When protest is possible

By Faiza Mushtaq

THE recent war in Gaza provoked a series of protests across Pakistan. Vigorous street demonstrations and parliamentary resolutions denounced Israel’s actions and expressed sympathy for the Palestinians.Simultaneously, sceptical voices in the media questioned why it is so easy for us Pakistanis to censure what goes on in Gaza and ignore the suffering closer at hand. Is it hypocrisy, laziness or ideological blind spots on the part of the protesting crowd? What makes some wars and tragedies easier to mobilise around than others?Public attention does not automatically accompany the size or scale of a crisis, but is generated through committed and sustained activism. In this mobilisation around the Gaza war, Pakistani actors were merely adding their voices to a movement that has matured over three decades. Palestinian human rights organisations and their international partners have been active since the 1970s, especially following the 1987 Intifada, in shaping global opinion against the illegality of Israel’s occupation and in support of Palestinian rights. The counter-narrative of the pro-Israel lobby has influence within powerful American circles, but has won few followers in the rest of the world.Social movement support gets revived with each new dramatic event. This time the opening came with the Israeli air strikes and invasion of Gaza, resulting in a large number of civilian casualties. Many of the protesters were probably unaware of the complicated history of the dispute, the torturous twists and turns of the peace process, or the many UN resolutions. But they saw the vivid images of destruction on their television screens and kept track of the daily death toll. The goal of protest in this case was clear and potentially achievable through international pressure: to get Israel to stop its aggression and bring an end to the urgent humanitarian crisis.In Pakistan, as in some Middle Eastern countries, the human rights discourse around the Israel-Palestine issue is joined by another that casts the Palestinians primarily as Muslims. The call to action by religious parties places this struggle alongside those in Kashmir, Bosnia and Chechnya. From a liberal humanist perspective it is certainly problematic to make one’s sympathy for victims of violence conditional upon their being our co-religionists. Sadly, such tricks to conjure up feelings of solidarity are common in social movement mobilisations.The failures of US policy in the Middle East, especially under the unpopular Bush administration, have also been under attack in these protests and we — who love to blame US imperialism for every ill — have been keen to join in. A similar dynamic was at play in the massive series of demonstrations around the world in early 2003 against America’s push for war in Iraq. Then, as now, Pakistani participants could feel the exhilaration of joining in a global wave of activism that stretched from Argentina to France to Egypt to Australia. It’s a low-risk form of involvement that carries with it the emotional rewards of belonging to a moral majority.The situation in Gaza certainly merits the kind of outrage Pakistani protesters have been willing to put on public display. The critical question, however, is this: what will we learn from participating in a well-organised international movement that can help us develop similar campaigns at home?The war within Pakistan has spread from Fata to the NWFP and all those cities where explosions and suicide attacks occur regularly. Large swathes of territory in the northwest of the country have become no-go areas for state functionaries, civilians and even security forces. Residents of those regions face systematic campaigns of repression and lack basic necessities like food, heating, power and healthcare. This is surely a political and humanitarian crisis worth sounding the alarm bells for.How have Pakistani political parties and civil society activists responded? The religious and right-wing groups remain reluctant to strongly condemn suicide bombings and armed militancy. This stems from their long history of ideological and material support for global jihad, and a belief that the Taliban of Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as Al Qaeda, are fighting the good fight in the name of Islam. The secular activists find it easiest to criticise institutions of the state, including the military, whether for their inaction or for the violence they perpetuate. Both the left and right also converge in their understanding of the situation in Pakistan as being part of the US-led war on terror.There is resistance and activism within the communities affected by this conflict, such as Swat, but they cannot have much success without influential allies from the government and civil society. Those who join must understand that the campaign to mould public opinion against militancy will risk violent reprisals and tough battles. The Palestinian movement too had its share of confrontations and sacrifices as it gained momentum and gathered recruits.The first step in creating awareness about a cause is to have a clear sense of who the victims are and to build an emotional bond with them. Dramatic images of suffering are a great catalyst for sympathy and outrage. Pakistanis can relate to the residents of Gaza better than they can to their own compatriots up north, because television cameras provide them with vivid, detailed access to their horrific conditions. We need to see and hear more about who the victims of the bombings in our cities are and how their families are affected. Accounts of daily life in places like Swat, Bajaur and Parachinar by the survivors themselves need greater publicity. Commentary and analyses need to drive home a simple point: that the victims of this violence are peaceful citizens of Pakistan, who are as much Muslim as the militant aggressors.The current muddled state of the discourse means there is no clear way for the Pakistani public to comprehend these images of death and destruction. Is our military out to bomb its own citizens? Is it a fight between infidel invaders and an Islamic resistance? Which is the right side to take? The task of a viable social movement will be to remove this ambiguity and create a moral consensus on the unacceptability of militant violence. Many still believe the militant groups are targeting the American presence next door rather than citizens and institutions of the state in Pakistan. Let us highlight the atrocities: girls’ schools and music shops being blown up, men forced to grow beards and women to give up their jobs, brutal punishments dispensed, the rule of law thrown aside, Pakistani soldiers and tribal elders killed. It should not be too hard to convince most Pakistanis that these are not the costs they want to bear.The writer is a doctoral candidate in sociology at Northwestern University, US.