Zgeheu
18-09-03, 13:45
A bankrupt policy
By Gideon Levy
Who is the head of the Hamas military wing in
Hebron? Last week, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)
announced that soldiers from the undercover unit
Duvdevan had liquidated Ahmed Bader, describing
him as "the head of the Hamas military wing in
Hebron." Seven weeks earlier, on June 22, we were
informed that a force of the Border Police and the
Shin Bet security service had eliminated "the head
of the military wing of Hamas in Hebron." On that
occasion the part was played by Abdullah Qawasmeh.
Three months before that, on March 18, it was
reported that the IDF had terminated Ali Alan, who
was also "the head of the military wing of Hamas
in Hebron." Seven months prior to that, on August
28, 2002, it was announced that the IDF had
arrested "the head of the military wing of Hamas
in Hebron," Abdel Halek Natshe. Less than a year
before that, in November 2001, the IDF reported
that a helicopter-launched mi ssile killed Jail
Jadallah - "the head of the military wing of Hamas
in Hebron."
Yes, within less than two years
Israel liquidated and arrested
five people all of whom were
described as "the head of the
military wing of Hamas in
Hebron."
Each of these events was termed
a "major operational success"
and the Israeli public was
assured that the liquidation or arrest would
"seriously affect the ability of Hamas to
perpetrate large-scale terrorist attacks."
Together with hundreds of arrests of Hamas
activists in Hebron - 130 in one day - a
picture was painted of victory over terrorism
in Hebron, and we were promised quiet, at least
for a time. The results are known.
It's a farce: either we were deceived about the
description of the individuals who were killed
or arrested, or the rotation in Hamas is so
fast that it raises in its full acuity the
question of what the point of the liquidation
operations is, apart from a desire to satisfy
the instinct for revenge. It's difficult to
specify liquidations that prevented terrorist
attacks, but the series of such attacks that
were perpetrated as a direct result of
liquidations is long and appalling. Everyone
knows this. There is no one who seriously
thinks that such ass assinations will put a stop
to terrorism. Even one of the officials who
initiated this method, the outgoing deputy
chief of the Shin Bet (his name may not be made
public), last week told Haaretz that he is "not
certain" that this method will eradicate
terrorism.
So why does the method continue to be used?
Because that's what we know how to do. And not
only is it continuing, it's becoming more
radical, too: from the liquidation of a
"ticking bomb" to the eradication of a "ticking
infrastructure"; from the killing of terrorists
to the killing of spokesmen of organizations,
including their relatives and bodyguards.
Without a trial, the Shin Bet advises, the
security cabinet consents, the IDF does the
killing and Israel's citizens continued to be
killed in the streets. Nowadays there is hardly
anything more certain: A revenge act of
terrorism will follow an act of liquidation.
Never before have so many Isra eli civilians been
killed and never before has the sense of fear
been so deep and pervasive and justified. But
that's not enough to elicit an admission that
this policy has failed. In every other sector,
business or personal, a failure on this scale
would have long since brought about a change.
Yet when it comes to a subject that is so
fateful, there is not even the beginning of a
discussion of possible alternatives. The few
opportunities for change were criminally
missed: the road map, the hudna and the
government of Abu Mazen. Israel did not
restrain itself and continued with the
assassinations, which brought the terrorist
attacks in their wake. Is there anyone who can
make us stop the mad gallop down the path of
blood so that we can start thinking about a
change of direction?
Even if part of the blame falls on the
Palestinians, have none of Israel's actions
encouraged the terrorism? What hasn't Israel
tried? Liquidations, defoliation, mass arrests,
demolition of homes, roadblocks everywhere, a
terrifying security barrier - but none of these
actions has been victorious over terrorism.
The security barrier will turn out to be
illusory. The cruel impact it is having on the
Palestinian population will only engender more
terrorists. So will the loopy idea of removing
Yasser Arafat, the only Palestinian leader who
is capable of pushing through an agreement with
Israel. Israel has to talk to Arafat, not expel
him. A public opinion survey published on
Friday by the mass-circulation daily Yedioth
Ahronoth reveals that a majority of Israelis
want Arafat either liquidated or expelled, but
that the majority also think that this will
have no effect on terrorism and may even
increase it. How are we to account for this
contradiction? It's the result of frightening,
knee-jerk thinking.
It's because of this lethal conce ptual
immobility that there is only one course of
action we have never seriously tried: to relax
the use of force, to loosen our iron grip on an
entire nation, to overcome the lust for revenge
even in the face of the worst of the acts of
terrorism and extend a true hand in peace,
precisely in a period of terrorism, to the
nation that is living under our harsh
occupation and that for the most part wants
peace. A true cease-fire, the immediate removal
of all the checkpoints in the West Bank,
opening the border to Palestinian workers, and
a sincere effort to improve the lives of the
Palestinians will unquestionably bear immediate
fruit. In any event, there are few greater
failures than two terrorist attacks in one day.
It is exactly now, at such a difficult time,
when everything seems on the brink of
destruction, that a leader needs to come
forward and say to the Israelis: We did
everything we could. We liquidat ed, we
destroyed, we besieged and we arrested - but
none of it worked, and therefore, we will try
another road.
But for that more courage is required than to
order the IDF to assassinate another "head of
the military wing of Hamas in Hebron."
