“Non-violence is a creative resistance”

How do you become a non-violence activist?

In a somewhat surprising way: these are peasants who taught me everything in this area. In the early 1970s, then a young student in Montpellier, I went to a few friends on the Larzac plateau (south of the Massif Central) to support the mobilization of the inhabitants of these Causses against the announced enlargement of a military camp.

Initially, the rural people did not see a very good eye of young idealists a little leftist. And then there was the meeting with Lanza del Vasto.

Explain to us …

This man is a full -fledged character. One of those who went to India collecting the non-violent intuitions of the Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) to make them known in France. He himself lived in a non-violent community in Lodève (Hérault), not far from Larzac.

And at that time, he had started a long volunteer fast to demonstrate, too, against this military project.

A protest that has therefore borne fruit …

Yes, because some peasants who had come to meet him understood the interest of being inspired by this singular form of action, rather than resisting with violence. It must be emphasized, in the non -violent approach, there are no ready -made recipes. In each situation, new means must be invented to bypass the emerging obstacles.

We are not very far from “” squirrels »»these activists who cling to the trees on the layout of the A69 motorway to prevent the advancement of the work …

Yes, I also admire their courageous and very creative commitment. And which bears fruit since the project of this highway has just been suspended by a court of justice for prior non-compliance of French law. It is one of the current places to follow to understand how non -violent mobilizations can be effective.

To denounce the collective inaction in the face of climate change, certain militant movements block the roads or spray works of art of various substances. Do you support this type of operations?

In my youth, I had already chosen to be conscientious to the army, for personal, philosophical and religious reasons. And later, I myself participated in the actions of the unbolving, which will brush the immense advertising panels which are imposed on us in public space. But also to blocking actions against large petroleum groups. I am less convinced of the effectiveness of these operations in museums.

But faced with deadly conflicts in Ukraine, in Gaza, in Goma, is not violent disobedience a little limited, even naive?

First, it should be noted that I am not a pacifist. Because it is not enough to denounce the horrors of the war, as do the pacifist movements, to change anything. This ultimately brings no credible alternative to conflict resolution.

And non-violence, if?

Yes. Because its actors know that violence exists. They confront themselves very directly to highlight it and denounce it. And it is by accepting its reality – the harshness of a conflict, the perils of a place of tension – that they seek to offer a different form of regulation.

The non -violent approach does not resign itself to thinking that a conflict is settled by victors and vanquished. It seeks to impose the reality of a higher common good and which would prevail. For this, we must first make the lucid observation that violence never solves anything.

What do you mean by that?

Perpetuating violence is an unsuitable attitude to resolve complex human situations. It does not end conflicts, does not prevent criminal or genocidal acts. In the end, it does not restore or never reconstruct anything.

Can we say that to Ukrainian soldiers who defend their assaulted country?

Let’s be clear. When a conflict has degenerated into military confrontation, it is almost already too late for non -violent action. The latter invites you to work much further upstream to prepare the populations to resist otherwise in order to demoralize the aggressor. The most inspiring example for me remains what happened in Czechoslovakia in 1968, when the Kremlin decided to invade this country which stood up to the compressor roller of communist ideology. Around some inspired leaders, the population has decided to oppose it by all means, even though the Russian tanks had already entered Prague.

To disrupt the work of denial of employees, some replaced the names on mailboxes everywhere by that of Alexandre Dubcek, the reformist leader. Merchants refused to distribute food to the Russian troops, the logistics of which was already failing. And railway workers have diverted trains loaded with equipment from Russia. And what about these love couples who came to kiss in front of the standing tanks in the city? All these actions pushed to psychologically demobilize the soldiers sent to this conflict.

For what effect?

First, this civil resistance avoided a terrible bloodbath*, and it is not nothing. Because if no one can criticize the impressive courage of Ukrainian soldiers, can we just count the dead every day? We are talking about 400,000 victims on the Ukrainian side. More than 500,000, on the Russian side. Without evoking the wounded and the trauma that will perpetuate themselves in families. What a horror!

* The crushing of “Prague spring” ended with a hundred Czech and Slovak people, and around 500 injured.

But do Ukrainians only have the choice?

It is difficult to redo the story. But in the first days of the Russian invasion, we saw the effective action of civilians, which slowed down the progress of the convoys by blocking the roads, making the airport near kyiv inaccessible, etc. There were the beginnings of active resistance by civil disobedience.

Are we trained in this?

Well, no. Besides the current speeches of our leaders, we should train the spirits in these non-violent methods of collective action. This is the invitation I make to all those I meet.

We can also leave social networks, or boycott the products of countries whose policies generate violence or blatant injustice. And if some are unable to carry out civil disobedience actions, it is also important for them to feel that many others support these actions.

What about yourself?

And in your entourage, do your loved ones commit your commitment? If some of them do not share it, I nevertheless feel great respect. During the trials for civil disobedience against the advertising invasion in public space, many members of my family came to support me in courts.

Pope Francis recently called to “disarm the spirits” rather than preparing the worst.

It is a very nice call that resonates with non -violent commitment. Because there is nothing worse than maintaining the spirit of revenge. The teaching of Jesus remains very clear on this: put an end to the violence of “eye for eye, tooth for tooth”. Learn to “love your enemies”. But also know how to “reverse the tables of changers”, without ever mistreating the changers themselves … essential lessons.

How do they feed your personal faith?

My faith and my hope bow, if it was necessary one day, to prefer to take the risk of dying rather than killing so as not to die. The example of Franz Jägerstätter – this young Austrian peasant who preferred to die guillotined rather than serving in the Nazi army – often lives my reflections. But before this extreme case, it is already preparing, in the event of a conflict, to consider a form of self-defense which does not cause in return a supposedly legitimate violence. The non -violent figures that inspire me testify that this is possible.

Is that what you want to transmit to the youngest?

I often think of these young generations, hard experienced by the violence of the climate crisis that arrives. Why are we doing so little for them? And then, I discovered that several teenagers I know have decided, collectively, to live without a cell phone.

A demanding bet to rebel against the harmful impact of social networks and false information. While our militant movements sometimes seem to be loss of speed in France, life also taught me as in politics, in particular, there are always surprises. And that life can resurface completely unexpectedly.