My understanding of _Paradise now_ is that it is a critique of the "culture of martyrdom" as a popular trope in Palestinian culture - rather than a story of Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
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I haven't seen the film so I'll stay silent about it (you have given me incentive to rent it though).
I wanted, however, to spend a few minutes thinking aloud about the idea of a "culture of martyrdom".
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In John W. Dower's "War Without Mercy" (Pantheon, 1986) Imperial Japan's use of shimpu or kamikaze 'special attack squads' is described from the points of view of both Japanese troopers who miraculously survived their deployment as human bombs and the Americans who reacted with horror to this last, desperate gambit of the Pacific War.
Dower points out that at the time, American 'experts' on all things Japanese produced scholarly and pop analyses of supposed flaws within the Japanese character (the phrase, 'herd mentality' was very popular as a quick explanation).
Of course, what was missing from those heavy breathing essays was a sober assessment of Japan's tactical situation and the national ideologies of the militarist period that permitted the crafting of a suicide squad response to that situation.
Once the tactical situation changed - via surrender - the zeal to die found amongst the most fervent faded away in all but a few very rare cases.
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I think that when we speak of a Palestinian "culture of martyrdom" it's important to remember that in the absence of a Palestinian armor corps, air force and navy suicide bombings - viewed with as much objectiveness as can be mustered - are a result of the Palestinians' tactical situation in relation to the Israelis. If Israel was trying to hold onto territory seized from the Iraq of say, 1979 or 80 (when her military power was at its height) there'd be no talk of suicide bombings but much discussion of scud barrages, A-10 counter strikes and the like.
In other words, it's all well and good to criticize the "culture of martyrdom" and 'herd mentality' (because clearly, neither of these things is productive) but until the Palestinians' tactical situation changes we're likely to continue witnessing this "culture" in action.
.d.