海角大神

As Occupy groups聽in Washington听补苍诲 Oakland generate contrasting images of Dream tents on the one coast and flag burning on the other, it鈥檚 becoming clear that the four month-old protest movement is facing its Hamlet moment: to be or not to be nonviolent.

This is the question groups throughout the now global聽movement have been聽tackling urgently 鈥� and,聽increasingly 鈥� formally.

But despite pleas from聽many, including the movement鈥檚 earliest members, there is聽no unity on聽this聽thorny, even decisive,聽issue.

鈥淥ccupy鈥檚 strength has been that as a movement dedicated to nonviolent direct action it claimed to follow in the footsteps of Martin Luther King, Jr.,鈥� says Catherine聽Wilson, a political science professor at聽Villanova聽University in聽Philadelphia, via email.

Broadcast footage of violent clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement聽officers undermines this goal, she says, adding that while the actions of Occupy Oakland only represent one group,聽they do signal the difficulty of keeping a variety of Occupy鈥檚 factions on the same nonviolent page.

鈥淚f violent encounters spread,鈥� notes Professor Wilson, 鈥渢his will call into question the whole model of peaceful reform that Occupy seeks to implement.鈥� Increased violence by Occupy supporters,聽 she adds, 鈥渨ould only serve to delegitimize the movement as a whole.鈥�

Members of Occupy Washington DC聽鈥� the earliest such group, formed a month prior to the Adbusters campaign in July that launched the larger Occupy movement 鈥� adopted formal principles聽of nonviolent action from its inception.

Taking its cue from the Albert Einstein 滨苍蝉迟颈迟耻迟颈辞苍,听补 Boston organization devoted to disseminating formal principles of nonviolent social change, the DC Occupyers聽created a formal pledge of 11 principles.

鈥淧eople had to sign the pledge in order to join the encampment,鈥� says Kevin Zeese, a lawyer and one of the group鈥檚 earliest members. These tenets are not icing on the cake of activism he says, 鈥渢hey are critical.鈥�

Without strict adherence to the formal practice of nonviolent response, even to the most aggressive kinds of provocation up to and including rifle fire, Mr. Zeese says, 鈥渢his movement would have achieved nothing.鈥�

He points to key moments in the Occupy movement鈥檚 short history,聽such as pepper spray incidents in lower Manhattan听补苍诲 UC Davis. In both those cases, he says, 鈥渋f those girls in New York had done聽anything either to provoke or respond there would not have been the outcry or attention there was.鈥�

Similarly, he says, if the students at the UC Davis campus had thrown things at the police or even called them names, 鈥渢hey would not have made the impact they did just by sitting quietly.鈥�

This view however, is not a simple sell throughout the movement. Activists in Oakland have declined to adopt an explicit nonviolent code.

鈥淲e embrace a diversity of tactics,鈥� says Shake Anderson, a member of the Occupy Oakland media team, adding that this stance flows directly from its adherence to being a 鈥渘on-hierarchical group with no single person telling anyone else what to do.鈥�

This attitude also stems from a narrower definition of violence.

鈥淚 consider violence to be something that actually harms another human being,鈥� he says, adding that if a group member chooses to burn a flag or break a window, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 call that violent.鈥�

More important,聽adds聽Anderson, is the inclusiveness of a group that allows for more than one strategy for achieving a goal.

The Occupy group in Seattle broke apart over this very issue, declining to adopt a platform of nonviolent tactics in December.聽 The decision, reached during a general assembly, angered and frustrated many, not just within the movement, but among supporters in the community.

Father Mike Jackson, an聽assisting priest at St. Mark鈥檚聽Episcopal Cathedral and the liaison for the Occupy group,聽posted an open letter to Occupy Seattle, informing the group that he and many others in the community would step back from their support if聽the group did not embrace a nonviolent position.

While the group has not changed its decision, Jackson notes that a number of nonviolent training sessions have sprung up in the community. 鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping that this will help equip them to make a better decision,鈥� adds聽Father Jackson.

The next generation seems to have gotten the message, however. The national group, Occupy Colleges, requires new recruits to adopt an official nonviolent approach, explaining on its website:

鈥淎s a nonviolent movement, we have agreed to refrain from violence against any person, from carrying weapons, and from destruction of property.

鈥淲e reject violence, including property destruction, because we recognize that it undermines popular support and discourages the broadest possible participation among the 99 percent.鈥