Suicide campaign

"It’s happening again. Hundreds, maybe thousands of Palestinians are rioting, while Israeli Arabs are blocking roads and burning tires. The celebration of stones starts every evening after the iftar meal that breaks the daily Ramadan fast. Yes, in Israel the seismographs are rattling once again: Is this an intifada or not? The relationship between Israel and the Palestinians knows two phases: an intifada and the anticipation of an intifada. Between the two is a troubled space where the industry of guesswork and analysis does its work: When will the next intifada break out? (…)

The war isn’t the main thing. The longing is for the post-intifada stage — for calm, for quiet, for the Palestinian surrender, for the psychic effect etched into the Palestinian soul. This shows us that the earlier the intifada arrives, the more we hurry to “win” again, the more quickly we’ll reach the period of calm we’re so longing for. And when it’s long in coming, its birth must be hastened.

If there is no intifada, we’ll start it. We’ll begin with the rules that denote the enemies within, the Israeli Arabs. We’ll wink at Jewish terrorists, we’ll go out into the streets with our “Death to Arabs” dance, we’ll amuse ourselves with the idea of transfer, we’ll build enormous real-estate monuments in the territories, we’ll sanctify the culture of revenge.

We have no alternative. We need the intifada show. Only it can prove that our way is the right one: the feelings of fear and victimization. Give us more burning tires on Route 65 in the Galilee, stones thrown at cars in the so-called Triangle region, firebombs in East Jerusalem. That’s the only way we’ll feel we’re up upon Masada, united in our suicide campaign."

Zvi Bar’el in einem Meinungsbeitrag für Haaretz (9. Juli)