education and jobs, a decent standard of living and the freedom of movement of goods and people.

But peace is still possible. And whether peace is realized may rest with the actions of a small group of Palestinians who harness the power and promise of nonviolence.

In January 2013, the Israeli government announced plans to build a new settlement in Bab al-Shams an expanse of land in the West Bank. Palestinians were outraged because Bab al-Shams was delineated as Palestinian territory, leading them to believe that they had a say in what was built there. After the Israeli announcement, 250 Palestinians peacefully set up a camp on the barren expanse of land in a temporary village participating in this conflict's first sit-in.

Palestinian protesters even won an injunction from the Israeli Supreme Court barring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from removing them. During the six-day protest, not one rock was thrown and not one bullet was fired: the Palestinians simply set up camp on land that they believed was rightfully theirs, no different from Greensboro, N.C., students who sat in a segregated restaurant for four days spurring the American civil rights movement.

After the Bab al-Shams protest, 500 soldiers with the Israeli Defense Forces raided the village and cleared out the peaceful protesters under the orders of Netanyahu. They arrested 100 Palestinians and ignored the Israeli Supreme Court injunction, claiming the activists "harm[ed] the contiguity between Jerusalem and Maale Adumim." Even though the Palestinian activists were unceremoniously evacuated, nothing further happened: no Israeli settlements were built, and Bab al-Shams stands today, a swath of undeveloped land, a beacon for a peaceful Palestinian movement.

The protest worked but years of throwing rocks, launching missiles and losing lives did not. These Palestinian peace activists found the key to a potential nonviolent arrangement between them and the Israelis. But they failed to use it to spread the message of nonviolence. Even the participants in the recent protests in the West Bank who started peacefully have been calling for a third intifada.

Both sides are at fault for this situation.

I do not condone many of the decisions made by the Israeli government regarding Palestinians and I do not condone many of the decisions made by Hamas. Israel's use of missile strikes in civilian areas was excessive, even if the Hamas leadership is hiding among civilians. The loss of life is unpalatable, but that does not mean that all of Israel's actions are without justification. Israel is bordered by a strip of land run by a government whose written purpose is to carry out their destruction, Hamas.

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Hamas is a direct threat to Israel, the Palestinian people are not. Sadly, even when Hamas' approval rating by its own citizens is nearing 20 percent, it is Palestinians who get punished. Palestinian citizens want positive change and they thought Hamas would bring it. Sadly, that was not the case. Hamas' government has failed.

There is reason to be hopeful, however. The protest at Bab al-Shams shows that no matter how much violence is used, nonviolence will always have the upper hand. Bab al-Shams was not just one of the few peaceful Palestinian movements: it was the only successful one. Violence has only reversed progress, suicide bombings brought the wall, and the intifadas brought heavier security measures and a loss of recognition from the surrounding Arab nations.

A violent reaction has only made and will only make the relationship between the Palestinians and the Israelis worse; but a nonviolent one may provide a pathway to a resolution. What the Palestinians need is a courageous leader who, like King, is willing to put aside his pride and pain and march, sit, preach, and protest, peacefully, toward a two-state solution.

But the only way this peace process can begin is by establishing trust between the Israelis and Palestinians. There is a long road to peace, but the only way to attain it is by marching, side by side, with heads high, and hearts filled with thoughts of peace rather than hands filled with weapons, ready to endure anything to ensure a better future.

Daniel Lewis is a senior at Georgetown Day School in Washington, D.C. He spent last summer as one of the American representatives at Seeds of Peace, a conflict-resolution program.