Learnings On Civil Resistance
Ahmed Salah, speaking in Madrid. Photo by Hanna Nikkanen
I recently met some people involved in the Egyptian Revolution and other movements around the world. The most vital lesson was hope and non-violence. With hope all things are possible and with non-violence it’s possible to communicate hope.
Force Of Nature
One broad trend I saw was that Arab-style revolution seems to be almost a force of nature. Once the conditions are there, the smallest spark can set it off. Activist Ahmed Salah organized small groups of people to attract numbers in the neighborhoods of Cairo. Normal people seeing other people in the street was the catalyst, not Facebook or Twitter. That spark was the product of years of street-level organizing, though it emerged to the media overnight.
It’s like a forest fire, really. If the underbrush is dry enough, a little spark can make it spread. When people in Cairo saw activists demonstrating their patience was dry enough that they felt OK to march with them. By the time the different groups converged on Tahrir Square, they were a roaring flame.
This was possible not because the activists were so organized but largely because Mubarak was so bad. He had reached the limits of the peoples’ endurance years ago and they were just waiting for someone to say that the emperor had no clothes. Every regime depends on consent and that consent is often just silence. Once that silence is broken, anything goes.
For the people who made that change, however, it was by no means easy or guaranteed. The activists were organized, to the utmost of their abilities under an extremely repressive police state. Blogger Khaled Said had his face literally bashed in for sharing videos. Ahmed himself had his nose broken and showed us a photo of himself in front of a tank, like the Phantom of The Revolution. They kept trying and kept believing (indeed, in person he is a focused fountain of hope) and that seems to be what made the difference.
Ahmed said that he had no idea what would happen on the morning of January 25th. They were not planning for a revolution nor were they expecting great success. They had also failed many times before. It seems like a force of nature in hindsight, but it’s not like anyone can really predict forest fires in advance either.
Non-Violence As Tactic
The second lesson was that non-violence is a tactic as much as a moral imperative. It’s called for because it works, not simply because it’s the right thing to do.
Most regimes know how to confront violence and there is generally international support for doing so. They don’t know how to confront non-violence and generally lose face when they try. It seems that many regimes will actually try to goad protesters into becoming violent, to essentially play their game. The challenge for resistance movements is to keep the game on their own territory and keep the regime guessing. It is as much a tactical move as a moral one.
Pillars Of Consent
What these movements are competing for is essentially the consent of the people. Every regime must have the tacit consent of the masses (through silence and cooperation) and active support from certain pillars of the community – the military, business interests, etc. What successful movements seem to do is to target these pillars rather than the edifice on top. They don’t appeal for change from the regime, they appeal to the military and other interests to peel away the regime’s support. Once stripped of consent and support, the emperor has no clothes.
This means that there are more specific tactics involved than simply calling the Leader a tyrant. In Egypt, for example, when the state media began spreading lies, Ahmed and Joseph Rizk said that they tried to contact and influence state media employees directly, peeling them off bit by bit. This becomes much easier to hold if the movement is itself not threatening. American civil rights activists, for example, made a conscious effort to dress well and behave nicely while staging sit-ins at lunch counters.
That again is a specific tactic. Ivan Marovic, a veteran of the student movement that overthrew Slobodan Miloševic said that they also tried humor as a means to give themselves some asymmetrical force.
“If you have 10,000 people in the street it’s news. 10 people? Not news,” he said. “10 people doing something crazy? News”
For example, they set up a barrel in a town square with Miloševic’s picture on it and a bat nearby. People were asked to either donate money for Slobo’s retirement or beat on the barrel if they were angry. This created a scene without getting anyone hurt or arrested. In the end, the police arrested the barrel, making themselves look silly.
Marovic said fear and apathy are the main foundation of a regime. What activists seem to do is essentially pierce that veil which gives silent consent. Keeping that going, however, is a matter of constantly shifting tactics.
“Regimes like protests marches because everything is expected. They’re like, Ok, 10,000 people in the street, we need this many water cannons, this many police,” Marovic said. “Faced with something new, it takes time and cripples them.”
Hence, the lesson seems to be not to master specific tactics but to use new tactics that play on the processing delay within the system.
