Gideon Levy interviews a man of war.
“Zebeida is extremely bitter. Freedom fighter or terrorist, he carries with him painful memories from the days when he moved sacks of sand on building sites in Haifa as his Jewish peers went skating by. ‘I worked with Muntasar (his friend and today his deputy) and we would lug the heavy sacks on our shoulders … Jewish kids our age were going around with girls, and we were carrying sand up to the fifth floor of that building instead of going to school. I never lived like a human being.’”
“The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades may reach peace with Israel, he says, but he won’t personally. He won’t forgive the killing of his mother and brother and the razing of his house.”
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades did not join with the other Palestinian military groups in supporting the hudna. I know there are people who justify the actions of these guerilla groups by saying they are fighting a war of liberation. But I don’t believe that is Gideon Levy’s point in interviewing this man. Zebeida and his compatriots are not protecting Palestinians who are being attacked. Like the Israeli army, they are carrying out acts of vengeance, which leads to more innocents being killed.
But it is important to understand their thinking and motivations. These are not rabid “Jew haters,” as the Israeli propaganda machine tries to portray them. These are desparate men driven to despicable acts by living in a world of violence. While this does not justify their crimes, the crimes committed against them and their families are no more justifiable. Applying more violence and pressure will not end the cycle of vengeance. As Zebeida says: “If you get out of here, then who will I have to shoot at?”
