Here's the real problem. Israel has tried to negotiate. The so-called leaders of the Palestinians find that it is in their interest to keep the war going. How can you negotiate with this?
March 26, 2004
After Teenage Boy Carries a Bomb, Palestinians Protest
By GREG MYRE
ABLUS, West Bank, March 25 — In this ragged city, which has dispatched many suicide bombers into Israel, Palestinian residents on Thursday delivered a rare rebuke to militant factions: stop sending teenagers as human bombs.
Palestinians have strongly supported suicide attacks in the current Mideast fighting, and the backing is particularly strong in Nablus, one of the most radicalized and lawless West Bank cities.
But an aborted suicide attack Wednesday by Hussam Abdo, a 16-year-old Nablus resident, provoked a chorus of condemnations, led by his parents from their comfortable, middle-class apartment in one of the city's better neighborhoods.
"No one the age of my son should be used to commit such acts. This was a total shock to me," said Tamam Abdo, 50. Hussam is the youngest of her six children.
Previously, two 16-year-old Palestinians had carried out suicide attacks, including one from Nablus. But those bombings did little to stir Palestinian debate.
Hussam reached the Hawara Checkpoint on the southern fringe of the city, where he surrendered after being confronted by Israeli troops. The episode, which was captured on television and in photographs, provoked a very public discussion on an issue that Palestinians normally prefer to debate privately.
In another development, 60 prominent Palestinians took out a half-page advertisement in a leading Palestinian newspaper, Al Ayyam, saying that the Palestinians should not respond with violence to Israel's killing on Monday of Sheik Ahmed Yassin. The sheik was the leader of Hamas, the group responsible for the largest number of suicide bombings against Israel.
The ad represents a minority opinion, and it comes at a time when the Palestinian factions have been promising major retaliatory strikes. In Nablus, fresh graffiti along the city's main thoroughfare read, "The response is coming, no doubt."
Mrs. Abdo, in a view echoed by many others, made clear that she opposed only those suicide attacks carried out by under age bombers. "Maybe if he is 20, then perhaps I could understand," she said of her own son. "At that age, they know what they are doing, they are fighting for their homeland."
She added: "We are living in a big jail, and some people are pushed to do this. We don't have any other means to defend ourselves."
The clusters of young men who gathered in the street outside the family home expressed the same sentiment. "I don't think anyone here opposes these attacks because of the situation the Israelis have put us in," said Muhammad Zeidal, 20, a university student. "But to use someone his age is very, very wrong."
The Abdo family said that three students who attended school with Hussam were arrested overnight. Israel said Hussam remained in custody, while authorities investigate who was responsible for sending him. Israeli authorities would not say whether he would be charged, although other, equally young Palestinians have been jailed on lesser charges.
No Palestinian group has claimed responsibility for the attempted attack, though all the leading factions have a strong presence in Nablus.
The Israelis detained an 11-year-old boy last week at the same checkpoint when they discovered a bomb hidden in a bag he was carrying. But Israel said he was unaware of the bomb, which had been given to him by an adult, and he was freed within hours. "The latest case is different, because the boy knew what he was doing," said Maj. Sharon Feingold, a military spokeswoman.
At the Abdo home, Hussam's parents described him as an immature teenager manipulated by others.
Asked what she would do if Hussam returned, Mrs. Abdo said, "I would punish him." She waved her hand back and forth in front of her face to deliver a mock slapping. During an interview, relatives presented Mrs. Abdo with a copy of the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot, with a large picture of Hussam on the front. She pulled the photo to her face and kissed it, then burst into tears.
The newspaper interviewed Hussam in custody, and he said other students made fun of him because he was quite short. "They hurt me so much that I wanted to kill myself," Hussam was quoted as saying.
When he spoke briefly to journalists on Wednesday after his arrest, he claimed he was 14. But documents provided by the family showed he turned 16 last December.
Hussam's father Muhammad, who owns a grocery store, said the family was well-off financially. He said that Hussam spent hours on the family computer, and liked to play soccer, but was an indifferent student.
Meanwhile, Hanan Ashrawi, a prominent Palestinian lawmaker who was among the signers of Thursday's newspaper advertisement, said there was growing support for peaceful protests among Palestinians. The contentious separation barrier that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government is building in the West Bank has generated a wave of demonstrations, she said.
"We need to take the initiative with nonviolent resistance and not let Sharon control the agenda," she said. "I believe this is resonating among many more Palestinians now."
The Israeli military said it shot dead three armed Palestinians late Thursday night as they approached the Jewish settlement of Tel Katifa in the southern Gaza Strip. The gunmen were shot on land, but the settlement is on the Mediterranean coast, and the military said it was investigating the possibility that they reached the area by sea.
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