By Gideon Levy
Who is the head of the Hamas military wing in
Hebron? Last week, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)
announced that soldiers from the undercover unit
Duvdevan had liquidated Ahmed Bader, describing
him as "the head of the Hamas military wing in
Hebron." Seven weeks earlier, on June 22, we were
informed that a force of the Border Police and the
Shin Bet security service had eliminated "the head
of the military wing of Hamas in Hebron." On that
occasion the part was played by Abdullah Qawasmeh.
Three months before that, on March 18, it was
reported that the IDF had terminated Ali Alan, who
was also "the head of the military wing of Hamas
in Hebron." Seven months prior to that, on August
28, 2002, it was announced that the IDF had
arrested "the head of the military wing of Hamas
in Hebron," Abdel Halek Natshe. Less than a year
before that, in November 2001, the IDF reported
that a helicopter-launched mi ssile killed Jail
Jadallah - "the head of the military wing of Hamas
in Hebron."
Yes, within less than two years
Israel liquidated and arrested
five people all of whom were
described as "the head of the
military wing of Hamas in
Hebron."
Each of these events was termed
a "major operational success"
and the Israeli public was
assured that the liquidation or arrest would
"seriously affect the ability of Hamas to
perpetrate large-scale terrorist attacks."
Together with hundreds of arrests of Hamas
activists in Hebron - 130 in one day - a
picture was painted of victory over terrorism
in Hebron, and we were promised quiet, at least
for a time. The results are known.
It's a farce: either we were deceived about the
description of the individuals who were killed
or arrested, or the rotation in Hamas is so
fast that it raises in its full acuity the
question of what the point of the liquidation
operations is, apart from a desire to satisfy
the instinct for revenge. It's difficult to
specify liquidations that prevented terrorist
attacks, but the series of such attacks that
were perpetrated as a direct result of
liquidations is long and appalling. Everyone
knows this. There is no one who seriously
thinks that such ass assinations will put a stop
to terrorism. Even one of the officials who
initiated this method, the outgoing deputy
chief of the Shin Bet (his name may not be made
public), last week told Haaretz that he is "not
certain" that this method will eradicate
terrorism.
So why does the method continue to be used?
Because that's what we know how to do. And not
only is it continuing, it's becoming more
radical, too: from the liquidation of a
"ticking bomb" to the eradication of a "ticking
infrastructure"; from the killing of terrorists
to the killing of spokesmen of organizations,
including their relatives and bodyguards.
Without a trial, the Shin Bet advises, the
security cabinet consents, the IDF does the
killing and Israel's citizens continued to be
killed in the streets. Nowadays there is hardly
anything more certain: A revenge act of
terrorism will follow an act of liquidation.
Never before have so many Isra eli civilians been
killed and never before has the sense of fear
been so deep and pervasive and justified. But
that's not enough to elicit an admission that
this policy has failed. In every other sector,
business or personal, a failure on this scale
would have long since brought about a change.
Yet when it comes to a subject that is so
fateful, there is not even the beginning of a
discussion of possible alternatives. The few
opportunities for change were criminally
missed: the road map, the hudna and the
government of Abu Mazen. Israel did not
restrain itself and continued with the
assassinations, which brought the terrorist
attacks in their wake. Is there anyone who can
make us stop the mad gallop down the path of
blood so that we can start thinking about a
change of direction?
Even if part of the blame falls on the
Palestinians, have none of Israel's actions
encouraged the terrorism? What hasn't Israel
tried? Liquidations, defoliation, mass arrests,
demolition of homes, roadblocks everywhere, a
terrifying security barrier - but none of these
actions has been victorious over terrorism.
The security barrier will turn out to be
illusory. The cruel impact it is having on the
Palestinian population will only engender more
terrorists. So will the loopy idea of removing
Yasser Arafat, the only Palestinian leader who
is capable of pushing through an agreement with
Israel. Israel has to talk to Arafat, not expel
him. A public opinion survey published on
Friday by the mass-circulation daily Yedioth
Ahronoth reveals that a majority of Israelis
want Arafat either liquidated or expelled, but
that the majority also think that this will
have no effect on terrorism and may even
increase it. How are we to account for this
contradiction? It's the result of frightening,
knee-jerk thinking.
It's because of this lethal conce ptual
immobility that there is only one course of
action we have never seriously tried: to relax
the use of force, to loosen our iron grip on an
entire nation, to overcome the lust for revenge
even in the face of the worst of the acts of
terrorism and extend a true hand in peace,
precisely in a period of terrorism, to the
nation that is living under our harsh
occupation and that for the most part wants
peace. A true cease-fire, the immediate removal
of all the checkpoints in the West Bank,
opening the border to Palestinian workers, and
a sincere effort to improve the lives of the
Palestinians will unquestionably bear immediate
fruit. In any event, there are few greater
failures than two terrorist attacks in one day.
It is exactly now, at such a difficult time,
when everything seems on the brink of
destruction, that a leader needs to come
forward and say to the Israelis: We did
everything we could. We liquidat ed, we
destroyed, we besieged and we arrested - but
none of it worked, and therefore, we will try
another road.
But for that more courage is required than to
order the IDF to assassinate another "head of
the military wing of Hamas in Hebron."