Open Letter to the Student Nonviolent Movement in Kosova

by David Hartsough

April 1998

Dear Friends,

I want to thank you for the opportunity to visit Kosova in March and to witness your massive Nonviolent Movement - for an end to the terror, violence and oppression in Kosova and for peace, freedom and self-determination. You are engaging in a courageous and powerful nonviolent struggle and your message is being heard around the world. Keep up the Great Work!

It was very sad to be thrown into prison for working to support a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Kosova. Being in a Serbian jail gave us a small taste of what thousands of political prisoners have been experiencing in Kosova for many years. But, of course, many of them have spent 5, 10 or 15 years in prison (or Adem Demaci -28 years) rather than our three days.

Perhaps most difficult was being escorted out of the jail and given two minutes to go to our homes to pick up our things and have no chance to say good-bye to all our dear friends there before being expelled from the country. Thanks very much for your concern for our welfare and for your expressions of concern which helped set us free. . We are fine and are trying to use the international attention to us to call attention to your nonviolent movement and your courage and determination to be free.

I was disappointed not to be able to continue the series of nonviolence workshops which I had started sponsored by the Independent Student Union. I would like to share in writing some of my impressions, concerns and thoughts which I cannot share with you in person now since I am banned from the country for three years.

There are three choices before the Albanian people in Kosova:

a) To accept the violence of the oppressive Serbian regime. This, of course, is totally unacceptable.

b) To take up the gun to try to achieve freedom. In my mind, this option is also totally unacceptable when I look at the hundreds of thousands who died in Bosnia and the total destruction of that society as well as the bitterness and hatred which is inevitably left after a war.

c) Use active nonviolent resistance to free yourselves from the yoke of oppression and tyranny which is killing you. It is this third option which hundreds of thousands of you have decided is the best and most effective option. I fully support your decision and would like to make a few observations.

The passive nonviolent resistance, noncooperation and parallel system of schools, medical centers and the parallel government in Kosova which you have developed over the past eight years is historic and very important. You have preserved your Spirit, culture, language and sense of community even in the face of terrible repression. That is a great victory!

The University students and the UPSUP have played a crucial and very important role since last fall in overcoming your fear and organizing large scale disciplined active nonviolent demonstrations demanding the right to return to your university buildings. Since I met Martin Luther King when I was 15 years old, I have been participating in and organizing nonviolent

demonstrations and nonviolent movements and I have never seen such strong nonviolent discipline and such courage in the face of police violence and intimidation as in your student demonstrations.

It is because of your courageous and valiant efforts that the agreement for implementing the education agreement was signed while we were in jail and all school and university buildings are to be returned for use of the whole population of Kosova starting June 30, 1998. And the keys to the Faculty of Albanology were handed over to you on March 31! That is a TREMENDOUS Victory!

You have shown the whole Kosova society that active nonviolence can make a difference and that it is possible to challenge and change the oppressive society which has been killing you all these years! Keep up the great work!!! It is important now to go back to the university buildings and make sure that the agreement is fully implemented. Your protection will be international presence and journalists. The eyes, ears and conscience of the international community will be with you. You are not alone! You have discovered that nonviolence is not for cowards. It probably takes more courage to demonstrate nonviolently for what you believe in facing a line of police with automatic weapons than it does to pull a trigger of a gun and kill someone.

WHY NONVIOLENCE? I know some people are questioning the efficacy of nonviolence. Why is it important to use nonviolent means as a means of struggle?

1.When you use violence, you attack the opponent where his strength is greatest. The Serbian police and military can outgun you 1,000 or 1,000,000 to one. The Milosevic government knows how to deal with violence. They hope you will use violence. When you use violence, they just start shooting all their guns and tanks, firing from helicopters, increase the repression, they massacre whole villages, etc. By contrast, the dictator and police do not know how to deal with courageous and active nonviolence. The oppressor's power exists only as long as it is able to instill fear. When the people have overcome their fear as hundreds of thousands of you have done, the dictator's power disappears.

2. If your goal is a democratic and peaceful society, it is very important to use nonviolent means to achieve your freedom. As far as I know, in this century, there has not been one overthrow of a dictatorial government using armed struggle that has ended up in a democratic society. When you use violence to gain power, there is a strong attraction to continue to use violence to keep power.

3. When you use nonviolent means even in the face of violent oppression by the dictator, you gain more and more support from the whole international community. The greater the gulf between the nonviolence of the demonstrators and the violence of the system and the police, the greater and the sooner you rally international public opinion. On the other hand, when you use violence, the issue often gets lost in the eyes of the international public opinion and this will be seen as just another civil war or one of those "terrible Balkan Wars" where everyone is killing each other.

