Why Kidnapping? Post from last week.
It's a big mistake, opening Facebook. Especially during school. Especially when there are hot political debates going on.
It's so distracting... While you're on, and also once you've closed the window, but you're still thinking about the things that you read.
I can't bring myself to respond to people's statuses because I know that then I'll piss people off even more, and get picked apart by anyone who disagrees, or maybe even agrees, with that I say. I'm scared. Actually, it might be a good exercise -- when people criticise your writing, you learn how to write better. Maybe I should try it. Anyway, for now I prefer to stick to my quiet little blog.
One status I read stated the following: kidnapping is horrible, and the writer's heart goes out to the families whose sons are missing. However, for Palestinians, kidnapping is understandable. And people who live in settlements are aware of the danger. They live there anyway out of religious ideals, and therefore should must suffer the consequences.
At first I was disgusted. Then I took a breath and read it again. I realised that I agree with almost everything that was written:
- Kidnapping is indeed horrible. Nobody deserves to have their children disappear on their way home from school. (I don't think this point needs further explanation. In general, I think most people would agree that the only time it is legitimate to take someones child from them by force is if the parent is abusing the child, and even that's a difficult subject.)
- For Palestinians, kidnapping is understandable. *I'll add that there is a clear difference between saying the a deed is "understandable" and justifying it. Many things are understandable even though they are clearly not OK. I do not intend to justify a kidnapping.*
One of the things that the Palestinians suffer from most is the daily arrests. Nearly every night, the IDF raids villages and refugee camps and arrests people who take part in supporting terror. These are generally people who coordinate transfers of weapons and funds intended for acts of terror. Sometimes they've even taken an active part in planning an attack that has been carried out -- which means that they have blood on their hands. Some of these people are released soon after, some are detained and questioned and then released, some are detained until they can have legal support and are then tried and, if found guilty, sentenced to prison (for varying amounts of time - naturally depending on their crime).
The problem arises when the IDF knows that someone is guilty, but the proof is only found in classified information. Meaning that in order to take the suspect to court, the IDF risks losing a source. This has two main results: the first is the danger to the source's safety - if your source is a person who lives in one of these villages and the person is exposed as sharing information with the IDF, he will be in danger - either the PA will choose to arrest him, or fellow villagers will be after his life; the second is, obviously, the fact that this source can no longer be used to obtain information. So the suspect arrested by the IDF stays in some sort of detainment, and since Israel has been known to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in exchange for a single abducted soldier, it is understandable that a Palestinian will believe that kidnapping Israelis will assist in bringing Palestinians back to their homes.
- People living in the settlements are aware of the danger. This is true. There have been several periods of time in the last 40-or-so years when there has been tension between Israelis and Palestinians (by tension I mean violence), and during these times the chances of an Israeli being harmed was higher if the Israeli lived in an area surrounded by Palestinian villages, rather than Israeli cities. However, the area where the kidnapping took place has been calm and quiet in the last few years, and more specifically - most people who hitchhike do not get kidnapped. In fact, a person is much more likely to be sexually harassed or get hurt in a car accident, but such things have little to do with where you live and more to do with the fact that there are still idiots out there who think it's ok to drink and drive, no matter where you are in the world. So residents may be aware of the danger, but it's not imminent danger so I don't see it as a consequence to living where they choose to live.
- They live there anyway out of religious ideals. Only partially true, and this is what really bothers me. There is a religious concept that says that the land of Israel belongs to the Jews, and it is our right to live in it. But most people don't live there for that reason. Most people live in West Bank settlements because the area is beautiful, the communities are warm and welcoming, and houses are relatively inexpensive - one can live in a big, beautiful house on a lovely quite street, just a half-hour drive from the major cities (no traffic), for the price of a tiny apartment in Tel Aviv. It's impossible to walk around Talmon and not fall in love with the place. So I have a problem with calling settlers "selfish people of religion," it's just too ignorant.
One of the things that the Palestinians suffer from most is the daily arrests. Nearly every night, the IDF raids villages and refugee camps and arrests people who take part in supporting terror. These are generally people who coordinate transfers of weapons and funds intended for acts of terror. Sometimes they've even taken an active part in planning an attack that has been carried out -- which means that they have blood on their hands. Some of these people are released soon after, some are detained and questioned and then released, some are detained until they can have legal support and are then tried and, if found guilty, sentenced to prison (for varying amounts of time - naturally depending on their crime).
