The Provider in Action
Taking Non-Violent Resistance to Scale: The Case of Ekta Parishad
William Ury, in his book ‘The Third Side’ said, “the underlying cause of conflict usually lies in deprivation of basic human needs…The most basic human needs include food (and other necessities for living), safety, identity, and freedom. Each provides a form of security – economic, physical, cultural, and political. Put more simply, each person wants to feel well, safe, respected and free. If we can help address one or more of these four needs, we can avert much destructive conflict.”
This is exactly what the Ekta Parishad (“Unity Forum” in Hindi), ...
The Heroes of Marawi: The Fight Against Terrorism
Marawi, a Muslim dominated city (over 200,000 Muslim residents) in a predominantly Catholic country[1] was seized by armed fighters on the deadly night of May 23rd, 2017. That same night, President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines declared martial law on the island of Mindanao where Marawi is located.[2] Amongst confusing messages of whether ISIS was involved or not, it was identified that a local militant group headed by the Maute brothers, belonging to an influential clan in the Philippines, were heading the terrorist attacks, that were targeting the Christian popula...
Wings of Change Leading to Schools of Change: Creating Inclusive Communities as a Response to a Tragedy
December 14, 2012 was a fateful day – it witnessed the massacre of twenty elementary school children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown, Connecticut. The perpetrator was twenty-year-old Adam Lanza, with a history of social adjustment issues and severe anxiety. He was later diagnosed with autism, among other mental conditions.[1] Within ten minutes of the shooting commencing, Lanza shot himself. That day, amongst the twenty children that died, one of them was a 6-year-old boy with special needs named Dylan Hockley. He was special, determined ...
The Aarhus Way of Combating Radicalization in Communities
The series of terrorist incidents that affected France and other parts of Europe in 2015, starting with the Charlie Hebdo massacre led governments, security agencies, and people to take notice of a seemingly strange phenomenon – one of “homegrown terrorists”. The Charlie Hebdo massacre started with two gunmen attacking the office of the French satirical weekly magazine – Charlie Hebdo - for the cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed on the cover of their November 3, 2011 edition of the magazine. The attack spread across three days from January 7, 2015 to January 9, ...
Mosques do the Opposite of Terrorism: They Diffuse Peace and Dialogue
…said Mohmmed ben Mohammed, a member of the Union of the Islamic Communities in Italy, in the aftermath of the bloody attack on the Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray Church near Rouen, about 77 miles away from Paris. Many from the Muslim community in the Rouen region, in France, reached out in solidarity to the victims and the family of those affected. It is in times of crisis that we can distinguish our friends from our foes. It is also in times of crisis that the Third Side principles become so very crucial, that the creative people and communities automatically and ...
The Provider: Prevention Efforts Lead to a Revitalization
Why Once-Violent Neighborhoods Stayed Calm During the Blackout
August 24, 2003
By BRENT STAPLES
New Yorkers who lived through the arson and looting that ravaged the city during the blackout of 1977 were understandably edgy when the lights went out on Aug. 14. But it was clear by late evening that the blackout of 2003 would be nothing like its predecessor. This night did not belong to arsonists or looters; it belonged to families and neighbors who poured into the streets to use the headlights of parked cars for block parties and barbecues.
Why were things so quiet? ...
The Provider: Helping People Lift Themselves Up
Muhammad Yunus may not think of himself as engaged in conflict prevention, but he is a champion Provider. In 1976, as a young economics professor in the famine-stricken nation of Bangladesh, he met a village woman making a bamboo chair. He asked her how much profit she earned and was astonished to learn that it was only two pennies a day. "Why?" he asked. She explained that she had no bamboo of her own and had to buy it from a trader, who required in return that she sell him the finished chair at the low price he set. Yunus asked how much she needed to be able to buy her ...
The Provider: Meeting Needs to Save a Child
Boston, MA
"I've got to check in on America's worst nightmare,' announced the Reverend Eugene Rivers. "Ten-year-old kid. His daddy was shot through the head. His mama's got 'chemical' issues. He's a ringleader. You can just see it. He's been getting into trouble - they already caught him with a knife. He'll be packing a Glock [a gun] before long, unless someone gets to him."
"Hey, money," Rivers told the boy in a meeting arranged in the school library. "You know what I'm doing here? I'm gonna keep you outta jail." The boy stared at him without expression. "What do ...