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The Repressed Memory of Palestinian Suicide Bombings

(New York Times) Matti Friedman - No single episode has shaped Israel's population and politics like the wave of suicide bombings perpetrated by Palestinians in the first years of the 21st century, and every election since has been held in its shadow. The attacks, which killed hundreds of Israeli civilians, ended hopes for a negotiated peace. Any sympathy that the Israeli majority had toward Palestinians evaporated. The Palestinian leadership pretend that none of it ever happened, and few of the foreign journalists covering the country right now were here at the time. Why are moderate Israelis afraid to pull out of the West Bank? Why is there a separation barrier? Why is the word "peace" pronounced with sarcasm? If you weren't in Israel then and can't access the national subconscious now, the answer will be elusive. I remember standing at a bus stop when I heard a suicide bomber blow himself up and murder 11 people one street over, at Cafe Moment. My mother passed through the Nahariya train station right before a suicide bomber struck there, and my sister was in a cafeteria at the Hebrew University campus when Palestinians blew up a different cafeteria. I've got many more memories like that, and so does the Israeli electorate. The writer is a former journalist for AP in Jerusalem (2006-11).
2019-09-13 00:00:00
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