The Role Of Media
A presenter named Anne-Marie Codur showed a table with different types of communication on it. These ranged from the non-electrical/Internet (like street protests, songs) to the hyper-electrical, like Facebook and Twitter. As much attention as the electrical signals have got, the old-school ones seem to be much more effective. Ahmed said that they had organized failed protests for a while. What made a difference was actually showing people in the streets. That enabled the movement to gather steam and grow organically more than a Facebook invite to Tahrir Square.
While FB, Twitter, electronic and print media get the word out, the word in seems to be largely through word of mouth and line of sight. At least at the beginning. What’s interesting is that all of the powers that be seem to have a time lag before they can digest and respond to something, and this includes the mainstream media. Ahmed said that they knew their phones were tapped but they also knew that it took the security apparatus about 2 days to process any info. Hence they could operate in that gap.
This is not that social media and mainstream don’t matter. I think the preponderance of media in the Arab world has let people know that life can be better whereas in North Korea they’d need an intensive orientation to even understand Friends. In terms of actual organizing, however, nothing seems to beat face-to-face, street-to-street.
Now What?
What all the activists seem to have neglected is what happens after, the inevitable regression to the mean. In Egypt, Ahmed and Joe complained that the military is not behaving democratically and theye opposed the Constitutional amendments which the caretaker government recently passed. In terms of elections and actually taking power, they seem completely outclassed by the old NDP, Muslim brotherhood and military elites.
In Serbia, the OTPOR movement that galvanized street protests tried to run for office and got like 2% of the vote. So though they showed people power, they didn’t necessarily have it.
“To them we were kids that got arrested,” Marovic said.
Mmm, and that’s all I can think of right now. There’s a lot more ideas, but the central one seemed to be, as Jack Duvall first presented, that nonviolent resistance can work, that it mainly gets messed up when it becomes violent, and that its progress is a constant play of shifting tactics between a small group and a bigger but slower and more regimented adversary.
Where civil resistance works also seems to be heavily dependent on circumstance. When a tyrant pushes things so far it almost becomes inevitable, though it appears extremely dark until the dawn. There is an academic method to the movement, but this almost seems to emerge spontaneously on the ground. While useful, it seems that there is no specific training for this sort of thing. Duvall showed an interesting quote from Frederick Douglass on the subject:
“Find out just what the people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.” – Frederick Douglass, civil rights activist, Aug. 4, 1857
Basically, at a certain point, people will resist. If they are nonviolent they seem to have a better chance of success, if they understand tactics chances get better, if the media understands them it’s also good, and if they’re organized they have a better chance of holding power after. The only thing constant, however, is change.
Local Note: I should note that I don’t support Egyptian style revolution in Sri Lanka, unless it’s to overthrow the current opposition leader. The Egyptians had to deal with state persecution, torture and murder for things like distributing flyers or organizing protests. It’s not like that here. I am writing this, for example, under my own name. Sri Lanka needs change, but I think that is still possible through the ballot box, if only the opposition would actually run.
Today on the 
Janith has updated 
This is highly dubious. Miss Travel is a travel/social networking site that connects ‘Generous’ and ‘Attractive’ travelers. To, like, travel together, I guess. It all seems a bit like arranged prostitution and trafficking. This is part of a broader online trend to connect rich men to younger, attractive women. Sites like 
Sri Lankan domestics never say anything, they just stop coming. My maid just stopped coming and when I finally pressed her she said I needed to get a washing machine. I was hoping to ride this one out, but I’ve run out of underwear and I have no choice. I finally caved and bought a washing machine, from 
Ha….ha…ha…Indi.. you say
Local Note: I should note that I don’t support Egyptian style revolution in Sri Lanka, unless it’s to overthrow the current opposition leader. The Egyptians had to deal with state persecution, torture and murder for things like distributing flyers or organizing protests. It’s not like that here. I am writing this, for example, under my own name. Sri Lanka needs change, but I think that is still possible through the ballot box, if only the opposition would actually run.
…WOW! You are really unbowed and unafraid…you need not ever worry about white vans as long as you have footnotes like this after your articles…ha…ha…ha…I’m rolling on the floor and laughing my guts out. Have you ever thought of working for the Lake House newspapers?
Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) (aka Megalomania)
According to the World Health Organization, Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is described as, “A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (either in fantasy or actual behaviour), need for admiration, and lack of empathy that begins by early adulthood and is present in a variety of situations and environments.”
In order for a person to be diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) they must meet five or more of the following symptoms:
? Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)
? Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.
? Believes that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions).
