Israel: Road Map or Bulldozer Map?

Tag : Machine Tool Body

To the outsider, reflected Al-Barghouthi, bulldozers are machinesused to dig; they are used in construction, for paving streets, todig quarries and to irrigate farms. They are a useful, harmlesstool.
In the Palestinian context, however, they take on a differentmeaning.
Bulldozers are a machine used to build Israeli settlements onPalestinian land. They are used to dig up fields and confiscatethem from Palestinian farmers. Palestinians have seen bulldozerstear up ancient olive trees; they have seen them tear down theirhomes. The bulldozer was the tool used by Israeli forces to killUnited States solidarity activist and student Rachel Corrie. Rachelwas killed by a D9 Caterpillar bulldozer in March of 2000. Themachine had been shipped to Israel by manufacturers in her owncountry.
For Palestinians, says Al-Barghouthi, bulldozers are tools of theoccupation. They are used for destruction and not for construction.
Take out the tools of this occupation, says Al-Barghouthi, and sotoo disappear the tools of destruction. This, he says, rings trueboth for the destruction of Palestinian lands, and for the loss ofIsraeli lives. "The occupation," he says, "isresponsible, so let them withdraw and take away theirbulldozers." With the machines and what they represent gone,he continues, "There will eventually be no more victims ofbulldozers whether they are foreign solidarity activists, Israelis,or Palestinians."
"All of the people harmed by these bulldozers, be their namesCorrie, Cohen or Kamal," says Al-Barghouthi, "arehumans" who deserve not to be undone by tools meant to advancehumanity.
There are people on both sides who understand that all life hasvalue. This is evidenced by the treatment of the body of22-year-old Ghassan Abu Teir, the driver of the bulldozer in theJuly 22 attack. A group of mostly orthodox Jews who volunteer forthe ZAKA (Zihuy Korbanot Ason, translated as "Disaster VictimIdentification") collected Abu Tier's body, and any parts ofthe man's body that were detached from him during the incident. Inboth Orthodox Judaism and Islam, having a complete body to bury isimportant. The ZAKA is thus seen as a service to families of Jewskilled in such accidents, as well as Palestinians.
While many people would see four Rabbi's carrying the body of AbuTeir as inhuman, says Al-Barghouthi, it is actually a service ofrespect for human life.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas seems to agree, and condemnedthe killing of civilians anywhere and under any circumstances afternews of the second bulldozer attack. Such respectful actions seemto be forgotten these days, as plans for a respectful peace arequickly abandoned in favor of the "bulldozer plan."
All sides seem to have left the idea of the Road Map, and aretaking the physical tools of occupation and turning them intoweapons. Al-Barghouthi calls this the "bulldozer plan."He recalled the recent story of Israeli settlers launching homemadeprojectiles at towns in northern Nablus. This action mirrored theuse of homemade projectiles launched out of Gaza, sometimes madeout of the broken sewer pipes that spill sewage onto city streets.
These actions are symbolic, thinks Al-Barghouthi, taking thosethings around you that represent occupation and using them againsta perceived enemy. "God only knows what the future tools ofthe Palestinian-Israeli conflict will be," says Al-Barghouthi,"will people use hand blenders, toasters, or pressurecookers?" He wonders what will happen when people go farenough down this "bulldozer plan" path. "What willIsraeli security do then?" he asks, and what will people saywhen they ask what happened to the Road Map plan?