7 - 13 February 2002
Issue No.572
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 7 - 13 February 2002 Issue No.572 |
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Manufacturing terrorism
Marwan Bishara* tries out an explosive recipe
It's been said that terrorists are not born; they are made. The suicide attack by the young and promising Wafaa Idris on 29 January puts forth the question once more: how do you manufacture a Palestinian suicide bomber? It's actually simple: mix few ounces of flesh, blood and bones, and throw in a hint of hope for a decent living. Then break its spirit with total despair while dipping it in generous portions of surplus morality and racism. Cover the mix well, away from the light, and let it bake in the heat of humiliation under occupation.
Voilà! Now the terrorists are ready to die. They can go out and commit desperate acts on their own, or be recruited by the local resistance. Worse, they can fall prey to the indoctrination of neighbourhood fanatics and stand in line to become the next martyrs.
In recent months, Israel has demanded repeatedly that the Palestinian Authority shut down "the terrorists' assembly line." But where does that line start? For Israel, the assembly line starts when they are "ready to die." For the Palestinians, it begins with "breaking their spirit"; after that, it's just a matter of time and bad luck.
Recently, manufacturing terrorism was in full gear. Israel's military forces bulldozed tens of shacks and houses in Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, presumably in retaliation for an attack by two Gaza Palestinians on a rather distant army post.
The destruction increased the number of homeless Palestinian families by 92 and Palestinian children by a few hundred more, according to Israeli human rights groups. It's always about numbers; no names, no faces, no drama. The next day, surplus morality was rubbed into the wound: Israeli Minister of Defence Binyamin Ben Eliezer told a Japanese delegation that Israel "must do everything to ease the suffering of the wider Palestinian population." Never mind that displacing a refugee is like killing him twice.
These children, now deprived of homes and schools, are ready for the next phase: fighting for their homeland. They will join either the cadres of the secular Palestinian organisations -- mainly Arafat's Fatah or Tanzim -- or the fundamentalist Hamas and Jihad movements.
Israel and, to a certain extent, the US characterise all these groups as terrorists organisations. Since the Intifada started in September 2000, Israel has assassinated hundred of their leaders and imprisoned thousands of their activists. But their number keeps on growing -- with 300 potential candidates now added. The fresh recruits and the leaders, like the absolute majority of Palestinians, are either refugees, occupied, or both.
For Sharon, the PA is no different from the Taliban in the way it "harbours terrorists." Relentlessly, he exploits "America's war on terrorism" to wage a war against the PA, which he condemns as "infected" with terrorism. Destroying the enemy, newly designated as a contaminating disease, entails killing all suspected terrorists, their allies, friends and those who support them and their cause. Israelis are already speaking of a "Bosnian scenario" to avoid comparisons to the deadly attack on Israeli occupation forces in Lebanon, Hizbullah-style.
But Israel's Western allies understand that, unlike Afghanistan, there is no credible alternative leadership capable of more compromises. In fact, Arafat's leadership, in contrast to the Taliban, represents the far more liberal segments of Palestinian society, those committed to coexistence.
Arafat has cracked down on Hamas for years, limiting its activities and imprisoning its leaders. But the violent occupation has only helped strengthen its resolve and increase the numbers of its recruits. Arafat's dismissal will strengthen the religious fundamentalists. In reality, you cannot entrust Israeli security to a weak and humiliated Palestinian leadership -- just as you cannot entrust Palestinian security to a strong Israel, which acts with total impunity.
One can condemn Yasser Arafat for allowing corruption; some dare to hate him for not protecting Israeli security by cracking down on extremists. But until he can secure the safety of his people from the violence of occupation, taking instructions from Israel will amount to no less than collaboration. Luckily, Arafat is anything but a collaborator. That is why he is a leader capable of signing a far-reaching compromise with Israel, one that could lead to historical reconciliation and peace. Discrediting and weakening him will only lead to further instability and violence.
Arafat stands for a two-state solution based on Resolution 242 and other resolutions. But what does Sharon stand for? Occupation, illegal settlement, massacres?
For the Palestinians, Sharon is another Milosevic. In 2000, Shimon Peres warned that electing Sharon meant producing another Milosevic. Today, a growing segment of Sharon's cabinet speaks openly of the need to "transfer" the Palestinians across the borders. Already, 150,000 Palestinians, 10 per cent of the West Bank's population, have left the occupied territories.
Yasser Arafat is nothing like Mullah Omar of the Taliban, but Ariel Sharon is smarter than Slobodan Milosevic. He will not go so far as to carry out major ethnic cleansing Bosnian- style. The persistent deterioration of the situation will have no less dramatic repercussions in the region, however.
Policing can accomplish little in Palestine; prevention remains terrorism's best solution. There is no harm in repeating the obvious. Eliminating the violence entails targeting the occupation. That is the engine of hatred, impoverishment and humiliation. Taking down the occupation is the only way to rid the area of violence and terrorism.
Terrorism is said to be the weak man's weapon. It is not. International law and justice are the best allies of the weak. Justice cannot be accomplished with terrorism. Revenge can; that is what Wafaa Idris's friends and family said explicitly: "We shall revisit upon them some of what they have brought on us." In the absence of international law, which Washington has paralysed in the Middle East, there is not much else to expect.
Occupation, on the other hand, is said to be Israel's only way of protecting its security. It is not. The occupation is Israel's worst enemy. Palestinian resistance to this occupation will no doubt continue until all Israeli forces have withdrawn.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Israel's most decorated general, once remarked that if he had been born a Palestinian he would have been a terrorist. Fortunately, with the exception of a few dozen suicide bombers, most young Palestinians continue to search for life. Only by strengthening their hope for a decent living can we overcome the culture of hatred and death.
* The writer teaches at the American University of Paris and is the author of Palestine/Israel: Peace or Apartheid.
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