4. In a violent conflict, many people die and the seeds of enmity and hatred can continue to poison the atmosphere for generations. In contrast, in nonviolent struggle, we never allow ourselves to dehumanize one another and we build the foundation for a new society with respect for all people as part of our struggle.

5. If there is another Balkan War starting in Kosova, I am afraid it could be much worse than the war in Bosnia where 200,000 precious human beings were killed and the whole society was destroyed . I believe that there would be no victors in such a war. The suffering and tragedy for all the people of Kosova and people of the countries in the whole area which might be pulled into such a war, would be unimaginable. Whatever the outcome, I cannot imagine that "freedom" could have much meaning amidst such death and destruction.

6. When you use violent means (as in shooting policemen), this gives the government the excuse they want to vastly increase the repression and violence against the people. The whole society will suffer as a result of the use of violence by a few.

7. Only a relatively few can use guns - mostly young men who can go into the mountains and learn to be soldiers) In nonviolent struggle, the whole society can be involved - women, children, old people, families, students, etc. Why limit yourselves to a relatively small proportion of the population for the important struggle before your society?

8. Killing is wrong. No one likes to kill or be killed. The solution to the world's problems lies not in more violence and killing, but in stopping the cycle of death and destruction and in building a society where we respect one another across racial, national and religious boundaries and where we focus our energies on reconciliation and peacemaking and peace-building.

9. Powerful nonviolent movements around the world have shown and are showing that it is possible to overthrow oppressive governments through nonviolent means. Courageous nonviolent movements have overthrown dictatorships (often with students in the forefront) in Guatemala, in El Salvador, in India, in the Philippines, in Iran, in Russia, in Czechoslovakia, in Poland, in East Germany, in Hungary, in Bulgaria, in Russia, in Hungary, in Estonia, in Latvia and in Lithuania, in South Africa, in Chile, etc. You are continuing to make history by demonstrating the power of active nonviolence!

Some Friendly suggestions:

1. Develop a clear strategy. The military never fights a war without a strategy. It is the same for a nonviolent movement. Create a plan of action.

What is your plan for victory? How do you hope to get from where you are now to your goal? Where do you hope to be in one, two or six months? What are the kinds of actions and campaigns and demonstrations which are likely to get you to your desired goal? What is your plan of action for the next month, for the next two months, etc?

2. Be creative in your actions and activities. Gene Sharp, a well known scholar and historian, outlines 198 methods of nonviolent action which have been used around the world and details in his book, The Politics of Nonviolent Action, examples where all of these 198 methods have been used.

What if, for instance, students and professors from each faculty at the university were to brainstorm/strategize the five most creative and powerful nonviolent actions they can think of. Then representatives of all the faculties could get together and out of all those good ideas, decide on the five most creative and powerful nonviolent actions for the larger movement and then plan and organize those actions together. Then the next five, etc The plan you have already instituted to have people all over the country demonstrate or "walk" for half an hour each day is great! This keeps the issue before the world consciousness and also keeps the spirit of unity and strength among the people...

Just to get your own creative juices going, here are a few ideas:

a) whenever the police block you on the streets, have everyone sit down and be totally silent and be non-threatening to them.

b) Have a massive "die in" on the main streets in which tens of thousands lie down on the streets symbolizing the death of the Albanian people in Kosova if ethnic cleansing is allowed to happen there.

c) Build a big facade of a prison with bars and have thousands of people behind the bars with the sign that the whole Albanian population of Kosova is in prison.

d) Do cultural activities - including music, theater, and performances symbolizing Albanian culture, etc.

e) pick a symbol such as a small ribbon everyone wears which symbolizes people's commitment to freedom and to nonviolence.

f) find something everyone can do like lighting a candle each evening at 9pm or just after dark, or five minutes of silence each day at noon (in which everyone stops work, school, or other chores) to recommit themselves to the nonviolent struggle for freedom. This could be considered a five minute general strike each day.

3. Keep your nonviolent discipline even when provoked by the police or Serbian civilians. The UPSUP Protest Declaration including the Main Principles and Rules of Protesters in Nonviolent and Peaceful Protests of the University of Pristina is excellent! Somehow, it is important to get all people participating in the massive demonstrations in Pristina and all over Kosova to agree to this same set of "Main Principles and Rules of Protesters." The peaceful tone, nonviolent discipline and control you have had during all the student protests is beautiful and powerful. Perhaps you can train others - both other students and others in the broader community to gain the skills of controlling and keeping the larger demonstrations nonviolent. I deeply believe that if your movement can maintain your protests and other powerful nonviolent actions and maintain your nonviolence, even in the face of police harassment, violence, or even killing, you will win!! World public opinion will increasingly support your movement while

the Milosevic regime and police will be increasingly isolated.

