Dr Ziad Medoukh on resistance through culture and education

Palestinian teacher and researcher Dr Ziad Medoukh has never visited India. "But my interface with this land has largely been through Gandhi," says the Al-Aqsa University professor. "As a Palestinian living under occupation, I read a lot. I was looking for forms and experiences to fight the measures of the (Israeli) occupation, and I found the solution in non-violence, and the principles of Gandhi. Since then, I have decided to resist through culture and through education."

The director of the University's French department has been on a mission to sensitise Palestinian youth about non-violence, and he does this directly as a teacher and through the activities of the Peace Centre, through his writings and poems and by building opinion in European countries. "I work with youth who are open-minded about ideas and the world. In my courses, I unfailingly amalgamate principles of democracy, human rights, non-violence and Gandhian ideals. I encourage youth to volunteer with communities and offer support. This often involves non-violent peaceful demonstrations against the occupants," he says. "Outside of my job, I work with peasants, families, fishermen, agricultural cooperatives in their daily tasks, work and struggle. Most of all, I'm aligned with the resistance to the unjust Israeli occupation."

Dr Medoukh particularly makes a distinction between the community and those he views as being unjust to Palestine. "It is critical that we don't use one broad brush stroke to paint an entire community. We must differentiate between Jews, and the Israeli occupiers," he says. "Our problem as Palestinians is with the latter — the Israelis who unjustly occupy Palestinian territories, who build illegal settlements everyday, who massacre our civilians, who don't want peace. In this too, there is a strong adherence to the Gandhian value of not being against the enemy but the wrong they do."

It isn't surprising then that the 51-year-old was awarded the Jamnalal Bajaj International Award for Promoting Gandhian Values outside India, in New Delhi last month. "I'm very happy to have been considered for this honour. It shows that in a world dominated by violence and wars, there are people of goodwill and associations that encourage the principles of peace and justice. This is as much an award for me as the people of Palestine who've used Gandhian thoughts and ideology to stand up to the unjust Israeli occupation and human right excesses against Palestinians."

The bad news — Dr Medoukh received the award in absentia from India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. "I'd planned to come personally. It seems, Israel didn't want me to come to India," he says. "The inhuman Israeli blockade, and the closing of the passages that connect to the Gaza Strip, prevented me from getting out of my open jail, so I sent my speech via the Internet, and requested a French friend to receive the award on my behalf."

Despite the current Israeli government's stance, Dr Medoukh is convinced that only non-violent strategies will help solve Palestine's and the world's festering problems. "History has proven time and again that violence and hate only beget violence and hate. Ultimately the world will have to go back to the Gandhian idea of peaceful co-existence," he says. "I can vouch that Palestinians are convinced there can never be a military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The only solution is peace that follows on the footsteps of justice." How does he carry on his work given the bleak circumstances and prevailing cynicism? "It does seem difficult, but it is not impossible," he says. "Patience, will and hope for a better future — my takeaways of Gandhian thought."