Reading Response: The Israel Palestine conflict

The Israel Palestine conflict remains one of the most complicated struggles in history. The conflict has seen an increase in animosity between the two sides of the divide. This has seen an increase in the number of citizens injured and killed. At the same time, uprisings have been common, especially in Palestine to fight against the state of Israel. The conflict has been depicted from different angles. Film has become of the most powerful tools documenting how events have unfolded over the years. One such films is Arna’s Children, a documentary by Juliano Mer-Khamis, which documents the about a woman named Arna Mer-Khamis (1929-1995) and her engagement with young Palestinians. Arna Mer-Khamis dedicated her life to campaigning for peace and justice as well as advocating for the rights of the Palestinian people. In her lifetime, Arna Mer-Khamis worked hard to establish educational and cultural centers where Palestinian children affected by the violence could recover. The documentary demonstrates the extent to which violence shapes the lives and experiences of young people in Palestine.
The documentary shows that suicide bombers are motivated by the need to revenge against the Israelis. Arna’s Children, Juliano learns about the death of Youssef and Nidal. The two were aged 22 and 23 respectively. They had become members of the Islamic Jihad. Youssef and Nidal drove their car to the center of Hadera. Here, they directed their M16 automatic rifles at civilians in the street. They ended up killing four Israeli women before Israeli forced nearby opened fire and killed him. In a videotaped message, the two are shown standing in front of a photo of a 10-year-old Palestinian girl who had been killed a week earlier by Israeli forces. The documentary enables the viewer to realize that Youssef had witnessed the killing of the girl. She was hiding in a classroom with her colleagues when Israeli talks shelled her school in Jenin. Given that it was Youssef who carried the little girl outside in his arms, he must have been angered by the event. Opening fire to Israelis was aimed to take revenge against Israelis for the killing of innocent Palestinians like the girl. Youssef and Nidal were aware they were going to die as a result of their actions bust still went ahead. To them, killing Israelis would be critical in revenging against the atrocities committed by the Israelis.
The actions of Youssef and Nidal show how young Palestinians are willing to become martyrs. Young Palestinians are aware that Islam forbids suicide. In this context, suicide is seen as a sign of weakness and the fear of facing life challenges (Allen 36). However, Islam views martyrdom operations from a different perspective. Those who engage in the activity are seen as brave than the rest of the population. This is because they are willing to move an extra mile to defend the rights of their fellow citizens...