“[...] it was al-Sayyid’s job to keep an eye on the religious young men spending time at local mosques. By asking the right questions, clues might be gleaned as to their suitability as suicide bombers. Just how devout were they? Did they show the commitment and conviction needed? Were they on the Israeli security services’ wanted list? Did they have financial worries? Were they emotionally stable?” [1]
The suicide bombings have become a history in Palestine and Israel, but they do remain a possibility. The horrific results of these intricate operations were witnessed by many Israeli civilians, it is a saying that everyone in Israel knows someone who has suffered from one of these attacks. Asides from the careful selection process mentioned above, there is also the task of getting the right paperwork and transport to gain access into Israel proper and then there is the matter of picking out a target.
One example was the so called “passover massacre” (sorry for generic wikipedia article) because it took place during a passover Seder. This serves as an example of the many attacks that happened in Israel.
It is horrific enough that women and children are often the victims. We as Palestinians have a moral duty to speak out against the act because we, of all people, also know the agonizing pain of losing innocent people, including and especially children. But there is also a deeper issue, and I will quote it again…
“[...]Were they emotionally stable?“[1]
The suicide bombers, who come from amongst our own whether they are brothers, sisters, neighbours or friends are human beings. They are not convinced but fooled, they are not empowered but enslaved. They are enslaved by the Israeli military occupation and that gives the perfect recruiting environment for Hamas who become their secondary masters. Many families in Palestine have and are seeing difficult financial times, and when things get so desperate and Hamas offer extra money to the family of the suicide bomber, that is not empowerment, that is slavery. But an even greater atrocity is to take advantage of their mental states, whether they are simply erratic or suffer from conditions such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. To think that someone has lost their own family members and witnessed the horrors of war only so that they end up ending their lives and everyone else is collectively punished is a great shame.
I know that some out there think that by condemning suicide bombing I am somehow justifying the Israeli government’s actions in the West Bank and the Gaza. I can assure you I am not. The reason that I am criticising what some Palestinian political movements have done is so that we can improve on it. It is because I love Palestinians as human beings and I love Palestine as our identity. And we need to prepare to not only fight military occupation and discrimination, but to also criticize our rising elites for our own good.
[1]From David Pratt’s, Intifada: the long day of rage, Sunday Herald Books (2006) p.141-142
You know when I hadoken people in the face I feel quite emotionally stable…up until the point when they mention her name..:((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((( then that stability goes away ;(