by AP and Israel Hayom Staff
Out of some 400 terrorist attacks since September 2015, about 18% of assailants were driven by emotional and psychological issues, roughly two-thirds were ideologically motivated, and 15% were driven by unknown factors, Shin Bet security agency says.
For years,
Palestinian laborer Nimr Mahmoud Ahmed Jamal would make the short daily
commute from his West Bank village of Beit Surik to the nearby community
of Har Adar, where he was known as a conscientious worker who earned
the trust of local residents, some of whom he even befriended and
invited to his wedding.
Then on Tuesday, he pulled out a gun at the back entrance to Har Adar, killed three security men and seriously wounded another before he was shot dead himself.
While Israeli and Palestinian officials
traded blame for the shooting, the motive appears to be more pedestrian:
Jamal was despondent over his broken marriage and apparently on a
suicide mission.
Israeli and Palestinian experts say there
have been dozens of similar cases throughout a two-year spate of
violence in which suicidal Palestinians plagued by emotional and
psychological issues carried out deadly attacks that retroactively were
cloaked in nationalism.
Out of some 400 Palestinian attacks tracked
by Israel since September 2015, about 18% of assailants were driven by
personal issues, according to Israel's Shin Bet security agency. Roughly
two-thirds of the cases were ideologically motivated, and 15% were
driven by unknown factors, the agency said.
A Shin Bet official said despondent
attackers have included the mentally ill, victims of domestic violence,
people with economic hardships and women who had "dishonored their
family" with sexual indiscretions.
Turning a personal grievance into a
nationalist attack carries several advantages. While suicide is frowned
upon in Palestinian society, attacks on Israelis, especially settlers or
security forces, enjoy widespread support, and anyone killed in a clash
with Israelis is seen as a "martyr." Their families are eligible for
help from the "martyrs' fund," which provides stipends
to relatives of people killed or imprisoned by Israel. The Israelis
have long claimed this provides an incentive for Palestinian violence.
In the case of Jamal, a Shin Bet
investigation found that the 37-year-old was a troubled man with a
history of domestic violence. His wife had recently fled to Jordan to
escape his abuse, leaving him behind with their four children. In a
Facebook post, Jamal called himself a bad husband and asked for his
wife's forgiveness.
His attack shocked the community of Har
Adar, where he was a welcome visitor in many homes. The upscale
settlement boasts of good relations with neighboring Palestinian
villages like Beit Surik, Jamal's hometown.
"This is a single attacker, one guy who is a
psycho, and we don't want to associate him with all the other
Palestinian workers who have been coming here peacefully for 30 years,"
said Chen Filipovitz, the head of Har Adar's local council. "He had
problems and he brought his problems to us."
Unlike previous rounds of fighting that
were organized primarily by established militant groups, the current
round has been characterized by "lone wolf" assailants. Israel accuses
Palestinian leaders of inciting the violence, while Palestinians say
it's the result of the frustration of living under occupation.
Critics say Israel has crippled the
Palestinian economy with restrictions on trade, movement and
development. With Palestinian unemployment high, tens of thousands of
Palestinians work in Israel and settlements like Har Adar.
"People have no alternative to working in
Israel and [in] settlements. We are under occupation and have no real
economy," said Ahmed Jamal, the mayor of Beit Surik.
Still, in a book coming out this week,
Palestinian lawmaker Khalida Jarrar said she conducted an informal study
in Israeli prisons in which she found that of the 93 women jailed, 46
were there as a result of "social oppression."
Jarrar details the accounts of 10 who
turned to violence because they were forced to marry against their will.
Others described a desire to escape sexual harassment, embarrassing
divorces, and abusive parents.
One 16-year-old girl told Jarrar that her
father tormented her mother and made their life miserable. "I couldn't
stand it, so I took a knife and went to the checkpoint," she was quoted
as saying.
Jarrar, who spent over a year in prison
after being convicted of incitement, denies the allegations and says
Israel jailed her to silence her. In her book, the long-time advocate of
women's and workers' rights also described difficult conditions for
Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
Israel has enacted a policy of demolishing
the houses of terrorists' families, claiming it is a deterrent. The
military said Wednesday it was already preparing to raze Jamal's home,
and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revoked the work permits of his
relatives.
Hawkish politicians have advocated even
tougher collective measures, such as banning Palestinian entrance into
Israel completely, punishing the Palestinian Authority and launching a
massive settlement drive.
But none of that would do much against
those already in Israel with permits, or Palestinian residents of east
Jerusalem, who have residency rights and freedom of movement in Israel.
in October 2015, Alaa Abu Jamal, a
Jerusalem technician for Israel's phone company, rammed his company car
into a crowd, killing one Israeli and wounding another without an
apparent motive. A month later, Raed Masalma, an employee of a Tel Aviv
restaurant, stabbed two people there.
In the Palestinian society, where
psychological issues are considered taboo, many were reticent to discuss
the phenomenon because they said it undermined their national cause. In
Jamal's village of Beit Surik, most denied he was troubled.
The Palestinian Prisoners Affairs Ministry
refused to discuss the issue for the same reason. However, a lawyer who
works closely with many inmates agreed to do so anonymously so as not to
violate the confidence of clients.
"Many assailants, particularly women, have
carried out attacks to escape social problems," the lawyer said. "When
you attack an Israeli you are a national hero."
AP and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/2017/09/29/attacking-israelis-seen-as-way-out-for-troubled-palestinians/
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