4. Remember Mahatma Gandhi's saying that the means must be consonant with the ends you are seeking. In other words, if you desire a peaceful society where there is respect for the human rights of all, make sure that the means you use to achieve that end is peaceful and respectful of the human rights of all.

5. Make a clear distinction between the oppressive Milosevic regime and the Serbian people, many (or perhaps most) of whom are also victims of the Milosevic regime. For example, the refugees who had to flee the war in Bosnia and Croatia because of Milosevic's nationalistic policies or any of the Serbian people who are subjected to the constant lies and propaganda of the Milosevic regime. Remember, Serbs as people are not inhuman. I met Serbs in Pristina who quietly support the Albanian students and the Albanian people in their nonviolent movement for justice. Some have been fired from their jobs for speaking out against the Serbian repression of the Albanian people. At your demonstrations I would encourage you to have signs in Serbian and other languages as well which will communicate directly the messages you wish to communicate. That way you do not depend on the Serbian reporters to explain what you are trying to say with your protests.

6. To the extent possible, make alliances with Serbian groups who are willing to dialogue and work for a peaceful solution which respects the human and cultural rights of all people. I was very impressed with the Serbian students from the Student Union in Belgrade, for instance, who came to Pristina March 13 to witness and support the Albanian students in their peaceful and nonviolent protests. I was also impressed with the relationship of friendship and mutual respect between the Belgrade students and the Albanian students. It is important to keep reaching out to potential allies within the Serbian community. To the extent you can maintain your nonviolence even in the midst of the police repression, the support from different parts of the Serbian community is bound to increase. Invite others from the progressive community in Serbia to come witness your nonviolent demonstrations and use this opportunity to get to know one another as people( and hopefully as friends).

7. Always be willing to talk with the opponent - dialogue rather than war.

Talking rather than killing. As Gandhi said, stay steadfast on the principles which are most important, but be willing to compromise on smaller non-essentials. I think the Adem Demaci proposal for Balkania which would have three self-governing republics- Serbia, Kosova, and Montenegro within the new country of Balkania with international guarantees for the respect of human rights and territorial integrity of each of these republics, is a good compromise solution which deserves broad attention and support.

8. .I know some people are feeling tempted to pick up a gun to try to achieve freedom. But this is exactly what Milosevic wants. He may even provoke people to become violent because then he can use all his military might to destroy the movement and kill a lot of people. It also gives him the excuse to institute even more repressive policies to protect "law and order".

9. It is important not to allow the opponent to pull you down to be like him. It is important not to be contaminated by his dangerous policy of ethnic cleansing. Your policy, in contrast, needs to be clearly one of respect for every human being - Albanian, Serbian, Turk, gypsy, man, woman, child, foreigner, etc. This is crucial in helping build international support for your movement. To the extent that the world sees that you honestly respect every human being and are working for a solution which will respect the human and cultural rights of all people, you will gain greater international support.

10. Take the opportunity to deepen and strengthen your understanding of nonviolence. The UPSUP has a good library of books and videos on nonviolence and nonviolent movements around the world. Borrow one of these books, look at one of the videos and discuss them with friends. What is relevant for your movement? What can you learn from other movements and how can you strengthen your nonviolent movement? You have good resource people in Pristina, and others from around the world will visit Kosova and can lead workshops on nonviolence and train people in the skills and methods of nonviolence.

Thanks very much for reading through all these thoughts and reflections.

Know that I am deeply impressed with your movement and your courage, discipline and creativity. Your actions can make a crucial difference in helping create a powerful nonviolent movement which can help transform Kosova. I and many others will be doing all we can from the outside to help build support for your struggle. I send you all my warm greetings.

With love and admiration for all of you,

David Hartsough

David Hartsough is director of PEACEWORKERS located in San Francisco, California, USA. David has been active in nonviolent movements and actions around the world for the past forty years and has been arrested over 100 times. He has visited Kosova four times since 1996 and has been working closely with the Student nonviolent movement in Pristina since last September. On his most recent visit he and five other Americans were arrested, and they spent three days in jail before being deported March 23.

PEACEWORKERS

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San Francisco, CA 94117 USA

Phone and fax 415-751-0302

email PEACEWORKERS@igc.apc.org

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Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has... Margaret Mead

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