Palestinians are being denied the right to non-violent resistance
'If one thing offers a terrifying glimpse of where the experiment in human
despair that is Gaza under Israeli siege is leading, it is the news that a
Palestinian woman in her sixties -- a grandmother -- chose last week to strap on
a suicide belt and explode herself next to a group of Israeli soldiers invading
her refugee camp.
Despite the "Man bites dog" news value of the story, most of
the Israeli media played down the incident. Not surprisingly: it is difficult to
portray Fatma al-Najar as a crazed fanatic bent only the destruction of
Israel.
It is equally difficult not to pause and wonder at the reasons
for her suicide mission: according to her family, one of her grandsons was
killed by the Israeli army, another is in a wheelchair after his leg had to be
amputated, and her house had been demolished.'
