POWER

In this article, Burrowes discusses the nature of power. I would like to discuss and focus on the nature of power especially in the context of Israel and Palestine.
In the article, Burrowes says that there are often discussed in feminine literature three types of power by the "patriarchal West." These are power-over, power-in, and power-from-within.
Power over is one group having complete control over another. This holds the notion that one must gain or earn the rights to power.
Power from within is individual power - the ability of one person to act on a particular inner belief.
Power with requires a group - it is the way in which people can gain power by working together.

These three concepts are very important to non-violence because in many circumstances, the second two methods must be used to challenge the first. In many human rights situations, people power must be used to resist great injustice.
An example of this is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Thus far, the Palestinian people have not had very much success in standing up to Israel, neither with violent or non-violent protests.
Israel is a perfect example of power-over because it is an occupying country. Israel essentially has complete control over the West Bank because not only does the West Bank rely on Israel for goods, but Israel also controls much of the water supply to the West bank and is in control of approximately 60% of the land (Class C). Because Israel has such a strong military and such high security, and since the Palestinian government is so small and disorganized, it is impossible for the Palestinians to fight back without "terror." It seems that even mobilization of non-violence and people power coudl not overcome Israel's power, mostly because of the many restrictions that Israel puts on the West Bank and also because of the enormous control that Israel holds. It would be necessary for more of a balance to occur and possibly for the Palestinians to establish a state before they could effectively protest. In the current state, it appears that that is unlikely - but we must always hope for the future!