It starts with a scene-setter. ?The Gaza Strip is like a giant prison,? Judy Rebick writes to open the second diary entry from her visit to the Palestinian territories (http://www.rabble.ca). In part one, she introduced us to Palestinian peace activist Refaat Sabbah, who told us his favorite film is Life is Beautiful. "I love the way the hero protects his son from the experience of the concentration camp,? Sabbah tells us, ?I try to protect my children from the horrors around us too."
Rebick?s intentions are clear. She is preparing us for the catalogue of horrors to follow, horrors that could take place only inside a prison or even a concentration camp, not a free society. And the jailer is the Israeli army. Rebick then follows with an eyewitness account of closures, curfews, shootings, searches, dispersals, and shellings that frighten children and keep babies up at night. Her straightforward narration is coated with an aura of authenticity because of her position as an on-the-spot reporter.
Yet suddenly, her focus on Palestinian pain becomes subversive. It becomes a justification for suicide bombings. Even as Rebick herself condemns killing innocent civilians, she ultimately blames Israel for Palestinian terror. ?My experience convinced me that Israeli aggression simply plants the seeds for more suicide bombings,? Rebick writes, after a thorough assessment of Palestinian pain. To readers inclined to support the Palestinians, but who are morally troubled by the wanton cruelty displayed by Palestinian terrorists, Rebick resolves the dilemma. The Palestinians are not responsible at all. Israel is to blame for everything.
Jessica Azulay offers another example. In a piece called Breeding Points of Terror (http://www.zmag.org), she blames Israeli checkpoints for creating Palestinian anger and frustration, and ultimately for suicide attacks. ?Teargassing, shootings and scare tactics constitute a common experience for people at the Ramallah checkpoints,? she writes, claiming she herself had seen a soldier harassing people at the Qalandya checkpoint. Ambulances are often singled out for particularly thorough examinations, Azulay writes. She makes sure to add that several people have died because ambulances have been unnecessarily detained, but fails to add that terrorist groups have used ambulances to transport arms and missiles, leaving the reader to assume the Palestinians died due to a whim of the Israeli soldiers.
As her title suggests, Azulay?s mission is to connect the checkpoints with the astonishing phenomenon of suicide bombers. ?The buildup of anger and frustration among the Palestinians who cannot cross the checkpoints or who wait hours to do so are serious factors in the overall hopelessness and rage that are at the root of the suicide bombings,? she concludes, adding - without irony - that terrorists don?t try to cross through the checkpoints anyway.
Rebick and Azulay are typical of independent journalists who have gone to the Palestinian territories and written about their experiences and observations. These narratives stick closely to the theme of Palestinian suffering and invariably point the finger of blame at Israel. They often mention the ?hopelessness? of the Palestinian people, but tend to ignore the widespread corruption of their leaders. Constant incitement to violence in the Palestinian education system or the press is rarely listed as a cause of Palestinian anger and aggression. These reporters, writing for independent Western publications, only care about one thing: the point of interaction between Palestinians and Israelis, or more precisely, the pain it brings to the Palestinians.
With Palestinian pain placed in the center of the universe, many things, including suicide bombings, suddenly seem understandable. Who could blame an innocent man for striking at his oppressor? While none of these accounts explicitly praise suicide attacks directed against civilians, the omnipresence of Palestinian suffering virtually eliminates the question of right or wrong. The new question revolves around what it takes to turn Palestinian pain into Palestinian terror.
The simple answers provided by writers such as Rebick and Azulay are dangerous because they invoke sympathy for terrorists and even question the innocence of the victims. They suggest that Israel is entirely responsible for the violence directed against it, and ignore the legitimate security concerns of the entire Israeli population and Israel?s efforts to reach peace agreements. Even when they condemn suicide bombings, they are really condemning Israel for driving people to such desperate measures.
Rebick concludes the chronicle of her solidarity tour of the territories with a chat with Ahmed, the cousin of a suicide bomber. Ahmed calls his cousin a hero, and refuses to accept the moral failing of killing innocent people, a statement that even Rebick challenges. But when Ahmed twists the facts to conclude that Israel was responsible for the violence, Rebick steps aside and lets him speak. "We just want to be left alone to live. There was peace for so many years, from 1994 to 2000. Who ended the peace?" he asks. "It was not us who drove tanks into Tel Aviv." Rebick follows with a few lines about Ahmed?s stay in an Israeli prison and the suffering he met at the hands of Israeli soldiers. Ahmed may support his cousin?s violence, Rebick seems to be saying, but it can be understood because Ahmed himself has experienced violence. And as long Israel maintains its military edge, any means of Palestinian self-defense is understandable. Even suicide bombings against innocent victims.
