Wednesday, Jul 09, 2008
Last week, a Palestinian resident of occupied East Jerusalem drove a bulldozer into a bus and several cars in the city centre killing three Israelis and wounding several others. The act was carried out by Hussam Dwayat, who had no affiliations with any resistance group or political faction. This was reminiscent of the incident that took place in March, whereby a Palestinian shot dead several Israelis at a seminary.
The whole world raced to condemn this attack as an act of terror but nearly no one stopped to ask, what drove this young father of two to go to this extent?
Of course civilians should be left out of this ongoing conflict and when they are not, we should condemn it, but witnessing international reaction to Israeli deaths makes one wonder, how come when Palestinians are killed, sometimes a whole family at a time, we don't witness a fraction of this world-wide condemnation? Is it because it happens so frequently? In the first six months of this year alone, around 400 Palestinians were killed. But it is not really appropriate to speak of international hypocrisy at this time, is it?
Now, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has ordered the destruction of the homes of the attackers, even though Israel had abandoned the demolitions of homes of Palestinians involved in attacks against Israelis after human rights groups challenged the practice in Israel's supreme court.
More or less, this policy is a form of collective punishment. Israel is applying the same tactics it uses against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip on Palestinians of Occupied East Jerusalem, which is to destroy the homes of the families of those who killed Israelis. But according to international humanitarian law, this is illegal because a person cannot be punished for the crime of another. The relatives of suspected perpetrators are not accused of any criminal offence themselves therefore, they shouldn't be chastised.
Not effective
Moreover, history has shown that such a policy is not effective. According to Israeli rights group B'T Selem, a committee appointed by former Israeli Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon concluded that the policy of house demolition did "more harm than good to Israel's security". So contrary to Israeli claims, this policy does not deter potential terrorist acts.
This policy also leaves people homeless. More often than not, these families belong to the lower income bracket and cannot afford to rebuild or move somewhere else. If anything, it makes people angrier and breeds more hate.
All and all, Palestinians living in occupied East Jerusalem are living in constant worry. They are treated as second class citizens by the Jewish state and are close witnesses of the country's indiscriminate policies against their fellow Palestinians in occupied Gaza and the West Bank. And thanks to the illegal separation wall constructed by Israel, they are now cut off completely from the West Bank, both physically and socially. Psychologically, they must be exhausted. The expansion of illegal Israeli colonies around occupied Jerusalem has also made it impossible to envision a Palestinian state comprising Gaza and the West Bank, with occupied East Jerusalem as its capital.
The latest attack in occupied Jerusalem is reflective of the Palestinian people's unwillingness to accept the harsh reality imposed on them by Israel. It screams anger, frustration, and lack of belief in the peace process. Anyone living in the Occupied Territories will tell you that hope looks very bleak at the moment. Israel is acting unilaterally to ensure its vision of Greater Israel, a project which includes occupied Jerusalem and colonies in the West Bank and no one, including the mighty US, is able to stop it or even slow it down.
Being optimistic is being blind to the latest developments in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. What happened in occupied Jerusalem has captured more accurately the level of mistrust amongst both sides. What goes around in official peace talks is a different thing altogether.
By Manal Alafrangi
Gulf News 2008. All rights reserved.
