Gandhi's Grandson to Urge Palestinians to Consider Nonviolent Resistance to Israel

August 25, 2004

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3593726.stm

On August 25, 2004 the BBC News reported, "A grandson of India's pacifist independence leader, Mahatma Gandhi, is on a mission in the Palestinian territories to preach unarmed, peaceful struggle in the search for reconciliation with Israel. Arun Gandhi, the fifth grandson of the spiritual leader, is speaking at public meetings organised by a group of Palestinian social and political activists in Ramallah, Abu Dis and Bethlehem that begin on Thursday. The meetings are being organised by Palestinians for Peace and Democracy which, according to reports, has some 400 volunteers. For 70-year-old Arun Gandhi, who runs an institute in Memphis, USA, to 'examine, promote, and apply the principles of non-violent thought and action' through research and community services, this is his first visit to the Palestinian territories. During his visit, he is also due to meet Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, visit a refugee camp, and participate in a candlelight vigil in Manger Square, Bethlehem. The former journalist says he will tell the Palestinian people that they should try out non-violent campaigns against the Israeli occupation. 'I am going to tell the people about the value of non-violence. I am going to tell them that 55 years of violence has achieved nothing but more agony and heartaches and that it is time for them to try new ways of dealing with the issue,' Arun Gandhi told BBC News Online."