Report #30 - We Get Letters

by Jerry Levin
Hebron, West Bank, Palestine
January 9, 2004

From The Inside Looking Out Report #29, "Mirror Mirror On The Wall," was my reaction to a writer's accusation that "the Palestinian educational system instills hostility and hatred from early grade school on, [and] doctrines that lead to suicide homicides." It drew an unusually extensive range of responses. So I thought I would depart from my regular format of having it only my way and instead share some of those thoughts with you.

Since the writers had not been advised in advance that in communicating with me their reactions might be made public, I am not including their names. I have also done a tiny bit of editing for the sake of compression and clarity.

Working backward through my piece, here are three comments concerning my critique of the "asymmetrical" connection between Masada and current suicide attacks.

1) "Among many other things I love in [your] report is that it is the only place I have ever seen in print that Masada was not a 'mass suicide' but a brutal murder of women, children and other men by a group of men selected for this purpose. Finally someone is saying it aloud."

2) "I was especially struck by the mention of Masada because it reminded me of the horror I felt in learning of how Jewish parents killed their own children and then themselves in the European ghettos rather than convert. I remember thinking that surely there could have been a better way."

3) "I don't think it's useful to cite ancient Jewish history as somehow relevant to this conflict. This plays into the notion that this is some sort of ancient conflict that's been going on since 'time immemorial' -- as well as echoing Zionist ideology which incorporates such religious stories to reinforce Jewish claims to the land. I think it's very important to note that this is not a religious conflict. Religion is exploited -- by all sides -- for political ends, but it is a fundamentally a political conflict."

With respect to what motivates suicide attacks today, here are three opinions:

1) "What's hardest to stomach is the contrast between suicide bombers and, say, Apache pilots who wash away the blood, other people's, with a shower and a beer."

2) "As your analysis demonstrates, sex with virgins is very much not the main reason that Palestinians commit suicide operations, [but] your reference itself is a bit of a stereotype. Many of the suicide bombers aren't even religious (and neither are some groups-- like the PFLP [Progressive Party For The Liberation of Palestine]; and many of them became 'religious' just before carrying out their mission. Several of them, as you noted, are also women. I think it's very important to debunk the stereotype of the sexually repressed Muslim fanatical male looking to quench his sexual appetite. Obsessive western references to the 'houris' only play up this stereotype, while reflecting orientalist-western misnomers about Islam.

I thought the parallels you drew between recruitment methods there and elsewhere in the world were much more useful -- and very apt. In fact sex is a more powerful recruitment method for American servicemen than Palestinians, as our military bases abroad often fund entire sex industries to 'service' our soldiers (see, e.g. Korea, the Philippines, etc) -- to say nothing of the rampant sexual abuse and rape that goes unabated within the U.S. military itself."

3) "I agree with 95% of what you say. However, if I dare say, to me you still sound like an apologist