Painful to wake up

The Beersheba bus bombings stir a wide debate in the Israeli media, writes Emad Gad

---

The twin bombings in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba on 31 August sparked a wide-ranging debate in the Israeli media. The operation took place in two public buses inside the city, despite all the precautions taken by Israeli security forces. Hamas declared its responsibility for the attacks, which revealed the movement's continuing ability to recruit suicide bombers and, in turn, their ability to penetrate Israeli security defences. While the Palestinian Authority condemned the attacks and once more expressed its rejection of all operations targeting civilians on either side, it was clear that the Israeli government still believes in a military solution to the conflict.

The Israeli media was occupied with the incident the entire week as various proposals were offered. Some reiterated that the suicide bombings proved the failure of Israeli security measures. Others again stated that there can be no military solution to the conflict, no matter what security precautions Israel takes. The attacks will continue, and the only way out is to jump start the political process to reach a resolution acceptable to Palestinians.

Each camp offered its own vision and justifications. The first camp, focussing on the security dimension, believes that the solution lies in increased security measures and the completion of the separation wall. The second camp insists on the necessity of going back to the root of the problem -- the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands. This camp believes that security measures may thwart one or more attacks but cannot completely prevent or eliminate them.

The first camp was represented by Alex Fishman in "The Illusion of Calm" published on 1 September in Yediot Aharonot.

"Yesterday's double attack in Beersheba broke our illusion of a calm summer, a decline in terrorism, and a relatively secure home front after four bloody years," Fishman wrote. "It was extremely comfortable to be addicted to this false illusion; we almost forgot how painful it can be to wake up.

"But before the entire Palestinian public is put under pressure, and before setting out to execute targeted assassinations, whether a few or many, we must learn the lesson well. The practical lesson that must be learned from yesterday's attack is about intelligence. The security establishment in Hebron has a shortcoming -- a big, black hole -- in intelligence. Attacks come out of Hebron with no advance warning. At Central Command they smelled something cooking in Hebron. They realised that the calm there was just temporary and that the next operation was on its way. Instead of the non- existent wall, they tried to create obstacles to prevent movement from southern Mt Hebron inside the Green Line and vice versa. They dug a trench, built mounds of earth, reinforced units and surveillance outposts, and moved electronic equipment into the area. But it was not enough. When intelligence is absent, success is just a matter of a stroke of luck.

"Right now, the Israeli army is responding to the intelligence shortage in Hebron by systematic pursuits of wanted men. In 2003, 1,100 wanted men were arrested in Hebron and the surrounding area; so far in 2004 about 400 people have been arrested. New cells were created and others disbanded. Abdullah Al-Qawasma was assassinated, as was his successor, Basel Al-Qawasma. No doubt Emad Al-Qawasma will also disappear, his place to be taken by another Qawasma.

"The operation out of Hebron teaches us, first of all, that there is a professional, intelligence problem in a certain area. But this should not distract us from worrying about developments in the war on terrorism. The first of these is the ability of the other side to learn; the second, worrisome enough on its own, is the fact that more than 75 per cent of operations coming out of the West Bank are executed by organisations directed by Hizbullah. This means that the day is not far off when we will stop playing backgammon with the enemy and start playing a more serious, complex game of chess. We must prepare for this, starting from yesterday."

The second camp was represented by Yehuda Litani in the article, "Don't Ever Say No," published on 2 September, also in Yediot Aharonot.

"Over the last few months, we could say we were returning to a normal life," Litani wrote. "The Shin Bet succeeded in preventing any attacks, and the number of tourists jumped considerably. Many Israelis travelled abroad. The beaches and tourist areas in the Galilee and the Negev were bursting with people, and hotels, restaurants, and cafés were full. We became addicted to the television programmes broadcasting the Olympics from Athens, and we boasted of the medals won by our athletes. We could talk comfortably about the new school year or political appointments by Likud ministers. In short, it seemed to us that everything was returning to normal because the Intifada had started to wane.

"The dream continued until the lethal attack in Beersheba. Once more we saw the painful scenes of the wounded being evacuated, expressions of Israeli anger and Palestinian joy. Once more, voices were raised calling for painful revenge, and the nightly proceedings of the security cabinet were reinstated to determine how to respond. As if the pain was not enough, politicians on the right began blaming the prime minister and the disengagement plan for encouraging armed attacks. Others accused the High Court of Justice for having prevented the completion of the separation wall. Hebron was surrounded, and a retaliatory operation seemed in the offing. After that, there will be another retaliation, and the whole scene will be repeated, God forbid.

"We have returned to the bloody circle. They will tell us, once more, that Arafat bears the entire responsibility and must be exiled, or that the disengagement plan must be postponed indefinitely until the end of terrorism. But terrorism will not stop, and the spiral of bloodshed will not be broken. Even if we disengage and even if we complete the wall in the Hebron area, armed attackers will find holes to penetrate. If they find no holes, they will use rockets like they do today in Sederot, or sneak through tunnels, like they do today in Rafah.

"Bitter enemies like India and Pakistan have been forced to sit at the negotiating table because they know that their long, bitter conflict cannot be resolved by force. This is what is happening in Cyprus and Northern Ireland. It may be cliché, but it's true: we must negotiate and prepare to make mutual concessions. If not, the instinct for revenge will always triumph over balanced opinion and reason. The hysterics -- those who dance on the roofs on one side and the others who call for a painful punishment on the other -- will continue to dictate the daily agenda of two peoples as long as the break between them lasts. And thousands of innocent victims will continue to fall, here and there, as long as leaders on both sides continue to insist there is no-one to talk to.

"The current situation is not a divine decree. It is a frightening situation imposed on us by both Palestinian and Israeli militants: Palestinians in Hamas and Islamic Jihad who reject any settlement and consider the entire country an inheritance, not one inch of which can be conceded, and their likes on the Israeli side, the settlers convinced of their full rights over every part of the promised land. Both peoples in the past have paid the price of destruction and forced migration by giving themselves over to militants, but it appears they have not yet learned the lessons of the past. There are still those among them who raise the flag of all or nothing.

"How easy it is to run after enthusiastic nationalist slogans, and how difficult it is to think rationally when blood is shed in vain. How easy silence is, and how hard it is to run against the current of those reckless voices demanding that we wage yet another losing battle. Perhaps it is appropriate, now especially, when we appear to have reached a closed door, once more, to remember the words of the dearly departed Abba Ebban: 'Don't ever say no.'"

The problem of the peace process is that the partisans of the first camp control the government and the media, as well as the message sent out to Israeli public opinion. As long as this is the case, the spiral of violence will continue and the peace process will stall.

To read more about this issue, please visit the website of Arabs Against Discrimination (www.aad-online.org).