An early intervention in the public discussion of armed attacks on Israeli civilians was published by professors Rema Hammami and Musa Budeiri on December 14, 2001 in the Arabic daily al-Quds. There they argued that suicide operations, as a form of "resistance communication," are not effective in delivering the intended message because they are "isolated from a strategic reading of Israeli society's reaction to and understanding of the uprising and of Palestinian resistance in general."
But what has stirred up public debate most vigorously was a petition printed in al-Quds on June 19, 2002, originally signed by 55 academics and other public figures. It began: "We the undersigned feel that it is our national responsibility to issue this appeal in light of the dangerous situation engulfing the Palestinian people. We call upon the parties behind military operations targeting civilians in Israel to reconsider their policies and stop driving our young men to carry out these operations. Suicide bombings deepen the hatred and widen the gap between the Palestinian and Israeli people… We see that these bombings do not contribute towards achieving our national project which calls for freedom and independence. On the contrary, they strengthen the enemies of peace on the Israeli side and give Israel's aggressive government under Sharon the excuse to continue its harsh war against our people."
Mundane resistance: Palestinians cross a roadblock near Qalqilya, the West Bank. (Nir Kafri)
The appeal reappeared two more times on consecutive days, carrying new signatories. Prominent names such as Hanan Ashrawi and Khader Shkirat, former director of LAW, a major human rights organization, headed the list of what grew to be several hundred signatures. Sari Nusseibeh, president of Al-Quds University in East Jerusalem, initiated the petition. Already regarded by many as a turncoat, in part because of his compromising position on Palestinian refugees' right of return, Nusseibeh was condemned as a traitor in a Fatah Youth communique after the petition appeared. Unaffiliated individuals also added their names. Some did so for more prosaic reasons, including one man who signed it hoping the suicide attacks would stop because he wanted his son to finish his high school exams unhindered by Israeli reprisals. <SNIP>