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The Other Side
of the Story

MADHUP JOSHI

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Palestinians are reacting
to the pain of persecution

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In the effort to halt the killing in the Middle East, conditions have been imposed on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat that he cannot fulfill. He has been placed in a no-win situation. He does not control the Palestinian people, he is only their representative. He has about as much sway over the actions of his constituents as the president of the United States does over Americans. If George W. Bush were to order Americans to stop all forms of violence against those who look Arab or might be Muslims, some might stop for a short time, but some would continue their illegal actions. Would we hold the president responsible for any acts of violence committed by those who did not obey his orders? Would we condemn him if the perpetrators were not found?

In the same vein, it is impossible to believe that every Palestinian will listen to Arafat's requests to stop suicide bombings. Once the suicide bomber accomplishes his or her task, the perpetrator obviously cannot be tried or convicted for any crime. The bomber already has assumed the ultimate punishment by killing himself or herself.

We need to listen and understand why the Palestinians are willing to sacrifice themselves. Knowing that the action one is about to perform will result in one's death takes more than just an ordinary religious belief. It seems more a statement about that individual's life and living conditions, which he feels have become so hopeless that this act only accelerates the inevitable -- his death. He may hope that the Israelis, whom he holds responsible for the suffering of his fellow Palestinian citizens, will feel their pain.

The suicide bomber is aware that the Israelis are killing Palestinians with American jets, bombs, missiles and Apache helicopters. Therefore, we Americans need to be assured that Israeli intelligence is accurate and obtained without torture. Missiles kill all in the vicinity of their intended targets -- the innocent as well as the guilty. Also, as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stated, "At least 10 percent of the high-tech weapons strike unintended targets." The rate is higher for "dumb" bombs.

When the Israeli information is incorrect and innocent people are targeted and killed, the survivors who cannot directly fight against such high-tech weapons resort to killing themselves, using their bodies as weapons against what is starting to be called the "Israeli apartheid."

However, violence is not the final solution. We must demand that U.N. peacekeeping forces be placed in Israel and Palestine to assist in decreasing the violence and to give peace an honest chance to succeed. Without such a neutral intervention, how can the two sides be freed from the mutual slaughter in which they remain stuck? How can U.S. leadership of the struggle against terrorism hope to succeed if it cannot achieve the needed diplomatic intervention and resume the arduous journey to peace?

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Madhup Joshi is a physician in private practice in Kahului, Maui.
A Hindu born in India, he moved to the United States as a child.