Jerusalem Truck Attack
Repercussions of the violent reality of Israeli occupation

On Sunday, 8 January 2017, a Palestinian drove a truck into a troop of Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem, killing four and wounding at least 13 others. The driver was identified as Fadi Ahmad Al-Qunbar, 28, a resident of the nearby Palestinian neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukabbir in East Jerusalem. The attack occurred at the so-called “Armon Hanatziv Promenade”, near the invisible border dividing occupied East Jerusalem and West Jerusalem. While some voices condemn the attack as act of “terror”, others view it as part (consequence)  of Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation.

To adequately analyze the incident, Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ) thinks that it is necessary to take into account the context in which the attack occurred and to inquire into the underlying reasons behind it, as well as into the root causes of recurrent violent confrontations in the region. In this respect, the GICJ focuses on the violent reality of occupation, including Israel’s disproportionate use of force and implied power asymmetry, and the loss of hope of Palestinians for change.

The Violent Reality of Occupation

First of all, describing the attack as an act of “terror” obscures the fact that this and similar actions are a reaction to the violent reality Palestinians are subjected to on a daily basis, that violence is imposed by the occupying power, Israel, while some Palestinians take part. The wholehearted condemnation of violence is politically correct, while it hides the reality of violence created by Israel’s ongoing illegal occupation that constitutes a permanent element of Palestinians’ existence. The unfolding picture for Palestinians is one of utter desperation in the face of a constant deterioration of conditions on the ground, marked by, inter alia, the excessive use of force by the Israeli occupying forces, recurring military actions, and discriminatory and repressive Israeli policies and practices violating Palestinian human rights. Before raising our voice in the face of alleged Palestinian “terror”, we should therefore look at the conditions creating these acts.

Only by setting foot in their street, Palestinians face violence: Israel’s ongoing illegal occupation has created a situation in which a civilian population faces a vast and powerful military financially sustained by the Israeli state and supported by the Israeli government. As occupying force, Israel has a pronounced presence in everyday life in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), including in occupied East Jerusalem. Thus, Palestinians face soldiers’ actions on a daily basis. In East Jerusalem (as across the remaining West Bank), heavily armed soldiers and police officers ‘guard’ illegal Israeli settlements in Palestinian neighborhoods, religious sites such as the Al-Aqsa mosque, and the entrances to the Old City. Particularly the Damascus Gate has become an epitome of militarization, being surrounded by squads of soldiers and police, sometimes on horses, and surveilled by “security cameras”. Palestinians, among them young children and elderly people, undergo “security checks” when passing, often facing acts of intimidation, harassment, and violence by Israeli forces.

Responding to the rise in violence since September 2015, Israel passed new laws with one order allowing occupying forces to shoot at anyone allegedly threatening the life of a third party and moreover approved the arming of Jewish Israeli civilians. This law facilitated the killing of the Palestinian attacker by an armed Israeli civilian on Sunday, 8 January. The operations of the Israeli military penetrate Palestinian citizens’ public and private sphere as soldiers, while acting as constabularies, occupy checkpoints, patrol pathways, and search homes and bodies for weaponry or other suspect objects.

Many Palestinians feel threatened by the constant military presence, especially in the face of the mounting evidence of extrajudicial killings by the Israeli forces. In grave violation of international humanitarian law and of human rights, Israel launches military raids and massive operations in the West Bank and Gaza, mostly killing civilians, destroying infrastructure, public institutions, and homes, in alleged response to threats and militant attacks.

Israel’s military occupation is marked by a striking power asymmetry as compared to Palestinians and by disproportionate use of force. Pursuant to Sunday’s attack, Israel imposed collective punishment on Palestinians in clear violation of international law, characteristic of Israeli response to attacks. In the night of the attack on 8 January 2017, Israeli forces invaded the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukabbir, where Al-Qunbar resided, conducting a detention campaign and imposing a blockade by closing off the main entrance to the neighborhood with cement blocks and by “controlling traffic” at other entrances. Meanwhile, the forces guarded a march by Israeli settlers that reportedly shouted “inciting” slogans. Israel’s frequent imposition of collective punishment on the Palestinian population, often involving military incursions, demolition of homes and other structures, and excessive use of force against innocent civilians, is grossly disproportionate to attacks by Palestinian individuals (“lone wolves”).

Apart from the disproportionate violence directly executed by Israeli military forces, Israel’s persistent construction of illegal settlements and the separation wall, the exploitation of natural resources, perpetration of legal injustice (e.g. arbitrary arrest and mistreatment), economic oppression, restrictions on movement, and the persistent denial of the right of return of Palestinian refugees and displaced persons exacerbate the violent reality Palestinians face. These actions deprive Palestinians of their fundamental rights and further thwart efforts for the achievement of a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace based on the two-state solution supported by the United Nations (UN). When condemning the acts as “terror”, we must inquire into their causes, which root in the longstanding Israeli occupation.

Loss of Hope

The experience of occupation is compounded by a loss of prospects for effective remedy and change. Palestinians continue to suffer daily from the failure of the UN and the international community to take effective action: Israel barely faces sanctions by the international community despite its blatant non-compliance with UN resolutions and overt violations of international law, human rights and international humanitarian law, and related conventions. Instead, many states continue to cooperate with the Israeli occupation by offering their military, economic, diplomatic, and ideological support. Indeed, international outcry resounds more loudly over attacks by Palestinian individuals than over the incessant violence inflicted upon the Palestinian people by the Israeli occupation.

The hopelessness resulting from resounding silence over Israeli state terrorism and lack of effective action further drives some Palestinians to commit violent acts. Hebronite Palestinian Ridwan Jawan described the situation to GICJ as follows:

“People feel that they have nothing to protect them. No agreements, no Palestinian Authority. The world community, specifically the USA, do not care about this issue; they do not include it in their agenda and do not take decisions, nor do they take the next step for the two-state solution. So people are hopeless.”

Further elaborating on the question why individual Palestinians commit attacks, he explained:
“People are suffering psychologically and people are suffering by their lives and...People they can't...you know, every ten kilometers, you have checkpoints, so people think like this: You want to breathe, to make a sign that we are here. We have to feel we are human beings; we are not animals...why does the occupation treat us like this?”

Suffocating under the Israeli occupation and feeling hopeless due to the neglect by the international community and the weakness of Palestinian leadership, individual Palestinians commit violent acts of resistance against the regime of injustice. As long as the Israeli occupation persists, Palestinians will resist the violence they are facing. In order to put an end to the bloodshed on both sides, Israel must cease its illegal activities.

GICJ once again reiterates its position that the United Nations and the international community should make every effort to establish real peace in Palestine, which cannot be achieved without realizing the inalienable rights of the Palestinians people, including the right to self-determination, the right of return of refugees, and the right of establishing an independent state.