?Rarely acknowledges mistakes and/or imperfections.
? Requires excessive admiration.
? Has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favourable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations.
? Is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends
? Lacks empathy: is unwilling or unable to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others.
? Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her.
? Shows arrogant, haughty behaviours or attitude.
Theodore Millon identified five subtypes of narcissist. Any individual narcissist may exhibit none or one of the following:
? unprincipled narcissist – including antisocial features. A charlatan – is a fraudulent, exploitative, deceptive and unscrupulous individual. (Pronounced as JILMART in Sinhala)
? amorous narcissist – including histrionic features. The Don Juan of our times – is erotic, exhibitionist.
? compensatory narcissist – including negativistic (passive-aggressive), avoidant features.
? elitist narcissist – variant of pure pattern. Corresponds to Wilhelm Reich’s “phallic narcissistic” personality type.
? fanatic type – including paranoid features. A severely narcissistically wounded individual, usually with major paranoid tendencies who holds onto an illusion of omnipotence.
My personal belief is that Mahinda Rajapaksa is afflicted with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). If you have been closely observing his shenanigans since he came to power in November 2005, (especially the recent week long Tamasha that was organised for his second inauguration as PresiDunce), you too would have come to the same conclusion after reading the observations of the WHO and Theodore Millon which are given above. I further believe that according to Theodore Millons identified five subtypes of narcissist, Mahinda Rajapaksa falls in to the category of,
? unprincipled narcissist – including antisocial features. A charlatan – is a fraudulent, exploitative, deceptive and unscrupulous individual. (Pronounced as JILMART in Sinhala)
and
? fanatic type – including paranoid features. A severely narcissistically wounded individual, usually with major paranoid tendencies who holds onto an illusion of omnipotence.
Now the 64 million dollar question is, WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?
Short of a peoples’ revolution or the grim reaper having mercy upon us and giving Rajapaksa what he deserves…I see no other solution to the continuation of his dictatorial rule in the near future!
I am a bit scared, yes.
However, after talking to a few Egyptians and people from seriously repressive countries, Sri Lanka is way different. If you led a march through Grandpass or Wellawatte or wherever people wouldn’t join because that boiling point hasn’t been reached. IMHO
Why people wouldn’t join a march going through Grandpass or Wellawatte is because they are dead scared…remember what happened to the protest organised by the UNP on February 4th? Remember white vans? Remember Lasnatha…Eknaligoda…Poddala Jayantha…the boiling point may never be reached in this country because people think that anything and everything that happens to them is ‘Daiwaya’…’Fate.’ Ever heard of lankanewsweb.com and tamilnet.com? Why are they banned? How many Sri Lankans are under custody without a trial under the POT act? (prevention of Terrorism). What country is there a PresiDunce…an offence secretary, an economic development minister and the speaker of parliament from the same family? Not forgetting 100s of family members and relations appointed to key posts here and abroad?
“To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.”
— Orwell (In Front Of Your Nose)
“Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar.”
~ Julius Caesar ~
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2011/03/27/rajapaksa-blitzkrieg-basil%E2%80%99s-empire/
[please don't post everything in a comment, a link is fine - indi]
Dunce, it’s not fear, it’s lethargy. Besides all the contenders are as bad as the next. So why bother? I didn’t even bother to read the whole of your comment. I will, if you’re willing to come forward as an honest and caring contender or at least show me one who is, instead of all this talking on a blog.
reading dunce makes you admire the bravery of all those UNP ministers and their close supporters who march unrelentingly unbowed and unafraid.
Shammi, the other reason people don’t take part in any of these UNP sponsored ‘freedom’ marches is contentment. A growing number of the upper & upper middle class colombians getting more and more content with the present government. Let’s face shammi, few people want to protest after they suddenly realize that more and more Benjamins are coming your way.
The sad predicament for people like Duncie is that the government has managed to bag both rural masses and the corporates.
Mahinda is owning everyone left and right. And keeps getting the votes from the masses. He must be doing something right.
http://www.4shared.com/get/MS6XOWuc/Muammar-Qaddafi-Green-Book-Eng.html;jsessionid=7A97ECB9CC980DC7135F99324F85691B.dc332
That is a link to the pdf version of an english translation of gaddafi’s green book.
