Statement from the Peace and Active Nonviolence Commission

- Only the PEACEFUL fight would transform the world -

The Commission for Peace and Nonviolence was created in August 2011 http://pazynoviolencia15m.blogspot.com/.
We belong to different assemblies and committees, and we share one sensibility: we care about one of the many values that characterize our movement: PEACE, as a means and an end, the companion of Justice: PEACE.
The strategies of power, the speed of events and news, the urgency of so many demonstrations, and other characteristics of our movement like the absence of leaderism in favour of self-management or decentralization, require awareness of this aspect (peace and nonviolence) :

In our personal life, working towards personal coherence.

Collectively, ensuring peace, justice and equal participation in the assemblies.

During the actions, keeping the fight on our field, that is the change of conscience. The beating we receive should be profitable but without being sought, violence exerted against us shows our strength to the power and reveals the structural violence (political and economic) to those who see that our struggle is peaceful, they will empathize and will join us.

For all the above, with the aim of making a contribution to our common fight, in particular, facing the massive mobilizations in MAY 2012, we would like to share the following statement:

NON-VIOLENCE COMMITTEE - 15M (99% Spain) STATEMENT

Our Commitment to Peace and Active Nonviolence

Occupy is a social phenomenon of mobilizations that arose in response to a way of organizing the world that goes against humanity characterized by:

Abuse of a rich minority of the world population against the impoverished majority.

The complicity of the political class in the abuse and disconnection with the popular will.

We reject violence in all its forms, especially those that are doing more harm to humanity: structural violence, economic and political violence. Our fight relies on Peace and Active Nonviolence.

We should delve into this aspect. The intentions of our movement’s actions point out towards PEACE, but not always the plans, attitudes, behaviour and actions have responded accordingly, in style and in purpose to Active Nonviolence. We understand the violence that originates from the anger, the result of helplessness and hopelessness facing the brutal violence of power. Although this can be understood as self-defense, we do not approve violent responses. This are asymmetric forms of violence and it is the responsibility of the establishment to end the causes that provoke them.

Besides, we need to fully understand why our struggle is peaceful and nonviolent, and why it can not be otherwise:

We are aware of evil hat individuals and institutions are inflicting on millions of people. But we do not want to start with the same ideas that justify oppression. All people are worthy of respect. And the ideas, behaviours and policies that are opposed to freedom, equality and respect, are the target of our fight.

Accepting the battle conditions that the power offers us is nonsense: it is not about a conflict between police and protesters, it is not about insults and stones against batons and tear gas. Accepting any confrontation in this battleground is losing the fight. They have the media, the "democratic" institutions, the monopoly of violence. Arguments, creativity, ability to add and peaceful disobedience, these are our weapons. Only actions that uncover the lies will awake the consciences of the 99%. This is not about the heroism of a few people, the goal is the collective construction of a new world.

Any action seeking justice is not a nonviolent action. We need humility to recognize that we have much to learn. We need to remember that "we are going slowly because we are going far" and, without stopping the pace, we should run away from hustle and precipitation. Nonviolent action is a creative act. Therefore it is necessary to find, to train, internalize what we manifest externally, create community and plant our dreams, aoneday in the garden and the next in the square.

Violence only generates more violence and ends blurring our goals. Every campaign and every action has to take a message to the citizens of respect for the human being, to build a new society of equals, and the message can reach if we are the change we propose. It is essential that we understand and assimilate the concept of nonviolence, understood as a way of life and as citizen mobilization strategy for the transformation of social conflict.

This is our Declaration of Peace:

We will continue until we have peace of justice. And we will do with peace, renouncing to all forms of violence.

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We invite you all to share individually and collectively this statement because we believe it meets the needs within our movement. Endorsing this Declaration of Peace is a commitment to join:

The commitment to work out our self-care and our internal change.

The commitment at each assembly to hearing, to offer consideration, respect and conflict resolution in the group. To take care of one another and take care of the resources that we have.

The commitment to action against accomplice passivity.

The commitment to planning and development of our actions based in Peace and Active Nonviolence.

In addition to confirming our commitment, may this statement serve to disappoint those who naively or selfishly, generalize any single action (even those originated outside the movement) and label us as a violent movement: For those unfamiliar with the movement and to also to inform the public and private powers about our commitment with Peace and Active  Nonviolence