Can the March for Our Lives make a difference? by Warren Bull

Can the March for Our Lives make a difference?

Image from ajc.com

Many people are skeptical about the effectiveness of peaceful demonstrations. Malcolm X once said, “Nonviolence is fine as long as it works.” The question is: Are peaceful protests futile? Have nonviolent protests ever made a difference against powerful and even ruthless regimes?

Against the Roman Empire:

According to early accounts, to punish the Jews in the city of Jamnia, Syria, for destroying an altar, Emperor Gaius Caligula ordered that a gigantic gilded statue of himself should be constructed and erected in the Temple. He sent orders to Publius Petronius, the legate of Syria, to carry this decision out, with the help of military force if necessary. The Jews protested this proposed desecration of the Temple with mass demonstrations. They did not offer military resistance but Publius Petronius convinced the Emperor to delay by pointing out that was the season of the grain-harvest which the Jews might deliberately destroy; there would then be danger of a famine, which would be inconvenient for the Emperor’s travel plans. Later Gaius Caligula abandoned the project.

Opposing the Soviet Union:

During the Singing Revolution, the occupied country of Estonia literally sang its way out of the rule under the Soviet Union. In 1988, more than 100,000 Estonians gathered peacefully for five nights to protest Soviet rule. They sang to the Soviet tanks crews and soldiers sent to intimidate them. This became known as the Singing Revolution. For Estonians, historically music and singing provided a way to preserve their national identity and culture during invasions from Germany, Sweden, Denmark and others. After decades of Soviet rule, in1991 the country with a population of just 1.5 million regained its independence.

Standing up to Hitler and Nazi Germany:

When in Nazi-occupied Norway teachers were threatened and told to join the Nazi party and teach Nazism in schools to avoid serious punishment, 12,000 teachers signed a petition against the new law. A thousand teachers were arrested and sent to prison camps. Teachers still refused to comply with the law. After months of continued resistance that showed no sign of stopping, the order was cancelled. In a speech, Vidkun Quisling, a Norwegian collaborator whose last name is now a synonym for traitor, summarized: ”You teachers have destroyed everything for me!” 

In occupied Bulgaria leaders of the Orthodox Church and farmers in the northern regions of the country threatened to lay their bodies across railroad tracks to prevent Jews from being deported. This nonviolent protest emboldened the Bulgarian parliament to resist the Nazis, who eventually rescinded the deportation order, saving almost all of the country's 48,000 Jews.

Even in Nazi Germany itself, peaceful protestors achieved their goals. In February and March of 1943 6000 ”Aryan” German women stood outside the prison in Rosenstrasse in Berlin demonstrating to get their Jewish husbands and friends released. In the end 1700 prisoners were indeed released.

As the historical examples show, peaceful protests can be successful against even the most repressive regimes in history. There are, of course, no guarantees. Protestors put themselves at risk. Results may be long in coming and less than desired. On the other hand, when the demonstrations have support in the general population and when the demonstrators persist over time regardless of attempts to silence them, they confuse authorities. Government skills at ruthlessly crushing armed revolts do not work well against nonviolent resistance. When the demonstrators include people the authorities hesitate to use violence against including religious leaders, women and children, government officials may become downright baffled. They sometimes decide that the easiest way to get rid of the headache is to let the protestors have their way.

For more information please consult:

Singingrevolution.com

www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8510-jamnia

https://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/jorgen.../hitler-and-challenge-of-non-violence