Accomplishment, Gaza-Style
Jewish parents in Israel, like Jewish parents everywhere, want their kids to make something of themselves. Muslim parents in Gaza, all too often, want their kids to make other people into blood, guts, and bone fragment. Yael Kaynan analyzes "Gaza's Culture of Self-Destruction" on Pajamas Media:
Imagine for a moment what Palestinian society is going to look like when the day comes when those “others” their children are taught to so hate are no longer the enemy to be vanquished. Because children in Gaza are not taught to consider peace with their enemy to be an option, consider instead a scenario in which the conflict ends with the stated goals of Hamas: they have managed to kill every Jewish man, woman, and child living in the Zionist country and returned the land to Muslim and Arab rule. Indeed, this is not only the goal of Hamas but also the desire of many average citizens in Gaza, as was made clear by the comments of a simple taxi driver in the wake of the most recent suicide bombing in Dimona, “In the name of Allah, may all of the attacks be like this. That we will exterminate the Israelis. It will be easier for us. We will reach the South, Tel-Aviv and the heart of Israel.”Thus, envisage, if you will, that there are no more Jews and no more Jewish State. The people of Gaza have thrown the mother of all parties in celebration, they’ve danced in the streets, fired their weapons in jubilation, consumed large amounts of sweets, children have passed out flowers on every street corner — and then what? Do the citizens of Gaza think that the violence, hatred and disregard for human life, for their own lives, that they’ve worked so hard to instill in their children is simply going to disappear along with the Israelis they’ve managed to exterminate? Do they think that these children, now grown, are going to suddenly unlearn violence?
Research in sociology and social psychology has long shown that once there is no longer an external enemy to focus on, those same violent tendencies and expressions used against the enemy will bloom within a society. Violence will erupt and it will be neighbor against neighbor, family member against family member, clan against clan. The people of Gaza will be shocked, “How could this young man do such a thing to a member of his own people?” He can, and he will, because he has been taught that human life has no value, that his own life has no value, and that killing someone is a first resort. The new enemy will be other Palestinians.
If you think I am wrong, remember how Gazan treated Gazan during the Hamas coup. Remember how attacks against members of Fatah resulted in headlining stories such as “Among yesterday’s dead was a 14-year-old boy and three women, all killed in a Hamas attack on a Fatah security officer’s home.” Remember the words of a Gaza citizen, minutes before he was dragged out into the street and killed,
“They’re firing at us, firing RPGs, firing mortars. We’re not Jews,” the brother of Jamal Abu Jediyan, a Fatah commander, pleaded during a live telephone conversation with a Palestinian radio station.Far from being “collateral damage” — that is, women and children killed by accident in the attempt to kill an armed fighter — women and children within Palestinian society can and will become the targets to be murdered by other members of their society.
...It has already happened and the “real” enemy was still just across the border. It happened despite the fact that whenever a group has an external enemy to focus on they experience far greater social cohesion within their own group, far less violence and crime within their own society. When that external enemy is removed, crime and violence blossom within — this occurs in normal societies where children are not raised on a daily doctrine of violence against others. It occurs when the society does not worship death and destruction and in cultures where they do not pass out candy and flowers in celebration of the murder of a helpless old woman — so imagine for a moment what Palestinian society will look like should they get their wish.
Excellent piece and painfully true.
In rejecting the use of violence to overthrow British rule of India, Gandhi wondered what kind of leaders they would be raising up if they used violence, and what kind of a country would they then have when they had won?
kirk
at February 25, 2008 7:34 AM
I have to reject one feature of this analogy, and agree with another. First, Ghandi was an asshole morally unfit to give advice to anyone. He both urged the British to surrender to the NAZIs and urged the German Jews to "offer themselves to the butcher's knife." Gahandi was a fucking asshole.
The analogy holds well considering the different motives of the Indian peoples as against the Palestinian peoples. Indian's wanted a peaceful parting. By contrast, Palestinians don't want peace.
Israel has withdrawn from Gaza many times, but each time it becomes a haven for terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians.
Hamas is quite explicit about its goals. See their covenant. Some choice quotes:
The Palestinians elected Hamas. The Palestinian people freely chose to abandon all political solutions in favor of terroristic war. Let them suffer the ravages of a war they chose and have chosen for five decades.
Jeff at February 25, 2008 12:08 PM
People are often irrational, and this seems to be an example on a large, society wide level.
doombuggy at February 25, 2008 12:21 PM
If I remember correctly, some Germans objected to mass killings on the Eastern Front not on the basis of morality, but on the basis that the German soldiers/SS conducting the massacres would be monsters after that and a danger upon their return to Germany.
JohnAnnArbor at February 25, 2008 12:36 PM
There is a memorable line from a letter a German Major wrote home, after viewing the einzatgruppen in action in Poland: "How can we have men commit these acts, and then expect them to come home and live normal lives?"
One reason the Nazi's pushed for 'factory' killing in camps is that they were experiencing serious morale problems in the killing squads. Maybe they should have hired Jihadists.
doombuggy at February 25, 2008 4:47 PM
When the violence turns inward, yes we should lament if children are victims. But, let's not be sexist. Women are entitled to receive their share of the violence -- in the name of equality, of course.
Jay R
at February 26, 2008 5:12 PM
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