Subscribe to Print Edition | Fri., February 15, 2008 Adar1 9, 5768 | | Israel Time: 23:54 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
  Back to Homepage
Rosner's Domain
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Advertising
Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File
Last update - 10:05 03/01/2008
Our violent presence
By Amira Hass
Tags: PA

There is no Israeli whose presence in the West Bank is neutral. Civilian or armed, soldier or woman settler, resident of a quality-of-life settlement or a nearby outpost, MahsomWatch activist or guest at a settlement, Bezek worker or client at a Palestinian garage. All of them, all of us, are in this Palestinian territory, in the West Bank, because our state occupied it in 1967.

The presence of every Israeli in the West Bank is based on a regime of privilege that developed out of that primary act of occupation. We have the privilege of hiking in Palestinian areas to our heart's content, of buying subsidized housing for Jews only on the lands of Bethlehem, of raising cherries and grapes in the wadis of Hebron, of quarrying on the mountain slopes, of driving on roads whose land was expropriated from the indigenous inhabitants for public use.

The Palestinians, in contrast to us, not only are not allowed to move from Hebron to Tel Aviv, because they like the sea, for example; they are not even allowed to visit the lands and homes their family owned before 1948, nor are they allowed to tour Galilee and visit relatives. The regime of travel permits that has been in place since 1991 deprives all Palestinians of the right to freedom of movement in Israel while the system of roadblocks limits their movement in their own territories.
Advertisement
The right to travel the land is a basic human right, and like any right, when it is not universal, it is a mutilated right, that is, it becomes a privilege. That is a fact, even if most Israelis repress or ignore it. Our presence in the Palestinian territories, which is based on military and political superiority, is therefore violent and arrogant by its very nature, even when it is expressed in pleasant ways, like cultivating gardens in settlements or taking a pre-Shabbat hike.

How do the Palestinians deal with this violence and arrogance? Some take up arms and hope to kill Israelis. However, most choose other ways, civilian and not military, to deal with our non-neutral presence, with the daily violence that is at the basis of every occupying regime. But let us not fool ourselves: most understand those who take up arms.

Therefore when the prime minister of the Ramallah government, Salam Fayyad, expressed his sorrow over the killing of two young armed hikers from Kiryat Arba last Friday, he managed to anger his public. "Any death is unnecessary" he was quoted in Haaretz as saying. These are wise and humane words. If those who are angry at him listened carefully, they would have heard him teaching the Israelis that the death of every Palestinian is also unnecessary. It is not his responsibility that Prime Minster Ehud Olmert did not express sorrow that Israeli soldiers killed Khaldiya Hamdan, a 51-year-old Gaza woman returning from Mecca via the Erez crossing.

But Fayyad did not make do with an expression of regret. According to the Palestinian daily Al Quds he said, "the military action was carried out on Palestinian land" and that the authority must "meet its security obligations." Haaretz reported that Fayyad said the authority had already arrested suspects and was cooperating with the Israeli security forces. Now the Shin Bet claims that the two individuals in custody (who gave themselves up) are connected to the Palestinian security services (which the Palestinians deny).

