>Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 11:28:21 PDT >Reply-To: Discussions on the Socialist Register and its articles ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sender: Discussions on the Socialist Register and its articles ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Failing to make the connection - Haaretz > >Haaretz Wednesday, August 29, 2001 > >Failing to make the connection > >By Amira Hass > >At one of the hundreds of roadblocks and checkpoints the IDF has across the >West Bank, a soldier stopped the car of A.T. Inside the car was also A.T's >10-year-old son, who stared at the uniformed soldier approaching the car. >The soldier's rifle was half-slung, half-aimed. "You want peace? You want >peace?" the soldier asked, surprising A.T., a member of the People's Party, >formerly known as the Palestinian Communist Party. When it was still very >unpopular, his party supported a two-state solution of a Palestinian state >alongside Israel. > >"Yes," A.T. answered. "Of course I want peace." > >He didn't get to explain what he meant by peace when the soldier interrupted >him. "So why does your son look at me with such hatred?" > >The soldier is one of the people, and like the people, he doesn't see any >connection between the fact that he is in the territories as an occupation >soldier and his side has unlimited power to determine every facet of life in >the lives of the occupied people - and the "hatred" toward him. > >Like most of his people, he sees no connection between the expropriation of >Palestinian land for expanding settlements for Jews only and the ban on >Palestinian construction on their lands or even to install a water pipe, >because it's in Area C, meaning under Israeli security and civil command - >and the stone throwing at Israeli cars. He sees no connection between the >green lawns of the settlements when there's not enough water to drink in >Palestinian villages and refugee camps next door - and the Palestinian >gunfire at settlements and Israeli civilians driving on roads that are >forbidden to Palestinian drivers. > >Like most Israelis, he's convinced there's no difference between a suicide >mission and terrorist attacks in Jerusalem - and Palestinian attacks on >soldiers and settlers. Therefore he can't find any connection between the >hundreds of Palestinian civilians who were killed by IDF fire in the last >year and the widespread popular support for the terror attacks inside >Israel. He also apparently can't see that an assassination of Palestinian >leaders is not only a successful military operation but a proven recipe for >encouraging more Palestinians to choose the armed struggle. He's convinced >that he and his friends are only defending themselves from people who >"simply hate" him and all the Jews. > >At another checkpoint, a soldier stopped K.D., a top Fatah officer. His >5-year-old son was beside him, on the soldier's side of the car. K.D. gave >his ID card to his son and guided him to say, in Hebrew, "good evening." The >child practices a few times, and when the soldier peers into the car, he >hears "Good evening" from the boy. "A great evening," says the surprised >soldier with a big smile, and doesn't even check the ID card. > >K.D. is in favor of continuing the intifada. He doesn't see a "reason" for >the Palestinian gunfire to draw IDF fire. He won't advise his armed >associates to stop shooting Israelis - soldiers and settlers. The settlement >close to where he lives is built on his village's land and on land taken >from his family. But he also spent a lot of years in Israeli prisons. That's >where he learned about Israeli society and to understand it's not >one-dimensional - and won't go away. He's known Israelis who tortured him >and he's known prison guards who told him about longing for their girl >friend. He learned Hebrew in prison, and through Hebrew, learned about >Israeli culture. > >He's not alone. His generation, the 30- to 50-year-olds, were in their youth >active opponents of the Israeli occupation, were jailed for years, worked in >Israel and traveled through the country. They are now the backbone of the >PLO and the solution it has been trying to advance for the last several >years: a two-state solution with a Palestinian state in the West Bank and >Gaza. > >K.D. is neither a sycophant nor a hypocrite, teaching his son to say "Good >evening" in Hebrew to the soldier. He opposes the occupation, supports >active resistance against it, but at the same time he is capable of >perceiving the man inside the uniform. And he's frustrated that his son will >also grow up under Israeli occupation, in the shadow of the tanks, the >shooting, the shelling and the daily deaths. > >K.D.'s generation is still the dominant one - but not for long. Palestinian >society is young, and a new generation of Palestinians who only know the >soldiers and settlers, is growing up, telling the older generation that the >solution they propose for independence, has not proved itself and new ways >should be sought, where death is no deterrent because life has become so >insufferable. > >At another checkpoint, at one in the morning, a few hours after the shooting >on the Modi'in-Pisgat Ze'ev highway on Saturday, a soldier rubs his hands >and asks "Why don't you journalists do something already to end it? I'm fed >up. I want to go home."
