Unity, Planning, Non-violence
- Assaf Katz
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
We are nearing the end of the third week of the current round of violence. It increasingly appears that this round, like its predecessors, will fail to bring security to anyone, despite the claims of our national leaders, who made the same promises in previous rounds. No one knows when "Absolute Victory 2.0" will arrive, or when the campaign for "Absolute Victory 3.0" will begin. What is clear is that these leaders simply want war, and over 80% of the public supports this madness, completely ignoring the price we are all paying and the utter futility of it.
Opposing them is a group of citizens who continue to resist and act. Every action against this madness is vital; and the more coordinated and planned these actions are, the more effective they will be. Assaf Katz, one of the leaders of the organization "Panenu LaTov" (Looking Forward), writes about how to make this struggle more effective.
Ayala Shalev, Editor, That’s About Us
Unity (Partnership), Planning, Non-violence: Foundations for Ending Wars, Occupation, and Oppression
Assaf Katz
This text is based on my experience, the experience of activists worldwide over many years, and research on the subject.
Genocide, occupation, oppression. These are words that can trigger a sense of helplessness just by reading them. Yet, throughout history, wars have ended, occupations have concluded, and peoples have been liberated from oppression. It can happen here, too, if we know how to manage our struggles. Fortunately, others have succeeded before us, and we can learn from them.
One of the most significant things I’ve learned after years of environmental, anti-occupation, and pro-democracy activism is that if something isn't working, there’s a reason for it. We must be willing to stop, learn, and change. On October 7th, I realized we were facing a challenge of a different magnitude, and to succeed, we must study.
The first step is developing the faith that these horrors can end and that there is a path many have walked before, one we can learn and adapt to our reality. Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. are well-known examples. They created significant change through a sophisticated strategic understanding of struggle management, coupled with an adherence to a developed moral world that transforms the very roots of violence. They are not the only ones.
In my view, one of the simplest ways to study struggles is through the "Trifecta" – the three foundations of civil struggle: Unity, Planning, and Non-violence.
1. Unity (Partnership) – In Leadership, Action, and Goal
The word "Unity" has become almost toxic due to its cynical use in slogans like "Together we will win." In the Left, we have stopped believing in unity. But we have the power to reclaim this concept.
At a minimum, we should understand that "alone, we haven't achieved our goals, and working with 'the other' is inevitable." At a maximum, we realize that "'the other' can be my partner in many things despite our differences."
Unity is not easy to implement. It requires sticking to what is essential, letting go of what isn't, and maintaining this over time. Unity builds worlds, provides perspective, and teaches humility and precision. It must manifest in three ways:
‣ Unity of Leadership: This allows us to build power with those who can be our partners, even if only strategically. The understanding that "I don't have to be your friend, but we will both be better off if we work together" is profound. In Serbia, to overthrow Milosevic, 18 opposition parties joined forces. They didn't necessarily like each other or want to cooperate on everything afterward—but they united for a single goal they couldn't achieve alone.
‣ Action: There are various levels of cooperation: coordination, joint planning, resource sharing (funds, volunteers), or forming a coalition. Every level is legitimate. We can ask ourselves—for example, in activities against settler violence—how can I benefit from cooperation? How can I support another organization’s activity so our joint efforts generate greater power?
‣ Goal: Our work can have various secondary goals—fundraising, recruiting activists, media outreach, or shifting public consciousness. To foster partnership, we must identify: What is the common goal for which we are both willing to work and that will benefit us both? Creating a dialogue, agreeing on a shared goal, and defining our points of disagreement can form the basis for a healthy and effective collaboration.
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2. Planning: The ability to design sequential steps leading to non-violent escalation
If you want to start a business, you plan, right? If you want to travel abroad, you plan. If you want to end the occupation—we can't just "do what feels right." It doesn't work that way.
Planning is a matter of balance. Srdja Popovic, a leader in the struggle to topple Milosevic, wrote that some people lean toward long-term strategic thinking, while others lean toward short-term tactical thinking. The key is combining them to create a continuity of energy and action.