Fayyad suited his response to Israeli and American expectations from the Palestinian Authority. Despite the fact that the Israel Defense Forces is the sole sovereign over the West Bank, the PA is expected to protect Israeli citizens; that is, to act as a sub-contractor for the IDF and the Shin Bet. But Fayyad cannot meet these expectations, because they completely contradict the harshness of the basic experience of every Palestinian he is said to represent - which is the violence of our presence.
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
Seeking refuge
123 Sudanese refugees infiltrate Israel from Egypt overnight.
Bracing for terror
Israel, U.S. fear retaliatory strikes after killing of Mughniyah.
  1.   A well-written piece 10:11  |  Colin Wright 03/01/08
  2.   Cause and effect 10:19  |  FOX 03/01/08
  3.   ARAB presence in Israel is what?? Why not look at both sides? 10:24  |  PETER SM 03/01/08
  4.   This is the road 10:31  |  Leo 03/01/08
  5.   Amira knows this topic better than anybody 10:31  |  Natallie Durson 03/01/08
  6.   Digusting! Amira Proposes Ethnic Cleansing of Jews 10:33  |  Mark Hamil 03/01/08
  7.   It STILL Isn`t "Palestinian" Territory- And Never Will Be 10:43  |  Yishai Kohen 03/01/08
  8.   Amira, it`s all so disgraceful and unjust 10:44  |  Dutch 03/01/08
  9.   Colin W. diatribes of hate 10:44  |  FOX 03/01/08
  10.   Amira Hass` Fatal Flaw 10:47  |  Jeff Northridge 03/01/08
  11.   to the haaretz editor 11:04  |  zevulun 03/01/08
  12.   Fox, Can`t seem to look beyond his nose again... 11:06  |  dutch 03/01/08
  13.   Occupation de luxe 11:08  |  Esther 03/01/08
  14.   # 8 jeff`s fatal flaw 11:12  |  Axel 03/01/08
  15.   Jeff`s your fatal flaw 11:14  |  Dutch 03/01/08
  16.   # 7 yishai 11:17  |  Axel 03/01/08
  17.   Re Yishai #7 11:22  |  Esther 03/01/08
  18.   Jeff Northridge #10 - still droning? 11:35  |  dana 03/01/08
  19.   german axel 11:40  |  honigstein 03/01/08
  20.   Amira, what are you doing in the West Bank? 11:42  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 03/01/08
  21.   Judea & Samaria 11:45  |  Steven 03/01/08
  22.   hass doesnt approve of arrogance? then stop being arrogant 11:47  |  victor hardman 03/01/08
  23.   Ms. Hass seems oblivious to history 11:51  |  josef cohen 03/01/08
  24.   Ms. Hass seems oblivious to history 11:58  |  josef cohen 03/01/08
  25.   #16 Axel and #17 Esther 12:01  |  Yishai Kohen 03/01/08
  26.   To Yishai Kohen #7 12:01  |  Oetis 03/01/08
  27.   Doris (dutch) where has your nose been? 12:03  |  FOX 03/01/08
  28.   dana "i am definitely not getting into an argument" 12:04  |  danaofarabia 03/01/08
  29.   Pure anti-Semite propaganda 12:07  |  Bo 03/01/08
  30.   #12 Dutch - Illegal expansion? 12:11  |  Bo 03/01/08
  31.   Esther from Tel Aviv 12:14  |  jackie 03/01/08
  32.   Haas` Presence is Dangerous and Arrogant 12:17  |  sptz 03/01/08
  33.   #13 Esther - The area is disputed 12:18  |  Bo 03/01/08
  34.   #14 Axel - I agree 12:23  |  Bo 03/01/08
  35.   It is about occupation not truth 12:27  |  charles enderlin 03/01/08
  36.   Brilliant article 12:32  |  Jacob 03/01/08
  37.   #19 Honigstein 12:36  |  Olli 03/01/08
  38.   Amira Very well said , congratulazioni 12:54  |  Clickright 03/01/08
  39.   To #23 13:00  |  Oetis 03/01/08
  40.   A well-written piece? 13:16  |  Michael 03/01/08
  41.   # 5 Natallie Durson @ Los Angeles / Ca 13:21  |  Joseph E . 03/01/08
  42.   #18, dana 13:38  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 03/01/08
  43.   unequal systems... 13:38  |  Tenar 03/01/08
  44.   Dana, up late and drowsy re #18 Jeff 13:39  |  FOX 03/01/08
  45.   The violence is mutual 13:45  |  B 03/01/08
  46.   Axel`s flaw, though not fatal #14 13:46  |  FOX 03/01/08
  47.   Amira, the right to travel the land is not a basic human right 13:49  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 03/01/08
  48.   Clickfool 13:52  |  Nik "BANNED" Miller 03/01/08
  49.   Mark Hamil #6 and love for Israel 13:54  |  The Other Alan 03/01/08
  50.   A xel - Borders!! 14:15  |  Lisa 03/01/08
  51.   Yehuda & Shomron belong to Israel!! 14:21  |  Lisa 03/01/08
  52.   Thank You Yishai #7 - for THE REAL FACTS!!! 14:25  |  Suzanne 03/01/08
  53.   Amira decide are Israeli Arabs Palestinian or not?? 14:29  |  Tony 03/01/08
  54.   Our violent presence 14:34  |  Witness 03/01/08
  55.   Amira Hass - makes Haaretz Newspaper a total Joke!! 14:35  |  Dr Steve 03/01/08
  56.   Arabs lost the War 14:53  |  Terminator 03/01/08
  57.   10Howdy jeff Northridge,wrong as usual! The 1949 armistice line 14:56  |  lakshmi 03/01/08
  58.   # 25 bo 15:00  |  Axel 03/01/08
  59.   Bravo! 15:00  |  Mandulab 03/01/08
  60.   10Howdy jeff Northridge . . contd. thus ratifying the British 15:03  |  lakshmi 03/01/08
  61.   # 17 Esther / TA 15:08  |  Joseph E . 03/01/08
  62.   # 45 lisa 15:10  |  Axel 03/01/08
  63.   Hass Talks Trash 15:19  |  eddie 03/01/08
  64.   This is the deal, Amira, but you can still complain 15:24  |  Tosefta 03/01/08
  65.   olli "to christians land is just land" 15:36  |  honigstein 03/01/08
  66.   tosefta "palestinian resistance hitting soldiers and settlers" 15:45  |  katyusha 03/01/08
  67.   You have got to be kidding ... 15:47  |  Elihu Stone 03/01/08
  68.   tosefta if you are too shy to reply me 15:52  |  katyusha 03/01/08
  69.   to Bo #29 , stop the cowardice of hiding behind anti-semitism 15:54  |  clickright 03/01/08
  70.   HAAS = ARAFAT 15:54  |  Rafi 03/01/08
  71.   Lakshmi: #57 You can`t go back to 1947 15:54  |  B 03/01/08
  72.   Witness 15:57  |  Other witness 03/01/08