Amusingly about 60% of it is about the virtues of democracy. And he’s surprisingly intelligent.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12688033
http://groundviews.org/2011/03/19/how-decent-a-society-are-we/
…all dictators are intelligent Dodo…it’s the people they govern who are idiots…
Really? Prabhakaran was a dumbass.
Dear Bonchi baba,
“Naturally the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”
HERMANN GOERING
Bottom line: Tamils were total dickheads to support Prabhakaran.
MR and VP are 2 sides of the same coin. If the Tamils were total dickheads to support Prabhakaran, then the Sinhalese are total idiots as well to support Rajapaksa!
Not at all. Rajapaksa won and he was elected into power by the people.
(and Prabhakaran and his supporters got bent over and royally owned).
Well Bonchi Baba,
We’ll let history take it’s course and see if Rajapaksa turns into a Mandela or a Mubarak or Gaddafi! We should know in about 10 to 15 years time…
Yeah we should.
Doesn’t change the fact that Tamils are losers for supporting Prabhakaran.
This is Sri Rajapakistan DemoCrazy at it’s very best!
http://www.lankaenews.com/English/news.php?id=10903
Gota vested with more sweeping powers with his appointment as new Governor
(Lanka-e-News -28.March.2011, 11.30PM) According to informed sources from the Govt. Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse is to be appointed as the Governor of the new Colombo Municipal Corporation which is going to be established by the present Govt. Gotabaya is going to be bestowed with this appointment over and above all the other positions he is already holding.
The Colombo Municipal Council belonging to the Colombo district, the Dehiwala-Galkissa , Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, Kolonnawa urban council, Kotikawatte -Mulleriyawa , are to be brought
together under one body , the ‘Colombo Municipal Corporation’. The Governor is to be vested with
sweeping powers while those appointed as Mayors via elections to those various councils will be
having nominal powers. Already , the amendment to make these changes have been finalized , Govt. sources say.
Apart from the post of Defense Secretary, Gotabaya is already in charge of City development Authority, Low lying lands Board, coastal land development as well as all development programs and their decision making Institutions in the country . On top of this , the National Insurance Corporation and the Apollo Hospital are also under Gotabaya Rajapakse. Soon, the Hatton National Bank is also going to be brought under his control , informed sources report.
Already , acquiring lands in Colombo by the defense Ministry is in progress. Plans are afoot to evict 60,000 families from Colombo.
It is reported that , in addition to these plans and programs , with a view to adorning the city of Colombo, the owners of the shops on either sides of the roads have been instructed to at least keep 4 flowers vases in front of their shops.
what a lie. Gamini Senerath is the chairman of SLIC, not Gota. Suck a trivial mistake says alot about the type of ‘moon watchers’ who operate lankaenews.
OH NOOOOES!!! WHAT IS HAPPENING???!!! KADAVULAI!
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Sri Lankan Growth Quickens to Three-Decade High After War Ends
Sri Lanka’s economy expanded at the fastest pace in more than three decades as the end of a 26-year civil war in May 2009 boosted consumer demand and investment.
Gross domestic product rose 8 percent in 2010 from a year earlier, which is the most since 1978 and compares with a 3.5 percent gain in 2009, the statistics department said in a statement in Colombo yesterday.
“The economy is reaping the fruits of peace,” said Bimanee Meepagala, a Colombo-based analyst at NDB Aviva Wealth Management Ltd., the nation’s biggest non-state fund. “Foreign investment and tourism will continue to grow, but this year will be a bit more challenging with inflation pressures mounting.”
Sri Lanka aims to spur growth to 8.5 percent in 2011 and 9 percent in 2012, central bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said on Jan. 4.
Prospects of growing consumer demand have encouraged overseas investment. Shangri-La Asia plans to invest $500 million to build a hotel in Colombo, Deputy Economic Development Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said Dec. 16. Nestle Lanka said in January it plans to spend 10 billion rupees ($91 million) to expand in the country.
Tourist arrivals in the Indian Ocean island nation jumped 46 percent in 2010 from the previous year, according to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, boosting consumer demand.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-29/sri-lankan-growth-quickens-to-three-decade-high-after-war-ends.html
Bonchi Baba,
maybe you should read this link a well…the stories on this site are more believable than anything Cabraal or the Central Bank tells us.
http://hca.gilead.org.il/
Sour grapes are quite unpleasant aren’t they? :)
***sniggering at Presideunce Bean***
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First full year of peace: Economy grows 8%, per capita income up 16.6%
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=21923
**more sniggering at Presidunce Bean***
===
SL apparel exports rise despite GSP+ loss
FRIDAY, 01 APRIL 2011 00:00
Despite the withdrawal of a preferential tax scheme from the European Union, Sri Lanka’s apparel exports increased over 100 percent in January 2011, Central Bank said yesterday.
