Palestinian funeral procession (File Photo)

To Palestinians 'Collective Responsibility' Means Nothing, And That Is The Problem

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Emanuel Engelmayer
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On the path of forming a nation, there are many elements that need to be accounted for and occasional maintenance is necessary. The specific things that are required for people seeking a state of their own shifts, and much are up for debate. Religion and language are one aspect, and a common vision can be another, in some cases, a functional united military can just about qualify a group of people for a sovereign land of their own. However, there is one issue that automatically overrides all other qualifications for nationality and it is something Palestinians are fundamentally lacking, and that is a collective responsibility.

A nation of people cannot be formed without a common sense of responsibility to those within the structure being created. Without any form of collective responsibility and care for the actions of those in a newly formed group, there is no nation. That rule is valid not only for nationality but even for groups as small as a Football team. A team member cannot assume that his actions will not impact his peers, and his teammates cannot dismiss a player’s actions as irrelevant to them.

An ongoing occurrence in Palestinian society that almost always ends with images of the dead bodies of 'sweet' and 'innocent' children being paraded in front of media outlets that were invited to the funerals before there was a need for one, is terrorism. The pattern is so familiar already it almost feels scripted, and make no mistake it is.

It begins when an extremist from a random village goes out and tries his best to kill Israelis; women, children, soldiers, elderly, it makes no difference. If he succeeds he knows he will either be shot dead on the spot or, 'insha'Allah' somehow manage to run off. If he runs off, the Israel Defense Force will commence a manhunt, which sometimes includes closing down the killer's hometown to ensure nobody enters or exits. The locals of this terrorist’s hometown, as if they rehearse this weekly, will begin rioting, making it seem as if they are frustrated with the 'invasion' of their city and disruption of their daily routine, seemingly changing the narrative from an Israeli search for a terrorist to one where the townsfolk are victims of a brutal occupation. 

The ending is always the same. The IDF surrounds a building where the killer is being holed up and a gunfight ensues where the perpetrator is shot. Cue the funeral procession. Wash, rinse, and repeat.

It is a vicious cycle of sorts and the side that is always assigned the blame by the journalists invited by the terror groups is not the side that 'inspired' the Palestinian terrorist who is almost always found, but the side that is forced to shut down roads and inconvenience a population to search for a killer of innocent civilians. Many when discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will use the ‘chicken or egg’ metaphor to describe the complexity. However, the reality behind it is far simpler than a meaningless metaphor and it is called collective responsibility.

Imagine this: A man from your hometown goes to an adjacent town and kills a few people eating in a restaurant and claims he is doing so in the name of your hometown. If you are loyal to your nation and respect its laws, the logical and responsible thing to do would be to turn the killer in or at the very least strongly condemn his actions openly. In Palestinian society, this never happens. In fact, the opposite is true, celebrations that are organized & financed by terrorist organizations take place. Local authorities do nothing, if they did the celebrations would be shut down.

The average citizen keeps their head down and says nothing out of fear over what will happen to themselves, or worse, their own families.  Meanwhile, the terrorists who 'inspired' the attack in the first place will use the road closures, curfews, and 'death of the innocent child gunned down by the occupation forces' as fuel for the next generation of hatred that is needed for cold-blood murderers. No mention that that same 'innocent child' committed a heinous act of terror and then attacked the forces sent to bring them to justice.

In fact, these children who are committing these acts of terror are conditioned to die, they are brought up glorifying martyrdom and told that if they commit the act of terror and die in the process or the ensuing search, the payout to their families will be double than if they survived and are sent to prison.  There is literally a payout for each person hurt, and a scale that values certain targets - so if a soldier is killed in the ensuing hunt, the payout to the terrorist's family is more.

This exact scenario is currently taking place in what is called a “refugee camp” but in reality, is a fully built-up Jerusalem neighborhood called Shuafat. Last week, Noa Lazar who was an 18-year-old soldier was shot dead in cold blood by a terrorist from that neighborhood. She was not pointing her weapon at anyone, in fact, she was not expecting conflict at all, she was simply chatting with other soldiers at a border checkpoint oblivious to what was about to happen. Yet, the people of Shuafat instead of condemning or even turning in the terrorist celebrated with fireworks and candy given out by other local organizations. Images of smiling faces, hands waving in victorious celebrations and sweet pastries being handed out litter the social media feeds of those who live in the Arab neighborhood.

Now, a week into the search for this vile man who ran up to a group of young soldiers and fired point blank with no provocation, the people of Shuafat are now rioting in front of closed checkpoints, they are burning tires and throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails, not just at soldiers but average Israeli citizens just trying to drive home or to work on the roads everyone shares. It is amazing to watch how the vast majority of Shuafat residents genuinely believe that they are the victims of the Israeli forces who are searching for a killer, one that many know and where he is being hidden.  Meanwhile, the press does not report the death of Noa Lazar, all they show are the armored vehicles driving through the streets and soldiers firing tear gas. 

These residents are blind to the collective responsibility that is needed in the aftermath of violent, nonsensical acts committed by their neighbors. They are blind to it because they don’t think any responsibility is needed. Most Arabs living in Judea & Samaria demand a Palestinian State but refuse to take upon themselves the personal and ultimately collective responsibility that is needed to make it happen.  If anything is proof that there is no unity in Palestinian society it is this, the average Arab in Palestine would gladly help the Israeli forces locate a killer if they were assured it would benefit them and their families. If Israel could guarantee their safety, and ultimate comfort, they would gladly help - but in a society where 'honor killings' and reprisals are all-too-common, not even the mighty IDF can help.

Take the example of Ahmad Abu Murkhiyeh, a gay Palestinian who was granted asylum in Israel in 2020. Last week he was lured to Hebron and beheaded. Terrorists who punish homosexuality were able to reach a man who had fled to the relative safety of Israel and kill him. In the mind of the average Palestinian, this is the fact they live with - there is no escape. Time might go by and a great distance placed between them and the terrorist groups, but in the end, they will be found and harmed. 

Terrorist organizations understand that mentality. They will commit heinous acts and receive a stamp of approval from local residents by simply giving out candy to the young ones while playing festive music. Israelis are also well aware of this mentality as are Palestinians. What the genuine non-violent Palestinian activists don’t realize is that nationality cannot exist without a sense of collective responsibility. Every single time they refuse to condemn bad actors, such as murderers, the dream of a united nationalistic Palestinian State becomes even more distant.

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