Arun Gandhi is to attend a mass rally in the West Bank town of Abu Dis on Friday against the giant barrier being built by Israel to separate itself from the Palestinians, with the focus firmly on peaceful protest.

Peaceful resistance is an option favoured by a minority of Palestinians, but some politicians and intellectuals are pushing hard to emulate the non-violent tactics used in India's struggle against British colonial rule.

Since the outbreak of the intifada in September 2000, numerous Palestinian personalities have argued against the "militarisation" of the uprising, saying the use of guns and violence has had a disastrous effect on their people's struggle.

Calls for a peaceful intifada have not fallen on completely deaf ears as can be seen in the explosion of peaceful protests against the construction of Israel's barrier, many of which have been harshly repressed by the army.

A relatively new phenomenon, these demonstrations have drawn a mixed gathering of Palestinian villagers whose lives are directly impacted by the barrier, Israeli pacifists and foreign peace activists.

But calls for a peaceful struggle have had little impact on the various armed groups which have continued to carry out violent attacks, and still enjoy strong public support.

"The problem is that it is very difficult to copy the types of struggle which occured in India in the context of the Israeli occupation," former Palestinian minister Ziad Abu Amr told AFP.

"How do you remain non-violent when Israeli soldiers are firing on demonstrators, when land is confiscated every day and when Israel continues its assassinations and incursions?" asked Amr, an independent MP who has, in the past, tried to get militant groups to halt their anti-Israeli attacks.

"There is a trend within Palestinian society which believes in non-violent struggle, but I don't think the Israelis are interested in it."

At the start of the current uprising, the Israeli army had "actively sought to escalate the violence... by killing dozens of demonstrators," he charged.

"At the same time, the Israeli military establishment claimed it was trying to nip the uprising in the bud."

Palestinian analyst Zakaria al-Haq believes people have lost faith in most forms of struggle.

"The population is aware that violence does not work but non-violence has not worked either," he said bitterly.

"You have to admire what was done in India in the past, but the situation here is different in the sense that the occupying power is not looking to exploit the Palestinians but to drive them out."

Another factor contributing to the powerlessness of the Palestinian pacifist movement was the "harshness of the Israeli oppression", he added.

But this explanation doesn't cut the mustard with Iyad Saraj, a psychiatrist and peace activist from Gaza.

"There is no tradition of non-violent struggle in the Arab world because it goes against the culture of principles of honour and vengence," he said.

According to Saraj, the failure of the armed struggle and with it the sense of defeat, has not pushed the population towards peaceful means of protest but rather has caused people to despair and withdraw into themselves.

"People feel ashamed," he said.

Arun Gandhi wants the Palestinians to emulate his grandfather and refrain from violence to win rights from Israel.

"When we respond to the oppressor the way the oppressor has done -- with the use of violence, then we lose our moral strength to seek a solution to the problem and become like the oppressor," he said.

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