The street is pleased
DANNY RUBINSTEIN
Ha'aretz, 26 October 2003
It is difficult to assess from the two latest Hamas attacks on soldiers in the territories whether there has been a change in the policy of those carrying out the attacks. The attitude of the Palestinian leadership, which can almost be defined as the official position, has usually been that civilians inside Israel should not be attacked while targets in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, particularly the military, are legitimate in the struggle against occupation.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and to a certain extent also groups within Fatah, have opposed this official attitude, saying Israel must be made to feel pain in every possible place, including within the Green Line.
Neither Hamas nor Jihad has announced a change in its policy, and it is possible that the attacks represent mere coincidence. That is to say, the militants were able from the operational point of view to attack soldiers in the territories, and that is what they did. And if they have the chance to carry out other attacks, against civilians inside Israel, they will also carry these out.
The same can be said of the cooperation between Hamas and Islamic Jihad at Netzarim. Much was made of the coordination in the operation between the organizations, inter alia, cooperation in Lebanon - but it is difficult to know whether this is a serious assessment. Possibly here, too, there was a coincidence.There has been cooperation between the activists of Hamas and Jihad as well as the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades of Fatah several times, particularly in the Gaza Strip but also in the West Bank.
In any event, the Palestinian street and its leadership were extremely pleased that the attacks were carried out against the Israel Defense Forces, and in the Palestinian territories. The joint announcement of the Izza-din el-Kassam brigades of Hamas and the Jerusalem Companies of Jihad were proudly played up in the Palestinian media. All noted that the official spokesmen of the U.S. and the Europeans barely mentioned these attacks at Ein Yavrud and Netzarim and certainly did not condemn them in the same vein in which they condemn the suicide bombers who kill civilians inside Israel.
Since the start of the armed conflict in the current intifada, many Palestinians have contended that the suicide attacks against Israeli civilians cause great harm to Palestinian interests by provoking sympathy for Israel around the world and causing the Israeli left to distance itself from the moderate Palestinian camp. Thus, there have constantly been demands to stop attacks inside Israel and to employ other methods of struggle. It has often been mentioned in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that there is a legitimacy to attacking Israeli military targets. Such attacks, it is believed, will be met with understanding and possibly even support, from the international community.