In June, as part of GNN's commitment to trying to inject an intentional "nonviolence message" into commemorations of the 40 years of Israel's occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and Golan, Co-chair Neven Bondokji organized two half-day workshops on the topic of nonviolence for Jordanian and refugee youth in Amman, Jordan. (The refugees were Iraqi nationals, survivors of some of the worst violence in today's world who are among the two million Iraqis currently living as refugees in Jordan and Syria.)
For more details of GNN's mobilization around the June commemorations, click here.
Neven wrote a great report on the workshops in Amman. You can read the full text of that here. It starts like this:
- "Non-Violence: The Ignored Option"
Workshops on 10 & 15 June 2007
Amman- Jordan
Under the banner of GNN, two workshops were held in Amman with around 30 participants of Jordanian and refugee youth to explain the philosophy of non-violence and to explore non-violence as an option in daily lives and political contexts.
The first workshop was held on June 10th and addressed refugee youth of ages 14-18 years. The second workshop was held on June 15th addressing Jordanian youth of ages 19-24 years.
- Workshop Agenda
Introduction –GNN
Questionnaire & exercise "what is violence?"
Forms of violence
Violence and counter options
Elements of nonviolence
Methods of nonviolence
Nonviolence philosophy in the global context
Role play/ case studies
Understand nonviolence as an approach
- At the beginning of workshops, most participants defined violence in forms of physical and verbal violence. Almost 90% of female participants defined violence to include verbal violence. Around 35% of participants referred to structural violence that deprives them from certain rights.
In defining non-violence at the beginning, 15% said they don’t know; 45% defined it as dialogue or talking to the "other" while 30% defined it as trust and peace.
After the workshops, participants defined non-violence as a method that builds peace and trust. Many referred to some means or elements of non-violence to define it. Around 40% of participants said more awareness sessions or campaigns on non-violence must be organized.