Cycles of Violence and Retribution
There was a suicide bombing near Tel Aviv a couple of days ago. Five people were killed, and about 50 injured. The bomber came from a village in between the cities of Tulqarem and Jenin, in the north of the West Bank. This is the area that the Israeli army has been focusing on the last two months. There have near daily arrests and weekly shootings/ killings/ assassinations for almost eight weeks. Funny how that doesn’t seem to make it onto the 11 o’clock news. Apparently the IDF has requested permission to bulldoze the home of the family of the suicide bomber, as a form of punishment. They have already arrested his father and brothers.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
The night of the suicide bombing (which happened around 11 am in a shopping mall) the IDF retaliated not only by arresting the family of the bomber, but also by shelling Gaza City. Now, I haven’t quite figured out the Gaza connection – Gaza is hours south of Tulqarem. This has become a new tactic since the Israeli settlers were removed from Gaza; whenever something happens in the West Bank, Gaza gets hit.
I wish that I could have visited Gaza during my time here, but it is nearly impossible to get permission to enter Gaza from the IDF without proof of sponsorship from a company that is employing you. Even then it is difficult. Gaza has very few international observers or journalists, so when things happen there no one knows what is going on. To be honest, I’m a little relieved that I couldn’t get into to Gaza, I’m not sure how well I would handle it.
On Friday I’m planning on attending a protest against the wall in a village called Aboud, then on Saturday I’m going to head up to Jenin. I’ve heard that the northern parts of the West Bank are absolutely beautiful, especially during the rainy winter season – I can’t wait.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
The night of the suicide bombing (which happened around 11 am in a shopping mall) the IDF retaliated not only by arresting the family of the bomber, but also by shelling Gaza City. Now, I haven’t quite figured out the Gaza connection – Gaza is hours south of Tulqarem. This has become a new tactic since the Israeli settlers were removed from Gaza; whenever something happens in the West Bank, Gaza gets hit.
I wish that I could have visited Gaza during my time here, but it is nearly impossible to get permission to enter Gaza from the IDF without proof of sponsorship from a company that is employing you. Even then it is difficult. Gaza has very few international observers or journalists, so when things happen there no one knows what is going on. To be honest, I’m a little relieved that I couldn’t get into to Gaza, I’m not sure how well I would handle it.
On Friday I’m planning on attending a protest against the wall in a village called Aboud, then on Saturday I’m going to head up to Jenin. I’ve heard that the northern parts of the West Bank are absolutely beautiful, especially during the rainy winter season – I can’t wait.
posted by Sahar at 7:05 PM
1 Comments:
the more time i spend in palestine the more i have come to understand: there are no innocent civilians in israel. because of the compulsory military service, not only as 18 year olds, but also life-long reserve duty, means that this is a military society. except for the all too few refusniks i don't see any innocent civilians there. they are all complicit in this occupation.
that said, i, of course, don't condone violence. but, it's hard for me not to see the cycle of violence in terms of martin luther king, jr.'s famous claim that "silence is the language of the unheard."
salam--
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