AL QUDS: When a suicide bomber killed nine people in an attack at Israel’s Hebrew University last month, thousands of Palestinians celebrated in a “march of joy”. Militants tossed sweets to the crowd which flooded into Gaza’s streets after the attack on July 31.
If slogans alone are used to gauge public discourse in a society, then the voice of revenge won the argument that day on how to respond to an Israeli air raid on Gaza on July 23 in which 16 people, including two guerillas, were killed.
Some Palestinians say the rage on the streets drowns out other voices asking how their nearly two-year-old uprising should be waged and what it has brought them as they weigh the prospects for nationhood against the cycle of bloodshed.
“We have competing public discourses,” said political scientist Ali Jarbawi. “This is why you see some people cheering attacks and others putting an ad in newspapers to stop them.”
The quieter side of Palestinian public discourse on attacks against Israelis has largely avoided debate on moral grounds alone, without also referring to the Israeli army’s occupation of Palestinian cities and killings of Palestinians.
“How can we convince Palestinians we should debate intellectually and morally when they live under such conditions as occupation?” Jarbawi said.
Those taking part in the debate about attacks try to avoid being seen as traitors to national aspirations and what Palestinians call their resistance movement to achieve them.
“The mood of the public is anger, hate and revenge. This is why you find these voices easily,” Jarbawi said. More moderate voices are “either shy or they want to put their argument in a context which is not out of touch with the people.”
Often the discourse is couched in political and tactical terms, such as the need to avoid attacks on civilians because they are bad for Palestinians’ image internationally, or because they give Israel a pretext to strike back.
CONTEXT OF DISCOURSE: Palestinian society is close-knit. Strangers can go to a village or even a city, give a name and usually be directed to the place where the family lives.
During the uprising, that society seems to have become even closer. Death is a very public affair, marked in tents filled with neighbours offering condolences. Palestinians are banding together in conflict as families who have lost homes move in together, or rely on shared food as the economy deteriorates.
This is the context in which any discourse circulates. In some cases it is not receptive to moderate or minority voices.
“Unfortunately people are not allowed even to talk about evaluating the Intifada because then the Palestinian Authority will say that your views and your opinions are serving the enemy interests,” remarked human rights activist Bassam Eid.—Reuters