JEDDAH, 22 May — “Suicide attacks can never be justified,” we were told by many Americans, and understandably so. It is also regrettable that Bin Laden has managed to convince many Americans and Arabs that resistance to the Israeli occupation should also include rooting out so-called “infidels” from Arab states and also fighting America.
Those in the Arab world, who know very little about the West, have succumbed to those ideas and thoughts. But what do they know? Similarly, some Americans have linked their circumstances to those in Israel — that Americans and Israelis are living in constant fear, except that Israelis are under more of a threat as suicide bombings continue.
I would be insane to claim that killing Israeli men, women and children at a cafe, in a bus, or on the street, is justified. But I also believe that suicide bombings have not come about because of a corrupt culture or religious belief. It takes more, a lot more guts to kill oneself, and a whole lot more desperation to believe in the cause — especially after women and teenagers have blown themselves to pieces. You see, there’s no good guy or bad guy here, just two very similar people fighting for the same reasons: A land, a future and prosperity.
So first thing, let’s get our politics right. Suicide bombings didn’t begin when the Zionist movement did. On the contrary, it took years for Palestinians to feel they had to resort to suicide bombings in the hopes of attaining a political solution to the current crisis.
Now, does this mean I agree with suicide bombings? Definitely not. In the end, violence gets us nowhere. Palestinian resistance should focus on peaceful demonstrations — even though nothing much will come out of it; nothing has for the 54 years of occupation, so why now? A second resort should be — and should have been all along — the resistance against the Israeli militia. So rather than blindly killing every Israeli on the street, Palestinians should take a firm stance against Israeli soldiers and their oppressive government.
Palestinians have a double problem with their political system. There has to be consensus amongst the Palestinians over who should govern and how to govern. Palestinians need to increase the number of educated people, otherwise the Israeli government will support a Palestinian puppet government so that Jewish settlements can be expanded and sustained. Also, the definition “terrorism” is quite complicated and takes various forms, so we have to look beyond the events of Sept. 11. To link the 54-year Israeli occupation — in which suicide bombings are a recent phenomenon and matured out of frustration with the breakdown of the peace process — with the events of Sept.11 undermines the entire Palestinian predicament.
Ask the average Arab and he’ll tell you that for an Israeli citizen to demolish a house belonging to a Palestinian, then elect and back a government which suppresses his people and wipes out their history, is by anybody’s definition, terror. It is a form of terrorism, which takes place along with fear and worry of the most awful and brutal kind.
For an Israeli citizen to elect Ariel Sharon as prime minister — a man responsible for the Sabra and Shatila massacres — is terrorism.
For Israelis as a whole, to have accepted the occupation of South Lebanon, parts of Syria, and Egypt, is terrorism.
Israel’s acts belie an underlying crude objective of disgrace and revenge. Palestinians who are only trying to commute to work are forced to walk miles through the mud, over hills and through quarries. That too is terrorism. Collective punishment is terror. For Israel to veto the presence of an international observation body is terrorism. It is essential to have such a presence in light of the deteriorating situation.
It’s been over 54 years. How can a Palestinian distinguish between an Israeli citizen and a soldier after so much injustice? Take a moment here to think of the injustices and consider carefully. Perhaps I am wrong. But just as there are irresponsible Palestinians who waste their lives in vain, there are Israelis who provoke Palestinians, then sit on the sidelines and wonder what they’ve done to deserve all this. It’s time the Israelis woke up and faced facts.
