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| Israel-Palestine |
| Palestinians find comfort in rumors of success against Israelis |
| 2004-10-06 |
| JABALIYA CAMP, Gaza Strip - The rumor spread like wildfire through this war-ravaged refugee camp. Mosque-mounted loudspeakers fanned the flames. By sunrise Tuesday, many in this shantytown of 107,000 Palestinians packed into a fetid half-square-mile believed as many as 47 Israeli soldiers had been killed in overnight fighting in the Gaza Strip. They passed out candy on debris-strewn streets to celebrate. In truth, no Israelis died, and one Palestinian gunman was killed, bringing to at least 72 the number of Palestinians killed since hundreds of Israeli tanks and attack helicopters invaded northern Gaza a week ago in an unprecedented show of force to put an end to Palestinian rocket fire on Israeli border towns. About half the dead were armed gunmen, the rest civilians, Palestinian medical sources say. Tuesday's toll included two Islamic Jihad militiamen killed in an airstrike on their car in Gaza City. Later in the day, a missile killed two Hamas fighters and wounded three others in Jabaliya. The Israeli army has reported that one soldier was killed since the operation began. While many Jabaliya residents interviewed Tuesday amid the crackle of gunfire and sporadic shelling clung to the belief that "resistance fighters" had scored a big success, others acknowledged that the rumor that 47 soldiers were killed was a "lie" some Palestinians propagate to soothe the psychological suffering of their people against a vastly superior foe. "Israel is a stronger state. They are killing us every day. So I say, `OK, I want to see the Israelis suffering like us,'" said Hossam al-Najar, 35. "We wish that every Israeli who comes here to kill will be killed. ... But we are lying to ourselves." Najar, an engineer with the Palestinian Ministry of Planning, spoke amid the roiling emotions of a mourner's tent set up for the 12-year-old son of his cousin. The boy, Mohammed, died Sunday when shrapnel - from a tank shell the Israeli army said was aimed at a cluster of gunmen who were killed instantly - apparently also struck the child some distance away. Against the backdrop of so much bloodshed, both focused and random, Najar said, many Palestinians succumb to wishful thinking, convincing themselves they are routing the Israelis even though they clearly are not. In a taxi from Gaza City to Jabaliya, he had heard fellow passengers say that 47 Israelis were killed. When he reached Jabaliya, others told him the number was seven. By tomorrow, he said, there's no telling how the story will twist and turn. "For myself, I have to know the reality. ... I don't believe it." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #8 Denial. A river in Egypt and an Arab mindset. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-10-06 9:03:57 AM |
| #7 Drama Queens and Fantasists - it's so much easier than doing anything yourself to better yourself, isn't it? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-10-06 7:48:24 AM |
| #6 There is something very wrong with the arab psyche. Despite the "facts on the ground" they continue to believe in some wild fantasy of superiority and manifest destiny. Believing he would precipitate the return of a 7th century-like caliphate, bin laden strikes an open, free society that couldn't even imagine such an atrocity. And so, he is attacked, defeated, retreating to some forsaken mountain range in Pakistan. Since the creation of Israel, amidst their continuous seething, arab states alternatively plot, attack and lose, believing they will prevail. And what has it gotten them? They're holed up in "refugee camps," with corrupt, self-serving, greedy, incompetent "leadership." And the arab public feeds on this crap. It's the stuff of comic books, frankly. And the answer, ironically, can be drawn from another fantasy -- it's downright Wizard-of-Oz-ish. They've had the power to fix the problem and make their lives better the whole time. To eradicate their misery, all they ever needed to do was negotiate honestly and realistically. |
| Posted by: PlanetDan 2004-10-06 7:04:35 AM |
| #5 "In truth, no Israelis died, and one Palestinian gunman was killed.... " People who believe that they will be able to ravish virgins in 'paradise' right after they've blown their own bodies into pieces can be fed any old story. |
| Posted by: Bryan 2004-10-06 6:54:41 AM |
| #4 The ever growing wasteland that is Palestine is and has been created by Palestinians for Palestinians. If they think this hell can't get any worse wait until all the settlements are gone and they attack Israel. It's will get much worse before it ever gets better. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-10-06 3:23:07 AM |
| #3 4 years of Intifada and terrorism have brought extreme suffering, death and destruction to the Palestinians. What else do they have to show? They've done no deep lasting damage to Israel, they've accomplished zero except making Israel united and making the idea of a wall popular and inevitable. It's kept Sharon popular and in power. Hmmm, what are the implications here? Does this mean terrorism doesn't work and drags your own side down into a greater misery, violence, depravity, corruption and oppression and leaves your people at the mercy of thugs? ...Naw, couldn't be. They must not be trying hard enough. More attacks on Zionist schools, busses, playgrounds and wedding ceremonies. Praise Allah, victory is near! We're gonna start whooping them Zionists any day now. In all seriousness, it's a shame that their supporters in Europe and the Muslim world only encourage these delusions and don't demand reform or a more rational and civilized approach toward trying to get and build their own country. But then again, that was never really anyone's real objective in any event. |
| Posted by: John in Tokyo 2004-10-06 2:45:52 AM |
| #2 in other news, drug addicts find "comfort" in heroin. It's self destructive - but it feels good. |
| Posted by: 2b 2004-10-06 12:44:29 AM |
| #1 Better a rumor of death than the real thing. Sad though, that their best "victories" are fiction. halliburton! halliburton! halliburton! (it didn't work for Edwards, either) |
| Posted by: Brutus 2004-10-06 12:41:08 AM |