“Continuing the increasing trend observed since the withdrawal of the GSP+ scheme in August 2010, earnings from textile and garments exports increased by 121.9 per cent to US dollars 385 million in January 2011, depicting a 143.5 per cent increase to EU and 95.8 per cent increase to USA” Central Bank said.
http://print.dailymirror.lk/business/127-local/39915-sl-apparel-exports-rise-despite-gsp-loss.html
lol from me Bonchi Baba…
Yea! The Central Bank, Daily NOISE & Mrs.Roopa Vahini also say…
“World Bank officials get down on their knees and plead with President Rajapaksa to accept 1.9 billion dollar loan.”
“World leaders beg President Rajapaksa to accept post of UN General Secretary, and request that Sri Lanka take over from America as the Global policeman of the world.”
“President Rajapaksa gets rousing welcome from American public, while recent Gallup poll shows Rajapaksa more popular than Obama.”
“President Obama begs President Rajapaksa to send his Sinhala HOOmanitarian Army to take over from American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
“75,000 American women to work as house maids in Sri Lanka.”
“World wide ‘Gallup poll’ shows President Rajapaksa more popular than Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Jesus, Buddha or Mohamed.”
“Tamil refugee holiday makers say they are extremely happy living in welfare holiday camps surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards and plead with authorities not to resettle them.”
“Tamil refugee holiday makers tell reporters they are honoured to live as second class citizens and said they will renounce the Tamil language and learn Sinhalese.”
“President Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and General Sarath Fonseka to receive Nobel Peace Prize.”
…now go ahead and snigger… ha…ha…
Tut tut… go and talk to the apparel manufacturers :)
This must be a real slap in your face.
“The Sunday Leader also spoke to a prominent member in the apparel industry who wished to remain anonymous. “It was predicted that exports would fall by 10% but in fact we saw an increase, and exports to Europe went up by 34%.” He also said the reason for this was a change in world markets; “World markets went up, and the situation in Bangladesh also changed”.”
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2011/03/13/jaaf-claims-industry-in-good-shape/
Bwahahahaha!!! Aney pau!
I am wondering why the prominent member in the apparel industry wishes to remain anonymous if things are going so well in the industry? Very very strange indeed. Seriously (no sniggering).
but duncie, isn’t this the paper run by the ‘moon watchers’. Surely, they can’t be making crap up. And surely, given the sheer quality of the journalism practiced by the moon watchers they would have at the very least looked at audited financial statement of these companies to corroborate these stories. surely!
No one wants to be seen or known to be talking to the Sunday Leader, that’s why.
- LTTE butt raped and smashed to bits
- Economy pounding ahead
- GDP going up
- Tourism smashing all records
- Massive infrastructure improvements
- Mahinda winning all the elections and forming a stable government
Woot for SL and a slap in the face for you :)
*snigger*
LOL LOL LOL Presidunce Bean!!!
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With Tamil Tigers slain, booming Sri Lanka makes up for lost time
Eric Ellis
April 2, 2011
The country seems like a construction zone, with ports, highways and airports sprouting and former rebel strongholds blossoming, writes Eric Ellis in Colombo.
Last year, the island’s economy grew a China-like 8 per cent and is slated to expand at least that again this year, and outstrip it next year. Share prices on the Colombo stock exchange – long little more than a sleepy luncheon club of local plutocrats – have doubled over the past year, after doubling in the first year of peace. Likewise property prices. Credit has expanded by a third on last year as Sri Lankans borrow to fund investment.
Tourists are flooding back, up by 50 per cent this past year, and hotel tariffs are three times what they were during wartime.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/with-tamil-tigers-slain-booming-sri-lanka-makes-up-for-lost-time-20110401-1crvr.html
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2011/04/03/rulers-and-suckers/
Israel rogues and SL ‘Gothayas’ try to strike a deal to tap ‘skype’
http://www.lankaenews.com/English/news.php?id=10941
…any comments…anybody?
How revolutions happen: Patterns from Iran to Egypt
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12431231
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