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Alex Margolin is the co-director (with Avi Nueman) of Turning the Tide, a grassroots organization that promotes pro-Israel viewpoints in the independent press. They can be reached at Turningthetide@softhome.net.
Rebick?s intentions are clear. She is preparing us for the catalogue of horrors to follow, horrors that could take place only inside a prison or even a concentration camp, not a free society. And the jailer is the Israeli army. Rebick then follows with an eyewitness account of closures, curfews, shootings, searches, dispersals, and shellings that frighten children and keep babies up at night. Her straightforward narration is coated with an aura of authenticity because of her position as an on-the-spot reporter.
Yet suddenly, her focus on Palestinian pain becomes subversive. It becomes a justification for suicide bombings. Even as Rebick herself condemns killing innocent civilians, she ultimately blames Israel for Palestinian terror. ?My experience convinced me that Israeli aggression simply plants the seeds for more suicide bombings,? Rebick writes, after a thorough assessment of Palestinian pain. To readers inclined to support the Palestinians, but who are morally troubled by the wanton cruelty displayed by Palestinian terrorists, Rebick resolves the dilemma. The Palestinians are not responsible at all. Israel is to blame for everything.
Jessica Azulay offers another example. In a piece called Breeding Points of Terror (http://www.zmag.org), she blames Israeli checkpoints for creating Palestinian anger and frustration, and ultimately for suicide attacks. ?Teargassing, shootings and scare tactics constitute a common experience for people at the Ramallah checkpoints,? she writes, claiming she herself had seen a soldier harassing people at the Qalandya checkpoint. Ambulances are often singled out for particularly thorough examinations, Azulay writes. She makes sure to add that several people have died because ambulances have been unnecessarily detained, but fails to add that terrorist groups have used ambulances to transport arms and missiles, leaving the reader to assume the Palestinians died due to a whim of the Israeli soldiers.
As her title suggests, Azulay?s mission is to connect the checkpoints with the astonishing phenomenon of suicide bombers. ?The buildup of anger and frustration among the Palestinians who cannot cross the checkpoints or who wait hours to do so are serious factors in the overall hopelessness and rage that are at the root of the suicide bombings,? she concludes, adding - without irony - that terrorists don?t try to cross through the checkpoints anyway.
Rebick and Azulay are typical of independent journalists who have gone to the Palestinian territories and written about their experiences and observations. These narratives stick closely to the theme of Palestinian suffering and invariably point the finger of blame at Israel. They often mention the ?hopelessness? of the Palestinian people, but tend to ignore the widespread corruption of their leaders. Constant incitement to violence in the Palestinian education system or the press is rarely listed as a cause of Palestinian anger and aggression. These reporters, writing for independent Western publications, only care about one thing: the point of interaction between Palestinians and Israelis, or more precisely, the pain it brings to the Palestinians.
With Palestinian pain placed in the center of the universe, many things, including suicide bombings, suddenly seem understandable. Who could blame an innocent man for striking at his oppressor? While none of these accounts explicitly praise suicide attacks directed against civilians, the omnipresence of Palestinian suffering virtually eliminates the question of right or wrong. The new question revolves around what it takes to turn Palestinian pain into Palestinian terror.
The simple answers provided by writers such as Rebick and Azulay are dangerous because they invoke sympathy for terrorists and even question the innocence of the victims. They suggest that Israel is entirely responsible for the violence directed against it, and ignore the legitimate security concerns of the entire Israeli population and Israel?s efforts to reach peace agreements. Even when they condemn suicide bombings, they are really condemning Israel for driving people to such desperate measures.
Rebick concludes the chronicle of her solidarity tour of the territories with a chat with Ahmed, the cousin of a suicide bomber. Ahmed calls his cousin a hero, and refuses to accept the moral failing of killing innocent people, a statement that even Rebick challenges. But when Ahmed twists the facts to conclude that Israel was responsible for the violence, Rebick steps aside and lets him speak. "We just want to be left alone to live. There was peace for so many years, from 1994 to 2000. Who ended the peace?" he asks. "It was not us who drove tanks into Tel Aviv." Rebick follows with a few lines about Ahmed?s stay in an Israeli prison and the suffering he met at the hands of Israeli soldiers. Ahmed may support his cousin?s violence, Rebick seems to be saying, but it can be understood because Ahmed himself has experienced violence. And as long Israel maintains its military edge, any means of Palestinian self-defense is understandable. Even suicide bombings against innocent victims.
--------------------------------------------
Alex Margolin is the co-director (with Avi Nueman) of Turning the Tide, a grassroots organization that promotes pro-Israel viewpoints in the independent press. They can be reached at Turningthetide@softhome.net.