The means to noble ends
Suicide bombings may at times capture the public's imagination, but attacks on civilians must stop,
Taha Abdel-Alim* writes
Attacks on civilians, particularly those conducted in the name of Islam, are an alarming phenomenon. Among other things, they sully the image of Arabs and Muslims and provide ammunition for proponents of the "clash of civilisations" theory. I will focus here on attacks on Israeli civilians in the course of the Palestinian struggle. Such attacks, already condemned by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), escalated following the collapse of the Oslo-driven peace efforts.
All Palestinian resistance groups have, since the 1985 Cairo Declaration, denounced military operations targeting Israeli civilians. The first Intifada was free from such attacks. However, the current uprising has witnessed an unprecedented increase in attacks targeting Israeli civilians within Israel's pre-1967 borders.
Israel's war crimes against the Palestinians explain -- but do not justify -- Palestinian armed attacks against Israeli civilians. Israel's right-wing government, which is expected to remain in power following next month's elections, appears in no mood to halt its crimes against Palestinian civilians -- whether or not the Palestinians desist from attacking Israeli civilians. Yet, the support of world public opinion -- even in Israel and the US -- for Palestinian rights depends largely on the image of the Palestinian struggle abroad. And this image has been greatly harmed by attacks on Israeli civilians.
The Zionist media machine is trying to conflate the Palestinians' legitimate struggle with terror. It regularly uses the attacks to vilify the cause of the people whose lands it occupies. Last month, the UN General Assembly postponed voting on an international treaty to fight terror after Islamic countries voiced certain reservations. The UN delegate representing the Organisation of the Islamic Conference said that all parts of said treaty were agreed upon, excepting two matters: the definition of terrorism and the question of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories.
In their book on international terrorism, Ahmed Rifaat and Saleh Al-Tayyar write that violence is legitimate, so long as it is conducted in resistance of occupation, used against military and strategic targets (including military personnel), and does not harm civilians. Armed struggle is a right guaranteed by the 1949 Geneva agreements and the additional 1977 protocols. The legitimacy of armed struggle, however, does not extend to hijackings and taking hostages. Noble ends do not justify vile means.
In an article published in Al-Ahram on 26 November, Ibrahim Nafie speaks of the efforts exerted by Egypt and the European Union (EU) to bridge the gap between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and other Palestinian resistance groups -- chiefly Hamas -- in preparation for the resumption of peace talks. The Egyptian effort in this respect is vital, because intra-Palestinian divisions have the potential to undermine the struggle for independence.
Khaled Misha'al, member of Hamas's political bureau, recently launched a vitriolic attack on the PA, claiming that the Palestinians worthy of respect are those "who resist the occupation". PA official Al-Tayyib Abdel-Rahim retorted by saying that the policies of Hamas's leadership-in-exile play right into the hands of Israel's extreme right-wing who want to destroy the PA and expel the Palestinians. Hamas is acting as though Palestinian land belongs to it alone, and its policies tarnish the image of Palestinian struggle, he claimed. The group is "obstructing national, Arab, and international efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state," Abdel- Rahim said.
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has repeatedly criticised attacks against Israeli civilians, describing them as "terrorist", and calling for their cessation for the sake of Palestinian interests. The PA, for its part, has called on all resistance groups to desist from waging operations against Israeli civilians -- even in retaliation for the crimes Israeli forces are committing against Palestinian civilians. The PLO Executive Committee, in a statement last month, called for an immediate and complete halt to all military operations -- particularly those targeting Israeli civilians. The committee warned that the continuation of such operations would only benefit Israeli extremists and provide them with a pretext for maintaining their offensive against the Palestinian people. A high-ranking Palestinian security official said that the attacks embarrass the PA and raise doubts about Arafat's commitment to agreements to which the PA is signatory. Any Palestinian, the official said, has the right to question the way the negotiations are conducted, a minority, however, should not be permitted to impose its opinion on the majority.
A few months ago, the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds issued an appeal signed by 55 Palestinian public figures, calling on those who wage military operations against civilians in Israel to reconsider their tactics, noting that these operations undermine international sympathy for the Palestinians. The fact that the Palestinians are victims does not justify their resort to the same methods used by their oppressors, the appeal stated, adding that the Palestinian issue has a moral and humane dimension that necessitates that innocent civilians are not killed. Several public figures, however, refused to sign the appeal because it made no reference to the crimes of the Israeli occupation. Some pointed out that no suicide operations were carried out in the first three months of the Intifada, and yet 300 Palestinians were killed and 500 wounded during that period.
The reservations voiced over the wording of the above appeal are not devoid of value. But, as Palestinian official Bassam Abu Sharif once pointed out, the Palestinians should keep in mind that their most effective weapon is the justice of their cause. The United States, for example, would have found it much harder to ignore Israel's massacres of Palestinians if suicide operations didn't give Israel the chance to claim self-defence.
It is not difficult to understand the desperation that prompts some Palestinian groups to wage suicide attacks on civilians. Nor does comprehending the tendency to see all Israelis as usurpers who deserve no sympathy require much effort. But to understand is not the same as to endorse. Aside from the obvious moral issue, national liberation movements should weigh their gains against losses when selecting their tactics. They should adapt their methods of struggle in accordance with prevailing circumstances. And they should strive to ensure unity of their ranks and cohesion among their leaders.
In a recent message that President Hosni Mubarak sent to the head of the UN Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, he said that the United Nations should uphold its responsibility to end the Palestinians' tragedy, implement relevant resolutions, and provide international protection for the Palestinians. Egypt, Mubarak said, condemns Israel's systematic destruction of Palestinian infrastructure and supports the right of the Palestinian people to a state of their own, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Mubarak's words were ones of caution as well as fairness. Unless the Palestinians are accorded their rights, they will remain bitter and disenchanted -- a situation that does not bode well for either the region or the world.
