April 23, 2006

I was wrong.

Last week I wrote an article "Can Hamas make the change to a Political Organization?" which was published on a number of web sites. In the article I argued that Hamas should publicly renounce suicide bombing. That was wrong.

True, suicide bombing has been a public relations nightmare that has only advanced Israeli interests, but that tells us nothing about who is really responsible for the violence. It is impossible to make a considered judgment about these acts without deciding who should ultimately be held accountable.

In Robert A. Pape’s "Al Qaeda's Smart Bombs" NY Times 7-9-05, Pape proves through extensive research that occupation is the root cause of suicide bombing. Pape has collected "detailed demographic information" on 67 of 71 suicide bombers between 1995 and 2004 and can show conclusively that suicide bombing is not a "product of Islamic fundamentalism" but is a reaction to military occupation. His statistical analysis is a welcome reprieve from the demagoguery of Bush, Blair, and the western media who invariably attribute suicide attacks to "Islamo-fascism" or other uncorroborated nonsense.

Suicide bombings do not do not occur in New York or Berlin, but in a climate of oppression cultivated by 39 years of foreign occupation. We are now beginning to see a similar pattern developing in Iraq where the American occupation has produced the very same results.

Shall we blame the Iraqis for that as well; or place the responsibility squarely where it belongs?

Last week’s attack in Tel Aviv was choreographed by the media to maximize the sense of Jewish suffering and victim-hood. The incident was featured prominently on all the major TV stations and appeared on the front pages of most newspapers across the country. Compare that to the spotty coverage of Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilians in the last month. Since April Israel has fired over 1,000 artillery rounds into Gaza "knocking out power and wounding several people"…There were also 150 raids by the IDF including home invasions where the occupants were brutalized or arrested without charges. During the same period, there were nearly 30 air raids which produced numerous casualties as well as destruction of personal property. On April 7, 7 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike in Rafah including 2 women and a seven year old child. An entire family, none of whom were connected to any militant organization, was instantly vaporized in the blast. All told, more than 18 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of April although none of their stories appeared on the front pages of American newspapers.

This is the environment in which the Tel Aviv bombing took place. It is impossible to understand suicide bombing unless it is contextualized within the harsh realities of occupation. As Robert Pape’s work suggests, suicide bombing naturally emerges from this atmosphere of hopelessness and rage.

It is foolish to blame the victims of oppression as the perpetrators of violence. Occupation is the supreme act of violence from which all the smaller acts are mere tributaries. Israel has created a spawning ground for suicide bombing just as America has in Iraq. Iraq has no prior history of suicide bombing. It is entirely attributable to the occupation.

Hamas has no part in the present violence. They have never violated their year-long truce.

Israel has had every opportunity to end these lethal assaults by simply honoring the resolutions of the international community and withdrawing to the 1967 borders as required by the United Nations. They have chosen not to do so. Instead, they have manipulated the violence in a way that has helped them conceal their territorial ambitions. It is no different than George Bush invoking 9-11 for every new act of American aggression.

Israel needs the smokescreen of suicide bombing in the same way that Bush needs terrorism. Without it, their plans for land-annexation in the Jordan Valley, East Jerusalem and the settlements would be exposed as the driving force behind the current policy.

Security means nothing to the Israeli leadership. Whenever peace begins to take root, the IDF instigates some pointless provocation to keep the hostilities thriving. That way, the plan for Greater Israel can go forward without pressure from the international community.

When Mahmoud Abbas replaced Arafat nearly 80% of the Israelis who were polled said they wanted an immediate "negotiated settlement" with the newly elected leader of the PA. This posed a real threat to Sharon’s strategy for expanding the settlements and confiscating more land. Sharon dealt with the threat the way he always has; by goading the Palestinians into retaliation by inciting violence in the West Bank and Gaza. This is the way that Israel has traditionally used violence to cover its real policy-objectives.

Suicide bombing is not a strategy that Hamas should condemn because it is not a strategy at all. It is a tragic and unavoidable reaction to the brutality and desperation of occupation. Robert Pape has provided the first statistical proof that this is so. His work is invaluable to anyone who wishes to grasp the real origins of this grave phenomenon.

Israel has created this seed-bed for terrorism. It is Israel that must 'renounce violence’ by submitting to the will of the international community and ending its 39 year occupation.

(Special thanks to Ghali Hassan, Ramzy Baroud, Liz Burbank, and Dr. Hassan El-Najjar for opening my mind to the realities of life under occupation.)