Haaretz :Only Solution to Palestinian Terrorism Is the End of the Occupation
The murderous terror attack at Tel Aviv’s Sarona Market took the lives of four Israelis on Wednesday: Ido Ben Ari, Ilana Naba, Michael Feige and Mila Mishayev. It wounded six others.
The
attack was not preceded by any intelligence warning, as far as is
known, but no one can say it was a surprise. The current wave of
violence, which has been described as the third intifada, has not
subsided. It does not seem it will fade quickly.
Immediately
after the attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense
Minister Avigdor Lieberman rushed to announce a list of collective punishments against the Palestinians.
During the month of Ramadan, Israel has frozen 83,000 entry permits
into Israel for family visits, along with permits for a handful of Gaza
residents to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. These steps have just one
objective: To satisfy an Israeli public seeking revenge.
Cabinet members competed over who would make the most extreme announcement. Lieberman quickly declared he had “no intentions of settling for lip service,”
while
his deputy minister, Eli Ben-Dahan, threatened the town where
the terrorists are from: “Life in Yatta won’t carry on as usual.”
Education
Minister Naftali Bennett compared the terrorists to “that murderous
organization sitting to our north,” and Transportation Minister Yisrael
Katz called for preventive measures “that will go down in history.”
Meanwhile,
Science Minister Ofir Akunis called for terrorists’ families to be
deported and their homes demolished, and Culture Minister Miri Regev
suggested that Israel “burn into the enemy’s consciousness” the price to
be paid.
This
impassioned and hollow talk, similar to the acts of collective
punishment, has no real value. It will not protect the life of a single
Israeli; it will just increase the frustration and hatred among those
forced to live under Israeli occupation. In the end it will only push
more young people to terrorism.
It’s
amazing how the Israeli government does not learn its lesson and
recognize what should have been clear long ago: The terror will continue
as long as the Palestinian people have no hope on the horizon.
No
military steps will eradicate it and no boastful declarations will end
it. The only way to deal with terrorism is by freeing the Palestinian
people from the occupation. Until then, the Palestinians will continue
their opposition using force, as most peoples have done throughout
history.
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