Terrorist Attacks Have Israelis Questioning ‘Normalization’ With Palestinians

“Perhaps some has-been musicians can advocate a strategy to isolate and punish Palestinians until they internalize the need to respect the human rights of Israelis.”

Har Adar, Spetember 27 – Three Israelis were killed and a fourth seriously injured in yet another attack by a Palestinian yesterday, prompting doubts among Israel’s population regarding the wisdom of continuing to engage in any form of contact with Palestinians that might imply acceptance of the situation and its legitimization.

The attacker, like several others among the thousands of Palestinian attempts on Israeli lives over the last several years, exploited his work permit, a document that allowed him to enter Israeli territory from areas governed by the Palestinian Authority. Following what security officials have described as intensive training with his weapon, Nimr Jamal shot the Israeli security guards at the gates of the Har Adar community where hundreds of Palestinians have worked in Jewish employ for decades. Prior to yesterday, Har Adar had not seen a terrorist incident, but the unprecedented attack has Israelis wondering whether letting Palestinians continue to cross over the Green Line or into Israeli areas beyond it, in addition to conducting any ‘normal’ relations with them, suggests it might be OK for the neighboring culture and leadership to incite, commit, and reward terrorism.

“The thing is it normalizes their violence,” argued Dor Ikkesh, a Har Adar resident. “The international community has to make it clear that no normalization of relations, commerce, or other contacts with Palestinians can commence until the illegitimate terrorist entity of theirs is dismantled. Only then can we consider it.”

“There should be a global boycott of Palestinians,” seconded Bertha Freshère of nearby Mevasseret Tziyon, a suburb of Jerusalem within the Green Line. “Perhaps with some has-been musicians as prominent advocates of a strategy to isolate and punish Palestinians until they internalize the need to respect the human rights of Israelis. I think the college campuses of North America would be a good recruiting ground for that initiative, since the people there are always so vocal about protecting human rights.”

“And get institutions and companies to divest from Palestinian enterprises and firms that do business with them, and the UN Security Council to impose sanctions,” added Omer Bar-Gutti, a graduate student at Tel Aviv University. “It would also be important to call out those who advocate such a movement – we could call it BDS – but who in practice continue to engage in normalizing activity such as attending Palestinian universities, or using technology developed by Palestinians.”

“It might be difficult, but with enough time, energy, and dedication, we can make normalization of Palestinian violence taboo,” he continued, leafing through a brochure for Bir Zeit University in Ramallah.

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