The Death Cult of the ‘Palestinians’ When nothing is better than martyring yourself. by Larry Estavan
https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-death-cult-of-the-palestinians/
The self-immolation of Aaron Bushnell for the sake of Gaza brought to mind a friend who joined the International Solidarity Movement shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Steve had been returning home from San Jose State with the most astonishing supposedly college-educated facts about Israel that set my understanding of history and the world on its ear. But he invoked names like Noam Chomsky, whom my family had taught me to revere, so I just listened.
Eventually, my friend’s passion about “Palestine” led him to join the International Solidarity Movement. Steve used his connections in the international judo community as a pretext to enter Israel, after which the ISM smuggled him into Nablus, a city about 30 miles north of Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, the area today referred to as the West Bank.
Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian National Authority, the deadly rival to Hamas in Palestine, administers Nablus. But rivalries notwithstanding, both Hamas and Yasser Arafat’s groups try to persuade credulous college age kids to martyr themselves for Palestine.
While Steve served his month-long tour of duty in Nablus, I read about the ISM online, and I did not like what I found.
Lee Kaplan’s “StoptheISM” website was instrumental in helping me understand that the ISM was not a peace organization. “Palestine” was its sole focus. But even more concerning was the fact that the organization seemed to do nothing to insure the safety of its volunteers. An ISM volunteer, Tom Hundall, apparently jumped into a cross fire to rescue someone, and an IDF soldier shot Hundall in the head, killing him. The ISM should never have allowed an accident like that to happen, let alone happen repeatedly. Rachel Corrie’s Palestinian “friends” egged her on to play chicken with a monstrous D9 bulldozer that crushed her to death. The ISM was putting people in the crossfire with nothing more than a florescent vest and a halo.
I was very interested to hear of Steve’s experiences in Nablus when he returned home, and this is what he told me.
On his first full day in Nablus, the ISM staff led Steve and the other first-timers on foot through the town to their orientation meeting. This was an occasion for the boys of the town to come out and throw rocks at Steve and the others. It seemed to be a strange way to welcome people who had come a great distance, and at personal risk, to help them. Yet because the rocks kept hitting Steve in the same places on his body, he rationalized it as the boys just showing off their aim. However, I have since learned that throwing stones at Christians is a time-honored Muslim tradition. Recall the experience of Ruben Israel in Dearborn, for one recent example.
As Steve made his way through town, images of the Palestinian martyrs assaulted his senses. They were everywhere: on passing buses, in shop windows, on billboards, on TV, everywhere. He checked himself, wondering if he should get involved with this “machine,” as he called it. But, of course, he was already deeply committed and far from home, so he carried on.
The ISM conducted the orientation meeting at a local business, where there was a small, but prominently placed picture of Osama bin Laden. Steve said to me that “from bin Laden’s point of view, he probably has a point of view.”
Before he left for Nablus, I asked Steve what he thought he would be doing over there, and he said he would be helping people get water, or helping them through checkpoints, and so forth.
And he also told me some things about the ISM protocols. They were never to travel in groups smaller than two, which must include someone who had already completed at least one tour with the ISM previously, and always do things in consensus.
So one day he was out with his senior ISM volunteer, taking a break from do-gooding, and apparently exploring, when they walked up to a bluff and an IDF solider fired at them from below. They dropped back behind the bluff and talked about what to do next. The consensus was to surrender, and walk down to the road below with their hands raised. Whereupon they were quickly surrounded by IDF soldiers, who told them to scram because there were reports of a suicide bomber in the area.
On his last day before returning home, Steve sat by himself outside for a moment watching the farewell party, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. When he turned to look, he saw a man in a balaclava with a bandolier, and rifle slung across his chest, who withdrew his hand and stepped back into the shadows.
“I saw a real terrorist!,” Steve exclaimed.
I think Steve did see a terrorist, but it was more than just that one man. It was all around my friend. He saw it clearly the first time, but would not allow himself to believe it. This was an infernal machine, a death cult that beckoned you in.
The ISM almost got my friend killed. It succeeded in getting Rachel Corrie killed. And the Palestinians also succeeded in inspiring Aaron Bushnell to kill himself while screaming “Free Palestine,” as he burned himself to death because he thought there was a genocide in Gaza.
Someone setting himself on fire for the sake of a cause would repel any legitimate organization. But the Palestinians welcome Bushnell’s gesture, and swear to remember his name forever.
There are several indications that the “Palestinian” cause is illegitimate, such as the Palestinians’ refusal to even discuss Hamas’ role in the carnage. But the encouragement to martyr yourself for this cause is the dead giveaway that this is something to be avoided at all costs.
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