So long ago, in the years that followed Second Intifada Palestine, any funeral West Bank to honor their sacrifices Israeli occupation It was also a show of force armed groups. Hooded men with semi-automatic rifles accompanied or led the funeral procession. “Songs of resistance” blared on the speakers and different groups fought for it. sponsor of the “martyr” While on duty, the deceased was wrapped in the colors of the relevant flag, a privilege that was staged by paying compensation, and a pension was given to his relatives. Pain and loss flowed from these funerals, but most of all, anger, hatred and thirst for revenge.
Old rituals have not completely disappeared, but they are no longer the norm. At the funeral this Friday AidaA. refugee camp Palestinian intertwined with urbanism Belen Completely surrounded by an Israeli concrete wall, no hooded men, no guns, no green flags. Hamasyellow Conquest or black Islamic Jihad. There are only small flags Palestine emblem and a prayer of upset neighbors whispering into each other’s ears while sitting on plastic chairs in the courtyard of a United Nations school. More than your hunger for revenge, you breathe fear And beat.
“People are very disappointed, upset and worried about the future,” he says. Enes Abu SururHe is the director of a youth center in Aida where art, sports and education workshops are given. “They understood this Israel He wants genocide or a new genocide against the Palestinians Nakba” he adds, referring to the campaign ethnic cleansing And forced displacement The event that followed the establishment of the State of Israel in 1947 and the first war with Arab countries.
arbitrary violence
The funeral at Aida summarizes some of what happened in the occupied West Bank. October 7 When this war is started with devastating attack Hamas south of Israel. This morning, at dawn, Muhammad Ali Azia He was shot in the chest while looking at the roof of his house. She was 17 years old. He shot at him Sniper From one of the Israeli watchtowers surrounding the refugee camp. “He was a very quiet kid. exams to go to university. Some neighbors in Aida say he is not involved in politics or affiliated with any group.
His father, who was injured in his chest, reported the situation ambulance According to neighbors, the Israeli army did not allow the ambulance to enter the site. Seeing his son dying from blood loss, the father, in despair, put his child in his neighbor’s car and set out for the hospital. “On the road, the soldiers stopped the car, took the body away and ordered the father and the neighbor to return home,” Abu Srur explains. “An hour later an Israeli officer called him and said: his son was dead and give him the coordinates to retrieve the body,” he added, looking depressed.
It is the night when the ground shakes in the West Bank. raidsarrests, murdershouse raids, inquiries Torture and torture, as Israeli soldiers shamelessly demonstrate on social media. 195 According to the Ramallah Ministry of Health, Palestinians have been killed and 2,500 injured there since October 7. More than 2,600 people were arrested. “Some of the detainees are involved in politics, some of them have nothing to do with it. They enter houses, take people away, and when they cannot find what they are looking for, they detain their parents and siblings until the other one surrenders,” says Aida activist Abu Srur.
the war inside Loop also accompanied Closure of West Bank cities and towns. No one can enter or exit without special permission granted to a small minority. The economy is collapsing rapidly. A. 28% of employment evaporated, and if the war continued for a second month, Palestinian GDP According to a report by the UN development agency, it will contract by 8.4 percent; This is a much faster decline than that experienced in 2015. Ukraine anyone Syria. (The price is also burdensome Israeli economyIt is losing about $600 million a week, according to the Federal Reserve).
Disarmament of Palestinian groups
“People don’t feel like fighting, but if this goes on for a long time and there is no income, they will have nothing anymore. There is nothing to lose“says Marwan Daud, a merchant from Bethlehem. Only a few cities Fetus, Tulkarem, Tubas anyone Nablus there is something similar armed resistance More or less organized. But these are not the usual old features, new generation militias emerged in the last two years and was persecuted by both Israel and Israel. Palestinian National Authority. The most numerous are the Jenin Brigades, which had about 200 members before this war, according to Crisis Group, and lion’s den It consists of a hundred militants disgruntled with Fatah and Hamas in Nablus. Their fiefdoms are currently under constant siege by Israeli troops, who have destroyed refugee camps in Jenin or Tulkarm.
discontent against Palestinian political leaders It is deep and widespread among the population. Minister Mahmoud AbbasWhile the ruler in the West Bank is perceived as Israel’s “collaborator” Hamas It was not very popular in Gaza until then. broke the blockade To attack the Jewish state. “People thought Hamas was selling itself for money Train and the permits Israel gave to Gaza workers, but what it did did was restore its credibility and support among Palestinians,” says political scientist Asad Abdulrahman.
This doesn’t necessarily mean the street approves disgusting methods What he exhibited on October 7, but he had the courage to blow it up. oppressive status quo It is suffocating the Palestinian people. “People can’t stand it job“He wants to live with a minimum of dignity and freedom,” says Anas Abu Srur from the Aida camp. “The growth of settlements does not stop, there is no horizon for a new life” political solutionThe economy is going downhill and we all feel like we’re living in a world. open air prisonespecially in refugee camps, where Israeli forces are most aggressive.” Nothing has worked in the last three decades, not even Israel’s nonviolent methods. First Intifada. Neither war nor suicide bombings of the Second Intifada. Or peace processes and the Oslo mirage.
lack of hope It is always the best breeding ground for a new species to emerge. warrior generation. “Especially youth They stopped believing now political path They are supported by the ANP when they see that only armed struggle can change the inaction,” says Abu Srur. The difference now is that the Palestinians do not believe in their leaders either. The streets are free and the streets are free. feeling of orphanhood –emphasized by the abandonment of Arab countries and the international community– is absolute.