The problem arises when the IDF knows that someone is guilty, but the proof is only found in classified information. Meaning that in order to take the suspect to court, the IDF risks losing a source. This has two main results: the first is the danger to the source's safety - if your source is a person who lives in one of these villages and the person is exposed as sharing information with the IDF, he will be in danger - either the PA will choose to arrest him, or fellow villagers will be after his life; the second is, obviously, the fact that this source can no longer be used to obtain information. So the suspect arrested by the IDF stays in some sort of detainment, and since Israel has been known to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in exchange for a single abducted soldier, it is understandable that a Palestinian will believe that kidnapping Israelis will assist in bringing Palestinians back to their homes.
- People living in the settlements are aware of the danger. This is true. There have been several periods of time in the last 40-or-so years when there has been tension between Israelis and Palestinians (by tension I mean violence), and during these times the chances of an Israeli being harmed was higher if the Israeli lived in an area surrounded by Palestinian villages, rather than Israeli cities. However, the area where the kidnapping took place has been calm and quiet in the last few years, and more specifically - most people who hitchhike do not get kidnapped. In fact, a person is much more likely to be sexually harassed or get hurt in a car accident, but such things have little to do with where you live and more to do with the fact that there are still idiots out there who think it's ok to drink and drive, no matter where you are in the world. So residents may be aware of the danger, but it's not imminent danger so I don't see it as a consequence to living where they choose to live.
- They live there anyway out of religious ideals. Only partially true, and this is what really bothers me. There is a religious concept that says that the land of Israel belongs to the Jews, and it is our right to live in it. But most people don't live there for that reason. Most people live in West Bank settlements because the area is beautiful, the communities are warm and welcoming, and houses are relatively inexpensive - one can live in a big, beautiful house on a lovely quite street, just a half-hour drive from the major cities (no traffic), for the price of a tiny apartment in Tel Aviv. It's impossible to walk around Talmon and not fall in love with the place. So I have a problem with calling settlers "selfish people of religion," it's just too ignorant.
posted by Leenie ;-) at 10:31 am
5 Comments:
I want to comment on the part about these communities being more dangerous than other areas in Israel. I don't think it's true; I think the dangers are different. There have been plenty of terror attacks in central places in Israel over the last few years (off the top of my head: Eden Etias, Shelly Dadon, the bomb in Tel Aviv during Amud Anan, the bomb next to Binyanei Hauma a few years ago in which one was killed and dozens wounded, the shooting in Merkaz Harav)- it's true that somebody living in these areas chooses to live with a different kind of danger. But I believe it's different, not more. When I am walking around in Karnei Shomron I am much less afraid than I am when I walk home from the bus stop in Beit Shemesh. There is a definite sense of security in the Yishuvim, a feeling of unity and watching out for each other that doesn't exist in other areas. Someone who says that those who live in these areas should take into account that it is more dangerous is, in my opinion, just plain ignorant.
Avital! :) Wow, we haven't actually had blog conversations in ages :)
You're right - in practice I don't think that settlements are more dangerous than any other place, but looking at it with historical perspective I see what she was saying: Anyone who chose to move to a settlement in the past ten years certainly had the second intifada in mind. And to this day, busses within the West Bank still need to be bulletproof, even though most other busses aren't. It's a different kind of danger - it's sort of less under your control.
Gotta miss those blog conversations :-)
Davka it's more under control, because you know what to expect. It's a lot easier to bulletproof buses and secure the perimeter of a settlement than it is to sift through millions of civilians in Tel Aviv when there's a terror alert- and even then they don't always catch them or know about it in time. I understand where the misconception comes from, but I think it has to do more with lack of knowledge of what goes on in the settlements than anything else. During the intifada there were countless bombings in Yerushalayim, I remember it took years for my mother to feel comfortable enough to allow me to travel on buses in Yerushalayim. (It feels so long ago- remember when we spent so much money on taxis everywhere?) And yet nobody said that people living in Yerushalayim or going out to eat in Yerushalayim should take into account that it's more dangerous... I'm rambling a little but I hope what I'm trying to say makes sense.
I see what you're saying.
It really does come from a place of being unfamiliar with the life on a yeshuv.
By different kind of danger, I mean in general - obviously, getting behind the wheel of a car is way more dangerous than anything else. Or walking around in a sketchy neighborhood at night. But there's this feeling of control - I control the vehicle. It doesn't make the danger any less, but it's a feeling that you get.
Right, so life on a Yishuv is something like that. I have a teacher in Midrasha who lives in one of the most dangerous parts of the Shomron. I once asked her how, as a parent, she feels comfortable living there, in spite of all the ideals and values. Ideals and values go so far; when you are on your own that's one thing, but bringing your children into it?
She answered that she and her husband both grew up in Yishuvim (he in Gush Katif, she in Beit El), and that she was more afraid of the dangers of cities- of break ins and creepy people walking around at night- than of the dangers that come from living in the Shomron. Every person and the dangers he is less familiar with.
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