In my experience, resistance to planning usually stems from three reasons, all of which have solutions:
1. Pressure: "The situation is dire; we must act now, there’s no time to plan." (Response: The situation is indeed dire, but without planning, we cannot generate enough power to change it.)
2. Complexity: "Planning is complicated; better to skip it." (Response: Knowledge is acquired; it’s not necessarily complex, but it does require a willingness to learn.)
3. Intuition: "It’s intuitive; we’ll just do what feels right." (Response: Sometimes intuition is right, but in complex arenas, it often misses the mark. Learning helps refine intuition.)
In a struggle against injustices involving governments, armies, massive economies, and large populations, we must plan the path to our goal. We must understand our field of operation, survey potential partners, analyze our opponents, and understand the strengths and weaknesses of both sides to use our power wisely.
Planning should be based on things we control, not on variables outside our influence. For example, most of us have little influence over U.S. policy regarding the current government or the arms industry. Therefore, we should not rely on a change in those relations. However, we do have connections with lawyers, activists on the ground, and international movements. These are forces we can rely on. As for what is beyond our control? We can plan how to gain more influence over it through networking and learning.
Planning for the "Day After": As anti-war and anti-occupation activists, it feels like it will take a long time to reach our goals. But are we ready for the day it happens? Beyond the success of a specific struggle, we must build the infrastructure to prevent regression (a failure we saw recently: after replacing the Netanyahu government, the law preventing a criminal defendant from serving as Prime Minister was not passed, leading us back to the same situation).
On Friday, March 27, the conference "Unity, Planning, Non-violence: Foundations of a Constructive Civil Struggle" will take place, initiated by "Panenu LaTov." You can find details and register here.
3. Non-violence – Avoiding physical harm to humans, animals, or property
Non-violence does not mean failing to act assertively and clearly against violence; it means refusing to act violently. As one veteran anti-occupation activist says repeatedly: "Non-violence = Power."
Non-violence is an elusive topic. It seems simple because we often think "we are non-violent and the other side is." But there is violence within us, and we must identify it. When facing institutional violence, war, or oppression, it is difficult not to develop violent impulses. Compared to the violence directed at Palestinians and human rights activists, our own potential violence might seem negligible—so why talk about it? For two reasons: Ethical and Strategic.
‣ Ethical: The choice of non-violence creates the world within which we will live. It is a message to the environment and it is also the choice to be who I want to be. I find that most human beings want not to be violent but choose violence because they feel there is no other way to achieve their goal. There is something slightly strange in the expectation that violent actions will create a less violent world. As in education, we learn mainly from the behavior around us and not from what is said to us. One who sees that violence achieved a certain goal will likely choose violence because they have no knowledge regarding non-violent ways to achieve their goals. Therefore, learning effective techniques for achieving goals (including the end of occupations and wars) is critical to creating a less violent world – and this includes learning about non-violent struggles that succeeded, ways of communication that reduce violence, peacekeeping, and more. The greatest of the civil struggle, among them also Palestinians and Israelis, understand the dangers in the development of anger and hatred and the desire to harm the other. These are people who do not give up on the goals, and at the same time understand that violence only creates more violence and love creates more love.
‣ Strategic: Research shows unequivocally that non-violent struggles succeed at least twice as often as violent ones. Furthermore, their results last longer. A regime that rises through a military coup lasts less time than one achieved through democratic, non-violent means. As Erica Chenoweth, a leading researcher in the field, wrote: The nature of the struggle itself shapes the prospects for democracy afterward. When faced with blatant violence (especially harm to innocents), most people naturally side with the victims. Therefore, there is great power in maintaining non-violent discipline in the face of violence. Furthermore, because the state holds the monopoly on institutional violence (army and police), it will always win a violent confrontation.
To deepen your understanding of the power of ethical non-violence, I recommend listening to this talk by Martin Luther King Jr.
To sum all this up, a civil struggle is built on Unity, Planning, and Non-violence. Implementing these foundations strengthens the chances of success and ensures that success lasts over time.
May we have a successful struggle.
Assaf Katz is a leader of "Panenu LaTov," an organization dedicated to studying and making information about civil struggles accessible, and is an activist against genocide, occupation, and oppression.
