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Feature

Analysts say West Bank support for attacks borne of anger and despair

Ben Lynfield
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Published: 1 April 2022

Last updated: 4 March 2024

BEN LYNFIELD: As horrific as it sounds to Israelis, Palestinian observers are not surprised, saying the occupation generates support for violence

ISRAEL HOPES AN "iron fist"—in the words of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett - will break the worst wave of attacks it has faced in years, but Palestinian analysts who spoke to The Jewish Independent said only a political agreement ending occupation could stop violence.

As Israel Defence Force reinforcements poured into the West Bank, an IDF spokesman said in a statement that soldiers on Tuesday mapped out how to blow up the family home in the West Bank village of Yabad of Diaa Hamarsheh, the perpetrator of Wednesday's terrorist attack that killed five people in Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv.

That attack was the latest in a wave of violence that has jolted the country, claiming eleven victims in three attacks in the space of a week, all inside the Green Line and two of them carried out by Arab citizens of Israel.

Bennett, in remarks after the Tuesday attack in Bnei Brak, painted a picture of blind hatred of Jews and Zionism as the cause of the violence, saying: "Every few years the state of Israel deals with a wave of terror.

“After a period of quiet there is a violent eruption by those who want to destroy us, those who want to hurt us at any price, whose hatred of Jews, of the state of Israel drives them crazy. They are prepared to die so that we will not live in peace."

Most people in the West Bank appeared to support the attacks despite their being condemned by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian analysts said.

Shooters in Hadera last week
Shooters in Hadera last week

As horrific as this may seem to grieving Israelis, the analysts were not surprised to see broad support for the attacks. Taking issue with Bennett, they say the actions of the occupation itself produces violent responses and support for violence. This is at loggerheads with the often-held view in the military and on the Israeli Right that stern military actions "deter" Palestinians from violence.

Jihad Harb, a political analyst and former senior researcher at the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research, who opposes attacks inside the Green Line, told The Jewish Independent "there are a thousand reasons any Palestinian could do an operation. There is no horizon, no hope for the future, high unemployment and there are the actions of the occupation.

“It could be land theft, actions at checkpoints, arrests, family members or friends killed, demolition of a home for being built without a permit or many other things.

"Some say there should be operations everywhere because there is great anger at the occupation. If there was justice, these [attacks] wouldn't have such backing," he said.

Many Palestinians work in Israel and have interactions with Israelis. It's not hatred of individuals, it's hatred of occupation.

In Harb’s view, Palestinians do not hate Jews because they are Jews or Israelis because they are Israelis. "Many Palestinians work in Israel and have interactions with Israelis. Businessmen have friends who are Israelis and work with Israelis. It's not hatred of individuals, it's hatred of occupation."

"The existence of the occupation causes [violent] operations but the circumstances and manner may vary," he said. Asked how Israel could end the attacks, Harb said: "End the occupation, give the Palestinians hope."

"If you give them their rights to have a state and independence and there will be two states, Palestinians won't want confrontation, they will want just the opposite, they will want joint living."

Harb said pouring more troops into the West Bank would just "create more friction".

He warned that continuation of the occupation and settlement activity "are factors for a broad confrontation or intifada though its timing, place and circumstances are not known".

Ghassan Khatib, a former Palestinian Authority minister of planning who teaches at Bir Zeit University near Ramallah, also blamed the occupation for Palestinian support for attacks.

"From an emotional point of view, many Palestinians see these events in a positive way, not because they are happy to see others killed but because Palestinians are killed every day without anyone dealing with it and there is great frustration.

“People are desperate. They tried negotiations, resistance, moderate leaders and nothing is working."

The Israeli media doesn't tell the public what the government and settlers are doing.

With regard to Bennett's blaming the attacks on Arab hatred of Jews and Zionism, Khatib said: "Bennett has to say something and he can't say the truth. It's a way of avoiding reality.

"Everyone has been expecting this," he said of the wave of attacks. "And we expect it to continue on and off as long as the occupation exists."

"Only the Israeli public is surprised now because the government is isolating it from reality. The Israeli media doesn't tell the public what the government and settlers are doing," he added.

Khatib said that blowing up the Yabad assailant's family home would only make matters worse. "It will be a collective punishment that will only fuel and incite other young people to do similar things," he said.

'This can't be solved by security measures because it is not a security incident. It's a reaction of a people to occupation. There is only a political way to solve it."

He suggested what he thinks could be a way forward. "In the beginning, the Israelis need to give the people a political prospect, to go back to recognising that Palestinians are people and consequently in principle, at least deserve the right of self-determination and right of independence, and then negotiate with them what kind of state and land.

“That will give hope, provided at the same time Israel stops settler attacks and settlement expansion."

READ MORE
Breaking silence, PA leader Mahmoud Abbas condemns Bnei Brak terror attack (Times of Israel)
Fearing radicalisation and reprisals, Israeli Arab city condemns ISIS terror attack (Haaretz)
ISIS adherents kill Israelis twice in a week, and the Arab community wonders why (Haaretz)

Photo: scene in Bnei Brak after the shootings (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

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About the author

Ben Lynfield

Ben Lynfield

Ben Lynfield covered Israeli and Palestinian politics for The Independent and served as Middle Eastern affairs correspondent at The Jerusalem Post. He writes for publications in the region and has contributed to the Christian Science Monitor, Foreign Policy and the New Statesman.

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