[lit-ideas] Who is a terrorist?
- From: Omar Kusturica <omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2006 21:03:46 -0700 (PDT)
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/705995.html
Who is a terrorist?
By Gideon Levy
The scenes from Gaza are heartbreaking. Heartbreaking?
That's not for certain. The sight of the Aben family
from Beit Lahiya mourning its 12-year-old daughter
Hadil last week did not stir any particular shock in
Israel. Nor did anyone take to the streets and protest
over the sight of her wounded mother and little
brother lying in shock on the floor of their shanty in
Gaza.
On the day Hadil Aben was killed, Yedioth Aharonoth
carried a story about Nelly, the dog from Kibbutz
Zikim that died of heart failure from the booming
noise of the Israeli artillery firing into Gaza.
Instead of expressions of sorrow at the death of
children, the upper echelons of the defense
establishment came out with a stream of strident
statements. The defense minister said that the only
thing to do was step up the pressure on the
Palestinians. The deputy chief of staff spoke about a
possible invasion of Gaza and the head of army
operations added, "what we've seen so far are only the
previews." The IDF announced it would further reduce
the "safety range" that is designed to avoid shells
hitting the civilian population.
It was a chilling, united chorus. Israel is dropping
thousands of bombs on towns and villages, on the "the
launching pads" of the Qassams - another dubious term
created by the defense establishment and blindly
adopted by the press - and only the Palestinians,
whose Qassam rockets haven't killed anyone since the
disengagement, are called "terrorists."
Nor was there any substantive debate after a possible
slip of the tongue by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, in
an interview to the BBC, in which she said that there
was a difference between attacking civilians and
attacking soldiers. Even though she did not resolutely
stand by her own words in an interview with Channel
10, Livni dared to speak the truth: If harming
civilians is a measure of terror, then Israel is a
terror state. With 18 killed in Gaza alone in 12 days,
three of them children, the absence of intent cannot
suffice for us. Someone who uses artillery to shell
population centers and says with horrific indifference
that this is "just a preview," as if it were another
reality show on TV, cannot claim that he does not
intend to kill children.
Those responsible for such bombings around the world
are rightfully considered war criminals. That's terror
- just ask Livni. And when it is done in the name of a
state, it is much worse than in those cases when the
perpetrators are from rogue organizations.
Israel declares it is striving to apply pressure with
its cannon on the Palestinian population, so that it
will prevent the Qassam fire. That is a hollow
argument. No Palestinian leader can promote a
cease-fire while dozens of civilians are being hurt.
No Palestinian, no matter how peaceable, can prevent
with his body the launches from inside Palestinian
Authority territory. Could Hadil Aben's parents have
done something? What exactly was the crime of these
poor people? And how, exactly, will killing their
daughter lead to a halt in the Qassams?
The continuing imprisonment of besieged Gaza is
precisely the opposite policy that should be applied
to serve Israeli interests. The current policy only
strengthens support for the Hamas, just like the
terror attacks within Israel always strengthen the
Israeli right. A nation under siege, its leadership
boycotted, will have far more determination and
resolve to fight to its last drop of blood. It is
impossible to break the spirit of a desperate people.
Only a nation that sees a light at the end of its
desperation will change its ways.
What would happen if Israel were to turn to the world
and call upon it to enlist in the cause of support for
the residents of Gaza, to donate and invest money to
help them out of their utter poverty? If an Israeli
prime minister did such a thing and at the same time
called for a meeting with his elected Palestinian
counterpart, it would create far more effective and
positive pressure than any cannon fire.
If the Palestinians only saw for the first time in
their lives that Israel also had their well-being in
mind, which is not necessarily bad for Israel, they
would have a lot more to lose and they would expel the
Qassam launchers themselves. Only the Palestinians can
do that, and sowing the seeds of hope is the only way
to do so. And if, in the current situation, the
artillery fire were to end, and they were to stop the
Qassams, would Israel ease the siege, enable freedom
of movement from Gaza to the West Bank, allow
Palestinians to work in Israel, agree to the
construction of a seaport and airport in besieged
Gaza? Israel's declarations prove that the answer to
all these questions is an unequivocal no. Its current
policy and the policies we have seen it adopt lead
only to intensification of the violence on the part of
the Palestinians.
No Qassam justifies the killing and terror that the
shells sow in Gaza. Cannons are meant for war against
an army. Using them against a helpless civilian
population is supposed to be beyond the realm of the
legitimate, without any ifs or buts about it. A state
does not shell towns. Period. Just like in the war
against crime that is also deadly and endangers state
security, no end justifies all the means. Would it
ever occur to the Israeli police to evacuate an entire
neighborhood from which some murderers came? Would
anyone decide to shell such a neighborhood, even if it
would mean minimizing the crime coming out of it?
Those who really want to end the Qassam launches from
Gaza, should turn Israeli policy upside down. To show
restraint in the face of the Qassams, to lift the
siege, to immediately meet with the elected
Palestinian leadership and call on the world to stop
withholding the funds from the Palestinian Authority.
Only a free and secure and thriving Gaza will stop
launching Qassams. Have we ever tried that?
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