George Monbiot’s statement that “taking out pipelines, refineries, abattoirs, coal plants and SUVs is morally justified” by comparison to the liberation struggles of colonised peoples is based on a fundamental misreading of the historical and social context of those events (I back saboteurs who have acted with courage and coherence, but I won’t blow up a pipeline. Here’s why, 29 April).
This is not a novel view; it is a point well made already by Nafeez Ahmed in his critique of non-violent direct action. Anti-colonial resistance in India, for example, originated from within the oppressed communities themselves. Their aim was to force the British state to respond with such violence that the brutality of the colonial regime became apparent to the majority of the British people, whose tacit consent had been necessary for the continuation of the colonial enterprise.
