Nonviolence in Iran: An open letter from the Metta Center for Nonviolence Education

The Metta Center for Nonviolence Education, of which I am the founder, released the following statement today:

An Open Letter to Sisters and Brothers in Iran

Dear Friends,

We are a group of professors and students who work with nonviolent movements (see our site at www.mettacenter.org) and we would like to extend to you our solidarity and encouragement for your struggle. Based on our experience, we would share the following thoughts with you at this critical juncture:

Your cause is just. Despite the blackout, people all over the world are following your struggle and our hearts are with you. To have a just cause and courage are the two main requirements for a nonviolent movement, and you have both.

What you have done already is to open up a bridge between the people of Iran and the people of America and many other parts of the world. Your protest has created an emotional bridge with people everywhere — for who does not love freedom? — and shown us in the West in particular that many, many Iranians are just like us, and not the hardliners our media have often portrayed you to be. This is a great achievement that has already changed history.

But this is a critical hour. History has shown repeatedly — even your own history — that success will come in exact proportion to your ability to remain nonviolent under even extreme provocation. Gandhi insisted that apathy and cowardice are the worst forms of violence. You have moved far beyond apathy, and cowardice. But now you can take the greater step of maintaining nonviolent discipline. This will not only help you keep the support of world opinion behind you but will make you stronger and — in the end — much more effective. Hatred can dislodge oppressors, but it cannot build freedom. Remember the great discovery of Martin Luther King:

Our movement caused no explosions of anger . . . It controlled anger and released it under discipline for maximum effect.

How to do this. Nonviolence does not mean standing idly by when women and children — or anyone else — are being attacked. It doesmean doing everything possible to prevent such attacks on innocent people and if absolutely necessary intervening even with force to protect them. We do not seek out such situations, but if we suddenly find one we are justified in putting our bodies in the way of harm to protect others and in extreme cases, if there is no other way, using force on would-be attackers. If we can do this without fear or hatred, or more realistically, to the extent that we do it without fear or hatred, we are being nonviolent. However, remember that this applies only in emergencies.

How not to do it. Nonviolence definitely does not include:

• targeting individuals, even Basiji, for harm. The cardinal principle in all nonviolence is that we are never against persons, only against injustice. In an important hadith, the Prophet (pbuh) told his companions to help everyone, even an oppressor. When asked, 'How do we help an oppressor?' He replied, ""By preventing him from oppressing."
• using hateful, inflammatory language. "Death to the dictator" should never be said. As far as possible, it should never even be thought. Hate dictatorship, not dictators or their minions.
• Chanting slogans may help to create a sense of community, but after a while that energy would be better "harnessed," as Martin Luther King found, "for maximum effect." A night of silence can give a sense of more power than a night of shouting.

Let us turn to some of those proven methods.

In a strike it is very important to not only be against something, but also for the alternative you desire. Often this takes the form of Constructive Programme, where the people perform for themselves the services that the regime is providing — or withholding. For example, in Mexico when protestors were boycotting a major bread-baking corporation the women began baking bread on their own, which developed into a grassroots industry (Pan Mi General).

This can also take the powerful form of parallel institutions: schools, clinics, the media, or other services that are under the control of an undesirable regime can be substituted by the people themselves, as was done in Palestine during the First Intifada.

Finally, it is very important to create community throughout your efforts, as in part you have done by forming small groups, we understand, during massive protests. These communities will form the backbone of a more democratic society.

We want to assure you of our heartfelt support and encourage you to continue being nonviolent to the greatest extent possible. As Martin Luther King said, "unearned suffering is redemptive." Our greatest wish is that you would not have to suffer at all, but if you must endure further suffering, know that if you do so without retaliating, as the Pashtuns did so conspicuously in the Northwest Frontier Province in the 1930s, and if you have a well-thought-out strategy that uses constructive methods wherever possible and obstructive methods where necessary, you must eventually succeed, not only for yourselves but for the world.