Anti-globalization protesters are boycotting the G8 rally planned for Ottawa next week because the organizers have refused to condemn the use of violence.
"I don't want to be associated with it," says 34-year-old Russell McCormond, a frequent protester who hosts Web sites for several activist groups.
"I don't differentiate between violence from the police and violence from protesters. It's hard for protesters to take the moral high ground when they're essentially doing the same thing."
Rachelle Thibodeau, 34, a long-time volunteer with Ottawa environmental groups, says she will also boycott the march.
"When they fly over in their helicopters to count the number of people there, I don't want my body to be added to the numbers of people who accept violent protest," says Ms. Thibodeau.
"If I'm going to speak out, I have to be able to look at myself in the mirror the next day."
Thousands of protesters from Ontario, Quebec and the northeastern United States are expected in Ottawa next week to demonstrate against the meeting of G8 leaders taking place in remote Kananaskis, Alta.
Take Back the Capital organizers plan marches to "paralyse" downtown Ottawa.
They are calling on protesters to "carry out a wide and imaginative range of autonomous action targeting the many symbols of capitalism and imperialism in Ottawa."
The group's Web site includes a list of corporate and government offices and their addresses. Protesters are encouraged to "redecorate" the city with symbols of the protest movement.
Take Back the Capital organizer Jeremy Bell says the group supports a "diversity of tactics," including protesters who damage property and throw rocks and bottles at police.
The group also declined to establish a violence-free zone for protesters who want to avoid clashes with police.
"We're not saying it's a solution, but this is a movement of struggle and resistance, and throwing rocks definitely reiterates that fact," says Mr. Bell.
"We're not willing to condemn it. These are our allies. We can't turn our backs on them."
But long-time Ottawa activist Mike Kaulbars says that kind of attitude is creating divisions within the protest movement.
"For some, the attitude is 'my violence is justifiable and your violence is horrible'," says Mr. Kaulbars, co-ordinator of Ottawa's Peace and Environment Resource Centre.
"And that's caused a lot of people to drift away. Police and activists agree the majority of protesters -- representing everything from environmentalists and women's groups, to unions and health care advocates -- are nonviolent.
Mr. Kaulbars says many of them are fed up with the attention paid to violence, at the expense of the cause they're trying to promote.
"I'm opposed to the use of violence, morally and pragmatically," says Mr. Kaulbars. Violent protesters have done "more to obscure the issues than the federal government could have ever hoped. If someone flings a fire bomb, how are we going to get our message out?"
Mr. Kaulbars has become a vocal critic of the "diversity of tactics" movement and violent protest in general, which, according to Mr. McCormond, has led to his "excommunication" in some circles.
Both Mr. Kaulbars and Mr. McCormond say they've received hate mail after criticizing the use of violence on internet discussion groups, and have seen non-violence advocates shouted down at meetings.
"It's getting rather volatile. There's a growing attitude of 'if you're not with us, you're against us," says Mr. McCormond, a computer consultant. "People who've been in this for a long time are now being told they're part of the problem."
According to Mr. Kaulbars, the tradition of open discussion and debate that's existed in the movement is, in some cases, being replaced by a climate of fear. "If you speak up, you're a traitor, a liberal," says Mr. Kaulbars, who proudly describes himself as a radical.
"The ironic thing is that it's identical to the rhetoric of George Bush."
Mr. Bell acknowledges there is criticism of those who advocate a strictly non-violent approach.
"That comes from a white, middle-class kind of doctrine that says 'I'll fight for social justice, but once things get ugly, I want nothing to do with that'," says Mr. Bell.
"It may feel good, but it can be ineffective."
Mr. Bell insists the groups he's involved with encourage discussion and debate. And they may be hearing more of it, with the launch of Mr. Kaulbars' Web site, www.no-dot.ca , which promotes non-violence.
He's also starting a group called the Coalition for Solidarity in Gandhian Non-violence, to give fellow non-violent protesters a voice. "We need to bring these people together so we can stand up and be counted. It's time to speak up."
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