> For those Palestinians who want peace, suicide bombings may be
> counterproductive -- although as Robert Wright notes in Slate (which has
> been pretty good as Israel recently), being able to promote terrorism is a
> bargaining chip in that they have the ability to turn it off.
>
> But for those Palestinians who want to destroy Israel altogether, the
> encouragement of extremism by the Israelis is the goal. They need to
> inspire acts of retaliation by Israel that continue to discredit Israel
> internationally to the point where it will alienate so many people
> internationally that the US can no longer afford to protect it. That
point
> may not be reached, but the logic of suicide bombings goal is the
> empowerment of the most rightwing elements in Israel-- it is the "worse
the
> better" in the extreme form.
>
> Hamas and Likud have fed on each other symbiotically since the
assassination
> of Rabin. This is just the continuation of that which, if outside
> intervention does not impose a peace, will lead to mass killings and
> genocide. At one level, peace becomes more possible because the
alternative
> is so unspeakable-- but the latter has not been barred in history.
A lot of this is true, but it's also exaggerated. The argument that all the suicide bombers are seeking to destroy Israel is just a platitude. Even the extremist groups aren't stupid. They know that no matter what they do, Israel isn't going away anytime soon. Much of the motivation is just visceral revenge. There's also a strategic component, which is to provoke an escalation that will result in international intervention and an imposed settlement. And above all, the purpose is to score domestic political points. Once the Palestinian state is established, all the different groups - Hamas or Islamic Jihad, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs, etc. - want to be able to say they are the ones who won independence for the Palestinians, and should therefore have the right to rule.
Seth