http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/680113.htmlREVENGE IS THE WORD IN THE BACKGROUNDBy Amira Hass Haaretz, Opinion (Israel) February 8, 2006The young woman who came into the corner grocery in the Jeninrefugee camp did not hide her hostility when told there was anIsraeli guest. It seemed that it was even difficult for her to sitin the same room as the guest, whom the grocer honored with sweetsand jokes while commented on the various political parties runningin the elections. Without any prelude, the young woman asked theguest, "So, what do you think about 'sacrifice operations?' " Itwas clear she was not interested in an answer, but only wanted todeliver a lecture on why she thinks it is the proper response."So a dead Palestinian girl is okay? And to bomb us in our homes isokay?"What really angered her, more than anything else, was the answerthat revenge is not a liberation struggle. The grocer hushed theyoung woman, saying "That's not how to speak to guests."When the young woman left, the grocer said that the young woman'sbrother, a member of Fateh, committed an attack in Israel and waskilled. Another brother was killed when the IDF invaded the refugeecamp in April 2002.In similar arguments from Rafah to Jenin, the terms used forsuicide attacks are "response," or "answer." Sometimes, for examplein the context of Qassam fire, the sentence, "we also have theright to defend ourselves," comes up as an explanation. The moreforthright and sincere, meaning those who don't deceive themselvesand others about the capacity for "defense," say, "we also have theright to frighten you, like you always frighten us with yourshelling and bombings and sonic booms. Your citizens should alsofeel threatened."
There's no need for the explicit term "vengeance" to show up in theconversations, but it is in the background, and it is clear thatpeople are very understanding of the atavistic and tribal urge.Those who avenge through suicide bombings, with Qassams or with aknife represent them, because they found a way to express the senseof rage and impotence that everyone feels, both as individuals andcollectively.Presumably, vengeance made Ahmed Kfina murder the easiest victim hefound on his way on Sunday: Kinneret Ben Shalom Hajbi, a58-year-old woman from Petah Tikva.
There's no need for"assessments" by intelligence experts and orientalists of varioussorts, to know that he did not act at the behest of others.The attempt to explain to Israelis that such acts of vengeance arepuny compared to the intensity of the Israeli assault on everyindividual, and against the entire Palestinian community, is doomedto failure. On a daily basis, Israel attacks every Palestinian withsystematic variety.
The aggregation is lethal, even if the killingof a nine-year-old girl or setting a dog on an elderly woman are not daily occurrences. It's that aggregation that undermines anyattempt to conduct a normal life. It's being locked up in the WestBank's enclaves, so that simple routines like going to school,work, or visiting family are impossible. There's the unceasingexpropriation of land for roads and security fences forsettlements; the trees uprooted by the army, livelihoods that arecut off daily, and the insult of that; the army's prohibition, onsecurity grounds, against accessing farm and grazing lands; thebreak-ins to houses in the middle of the night, which the Israelipublic rarely if ever hears about; the hours of waiting atcheckpoints; the frightened children; the aimed rifles.
The personal urge for vengeance and the understanding that people havefor the avengers intensifies the more it becomes clear that thereis no unified Palestinian plan against the occupation, and the more it becomes apparent that the Palestinian organizations and theleadership have failed to lead their people out of Israeli control.Unlike the political organizations, the personal avenger does notneed to take into account the influence of his actions on thefailed Palestinian ambitions for independence. The avenger "solved"his own personal crisis.
Therefore, there should be no expectationfrom the personal avenger that he be interested in knowing that hisact of vengeance does not teach Israelis a thing about the motivesthey provide for vengeance. On the contrary, it only strengthensamong Israelis the sense of victimhood, and their natural tendencyto prefer ignorance of the occupation.
