OTHER VIEWS
Moving From Left To Right
Hai a
ecause I don't have family
in Israel and I'm not com-
pletely familiar with the
geography, it's been easy to
let the terrorist attacks kind of run
together and not pay too much atten-
tion to them. It's not that I don't care,
but I can't let myself be wrapped up
in every single one — there are just
too many.
When they hit too close to home,
though, like the recent suicide bomb-
ings in Haifa, they ceased running
together. Now, I'm having more prob-
lems than ever trying to believe that
there could be a solution that would
be good for, and acceptable to, both
Israel and the Palestinians. I have the
hardest time forcing myself to keep
caring about whether or not the
Palestinians would be agreeable to
what needs to be done.
I don't think that all of the Arabs
should be shipped out to Arab coun-
tries so that Israel would be only for
the Jews, like the extreme right wing
Maureen Bayer of Hamtramck is
enrolled in the overseas studies program
at Wayne State University in Detroit.
Since July, she has been studying Hebrew
and Jewish studies at the University of
Haifa. She a member of Congregation
Shir Tikvah in Troy. Her e-mail address
is Mobear9999@aoLcom
Why should Israel care?
here believes, but I also don't believe
Because the Jews are supposed to be
that peace should cost us the Jewish
good
people, who try to help people
state, like the extreme left wing does. I
less fortunate than themselves. No, it
want peace, but not at the expense of
doesn't always happen, but it's supposed
the Jewish state. Sometimes, I don't
to. But how can the Jews want to help
know how that's going to be possible.
people when they have to constantly
Maybe peace will be possible if
fear for their lives and espe-
President George W. Bush real-
cially the lives of their chil-
ly follows through on ending
dren? (The majority of the
all kinds of terrorism. Maybe
people who were hurt and
Israel and the Palestinian state
killed Dec. 1 in Jerusalem,
would be capable of living side
like the young people killed
by side, with interwoven
in the Dolphinarium bomb-
economies. Sometimes, howev-
ing in June, were between
er, I think the only way to end
MA UREEN
the ages of 14 and 20,
the violence is not to create
B AYER
because the terrorists believe
peace, necessarily, but to go
Sp ecial
that killing the Jews before
with the B.F.W. theory: the
Corn mentary
they are old enough to pro-
Big Freaking Wall.
create and create more
Create the Palestinian state,
Zionists is even more of a good deed
but in the interests of Israeli security,
than simply killing the Jews.)
build the wall and simply don't let
anyone in who doesn't have Israeli cit-
Keeping Our Guard
izenship. Maybe Israel and the
It has taken another 25 people
Palestinians need a cooling-off period
being
killed, and hundreds wounded,
of a few years.
for
the
rest of the world to say,
A friend of mine offered the view
"Really, we mean it this time, we real-
that such a wall would destroy the
ly condemn the terrorist attacks."
entire Palestinian people, because their
Is anything going to change, because
economy is so based on laboring in
the president of the European Union,
Israel. That could very well be true,
President Bush, U.S. Envoy Anthony
but the Palestinians have been receiv-
Zinni, Secretary of State Colin Powell
ing all sorts of aid in weapons and ter-
and
whomever else "denounced" the
rorist training from the Arab states, so
bombings?
(Because, as you well know,
why should Israel care if they don't
the Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and
receive other help, like jobs?
Hamas all have very high regards for
the E.U. and the U.S.)
Does anyone realize that it doesn't
matter if the Palestinian Authority
were to sign a peace treaty with Israel?
No government peace agreement will
be worth anything until a few things
happen. First, all members of Hamas,
Hezbollah and the rest of the terrorist
organizations are locked up in jails
with the keys thrown away, instead of
playing the catch-and-release game
that's been going on. Then all the
textbooks, newspapers and television
and radio broadcasts must be
redesigned so children aren't taught
from the time they're small that Jews
are evil. It's very hard to force myself
to believe that we could ever trust any
kind of a real peace agreement here
that didn't include some major securi-
ty reinforcements.
I don't know what's going to hap-
pen, and I don't know what should
happen. What I know is that it's hard-
er and harder to be moderate at this
point in time. One of my biggest
problems is that, as much of a Jewish
Nationalist as I am, I am really just a
Bleeding Heart Liberal. So what
makes me as angry as anything else is
the fact that every single time one of
these major events happens, I feel
myself sliding to the conservative side.
But it's just too hard to let my heart
keep bleeding. ❑
Close The Palestinian Suicide Factory
Philadelphia
fter four suicide operations
that left 27 Israelis dead
and some 200 wounded,
Israel's Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon made a surprising claim. He
said that Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian
leader, "is responsible for everything
that is happening here," a reference to
this onslaught of terrorist violence.
To which one might reasonably ask
— why blame Arafat? No one blamed
the U.S. president for Timothy
McVeigh's car bomb in Oklahoma
City (or other politicians for the ter-
rorism that occurs on their watch) —
so why should it be different with
Arafat? Isn't Sharon unfair?
Let's look at the evidence.
Every inquiry into Palestinian sui-
cide attacks, and especially Nasra
Hassan's remarkable report in a recent
A
Daniel Pipes is director of the Middle
East Forum. His e-mail address is
pipes@MEForum.org
blow themselves up is obviously not
issue of the New Yorker, finds that
easy, but requires ideas and institu-
these do not just happen spontaneous-
ly, but result from a large and sophisti- dons. The process begins with the
Palestinian Authority (PA)
cated infrastructure.
inculcating two things into
This infrastructure exists for
its population, starting with
one reason: to make normal
the children: a hatred of
men want to die. Because
Jews and a love of death.
Islamic law prohibits suicide,
School curricula, camp
a suicidal person cannot be
activities, television program-
recruited to go on a mission.
ming and religious authori-
Rather, it is (perversely) nec-
ties all portray Israelis in a
essary to dispatch only those
DA NIEL
Nazi-style way, as sub-
who are not suicidal.
PI PES
human beings worthy of
Islamic Jihad, which along
Sp ecial
killing; and then deprecate
with Hamas trains the suicide
Corn mentary
the instinct for self-preserva-
killers, explains: "We do not
tion, telling impressionable
take depressed people. If there
were a one-in-a-thousand chance that a young people that sacrificing their lives
is not just justified, but the most noble
person was suicidal, we would not
of all goals.
allow him to martyr himself. In order
The system works: Hassan reports
to be a martyr bomber, you have to
that "hordes of young men" clamor to
want to live." The same strange logic
be sent to their own obliteration.
applies for Hamas, which rejects any-
Hamas and Islamic Jihad have estab-
one "who commits suicide because he
lished a process of selection based in
hates the world."
the mosques, where "a notably zealous
Convincing healthy individuals to
youth," ready for martyrdom, gets
noted by clerics, who recommend him
for selection.
Those who make the cut enter a
protracted, highly supervised and dis-
ciplined regimen of spiritual studies
and military-like training. These
adepts are taught to see suicide opera-
tions as a way to "open the door to
Paradise" for themselves and their
families. "I love martyrdom" says one
such "living martyr."
Just before setting off on an attack,
the men engage in exquisitely pious
preparations (ablutions, clean cloth-
ing, a communal prayer service). Their
deaths are celebrated by Hamas or
Islamic Jihad by orchestrating a festive
funeral celebration ("as if it were a
weddinGb , " Hassan observes) and dis-
tributing video cassettes with a state-
ment from beyond the grave. The
sponsoring organizations then make
sure that the family receives both
social kudos and financial rewards.
SUICIDE FACTORY on page 44
12/14
2001
43