After the happenings of yesterday, at least some of the Western world were disturbed. How could Palestinians bomb buses? How could they bomb buses with children? Schoolchildren at that! I want to present a little political view on what I see as happening out here..
I have never disagreed with the statement that the killing of civilians is totally and unequivocally wrong. Not "regrettable".. not "disheartening".. WRONG! I tell this to Palestinians, and it makes me unpopular.. I tell it to Israelis, and it makes me unpopular..
So, what of this whole suicide bombing thing? The leader of some armed faction or the other said on the news the other day that he would happily stop using "suicide bombers" if he were allowed to arm like a proper army - F16s, tanks, etc.. I laughed when I heard this, but in thinking about it, one can ask: What are the weapons of the Palestinians?
The second Intifada (the first was when we were kids) started with continuous and heavy peaceful demonstrations. Ten thousand people would go march on this checkpoint.. ten thousand on that checkpoint.. At some point, people started dying.. The Palestinians threw rocks at the Israelis.. the Israelis fired back.. And then, when a kid fell because he was throwing rocks, the chances are he fell next to an armed Palestinian who was following along with the protestors.. And so the pressure came to bear on this armed Palestinian to fire on the Israelis.
That's probably where everything became different.. This Intifada, the Palestinians were armed with light weaponry (assault rifles). So, they started shooting.. This, in turn, caused two things: 1) the fortification of posts and vehicles (armored cars instead of conventional unarmored jeeps) and 2) the arrest and killing of people who were armed at any point..
One cannot possibly say that this is why the first suicide bombing happened (the first suicide bombing happened 5 years before the second Intifada began), but it was certainly the rationale for stepping up the bombings.. A bomb can be prepared secretly, carried out spontaneously, and needs very little coordination to be effective.. And, where a person can fortify jeeps and army posts, one cannot possibly fortify every bus or car or mall.. Hence the stepping up of suicide bombings..
But why the innocent deaths? Initially, the attacks took place on army posts and things.. The rationale was that military targets are perfectly OK.. This is somewhat acceptable.. As more and more Palestinians died (1500 to this point?), the Palestinian society turned their support completely over to the killing of any Israeli.. The logic here is that every Israeli (especially settlers) represents a direct threat to Palestinian lives.. There is some truth to this.. For example, all Israelis must serve 3 years in the army after graduating from high school.. Every Israeli citizen is also in the Reserves.. The exceptions to both of these are the ultra-orthodox folk..
OK, so I have to be very careful here.. I cannot and will not justify the death of innocent civilians.. Let us say that every person killed yesterday was a "schoolchild".. One must ask why this is happening..
The Palestinians are human. Though many of us would like to believe so, they cannot transcend the grip of rage and revenge.. So, they send out their bombers, and most Palestinians applaud them.. And nobody sees that the vicious cycle continues in this cycle of blood..
I once suggested to a "militant" that the Palestinians should go peaceful and die in droves. "Then, the world can no longer stand idly by!" I said, proud of my logic.. Is it strength of character that I possess for saying this is the solution? Or is it callousness?
Anyway, I cannot even begin to explain the many factors in the Israeli-Palestinian military cycle.. I can barely begin to understand them.. But I can say this: Violence hasn't solved this problem to date, and doesn't look like it will.. When there is an act of violence reported, one should ask two questions: what caused it? and what will it cause?
tarek : )