I will forgo the usual apologia/condemnation of the horrific nature of suicide bombers etc. There's a war going on: quite simply, everybody is reaching for the weapons at hand. For the Israelis this means the most cutting edge intelligence and surveillance equipment and some of the most advanced weapons systems in the world. For the Palestineans, this means a rock or a bomb strapped to one's body.
There is something about intentional suicide of this kind that is especially provoking. I assume the point is to make it too expensive for the Israelis to maintain their occupation. Of course, what Sharon was elected to do was either to stop the violence or to finish the job they started in 48. It seems to me his plan all along was to provoke the Palestineans into acts that would justify the exile of the whole population in the occupied territories as 'self defense.'
They did get away with it in 48. Perhaps they will again. I have given up thinking that either the Arab world or the world at large will do anything about it.
I'll stop here. It's noon and already it feels like a long day. The image of a buddhist monk setting himself on fire in Saigon (?) keeps coming to mind. There is something about that degree of desparation that resonates with people. We'll see.
Joanna