(Englisch) (eins zu eins von meinem Blogeintrag übernommen)
When your home is broken into, there’s nothing personal about it at all. The burglar doesn’t know you. He doesn’t care about you. He wants something you have, he waits till you leave the house, and he breaks in and gets it. But yet, there is something extremely personal about it. Your house was broken into. Your home intruded. Your life interrupted. Your anxiety level raised. Your fears both of being at home and also of ever leaving your house have become immeasurable. You live in constant fear.
Military and warfare evolution has taken us from fighting with our fists to fighting with knives, then spears, crossbows, guns, bombs, missiles, and finally drones. One principle can be seen in this evolution: the constantly increasing distance between the attacker and their victim. And also, of course, the damage that can be done is far greater. Once, one person could only fight one other person at a time. But a drone? A drone can do extreme amounts of damage. And all just by the click of a button thousands of miles away. Very sanitary, very impersonal.
We can therefore agree that knives are not the best weapons for ensuring the greatest amount of damage. Knife fights also have nothing to do with martyrdom. There is no greater good someone is ready to die for. No reason to strap on a C4 belt. No reason to get on a bus and blow oneself and others up. Knife fights are also not very smart. The chance of getting caught and having the life either beaten out of you or getting shot is close to guaranteed. So then, why knives? Because knives are personal.
The game has changed. The tables have turned. The Palestinians have realized that the Israelis aren’t going anywhere. It’s just not going to happen. The Israelis’ willpower combined with their military strength is too strong a force to continue battling. So what do you do when you have absolutely nothing to lose and nothing to gain? When what you thought was your number one goal in life disappears? When you’re left with nothing to live for? You go crazy. You go insane. You hate. You lash out. You don’t care that there might be a more practical way of killing more people. You don’t care that you’re not being a martyr. You don’t care that you might get caught. What you want is to get into people’s faces. You want to look them in the eyes, and you want them to look into yours. You want them to see the frustration and anger and desperation that fills your eyes, your soul. And then you want to see their faces overcome with fear and pain as you stab them. Over and over again.
And you want to read the headlines about people being afraid to go about their days. You want to know that their beautiful, contented lives have been interrupted. That you caused a ripple effect throughout a nation. That because you stabbed someone in Jerusalem, a mother in Tel Aviv is afraid to wait at a bus station. That she and her friends have joined a krav maga class where they are learning how to fight off knife attacks. That she is now even more suspicious, and more afraid of every Arab she passes on the street. And that because you can justify your frustration with your situation, your oppressor, and the world, you are gaining understanding. Your acts are being justified and even defended.
Yes, there is something deeply personal about knife attacks. And they should be a wake-up call to the world that something has changed in the mindset of the Palestinians. This is the result of decades of hate. This is hopelessness and pointlessness. This is the tipping point. And I think it could tip either way. That there could be two completely contrary results to the realization that the Israelis are indeed there to stay. Either what we’re seeing now continues, which means that violence, aggression, terrorism, and the desire to terrorize spiral out of control. Or, which would benefit everyone far more, the Palestinians realize that it’s not true that they don’t have anything to live for. Who ever told them that? Of course they do! Their futures, their education, careers, families, and lives. Why can’t the goal be to create peace and a better future?
You want to get personal? Let’s get personal! Stop teaching kids hate and stop raising yet another generation of hopelessness. The Israelis are staying put. So are the Palestinians. Deal with it. I’m appealing to both and all sides of the conflict. Change the goal. Change the direction. Change the future.
Don’t tell me I live in a dream world. Don’t tell me it’s utopic. It’s not. Come on, people. This is possible. Peace is possible.
