another day in samaria
Three thousand years of struggle.
In the seventh century B.C., Assyrian king Esarhaddon settled Babylonian captives in Samaria, the northern region of what is now blithely referred to as the "West Bank". His opportunity to populate the region was provided by an earlier king, Sargon, who depopulated the region in 721 BC. The Babylonian foreigners who made their home in Samaria eventually intermarried with the native Jewish population and incorporated some Jewish rituals into their own. Rejected as heretical, they eventually became known as the Samaritans. Over the following several centuries, the Samaritans engaged in a long period of enmity with the neighboring Jewish population and were eventually conquered by the Romans. During that period, a town was established on the site of the biblical city of Shechem named Flavia Neopolis. Arab invaders shortened the name in 636 to Nablus.
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was killed by Israeli missiles a week ago. Yassin, the co-founder of Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyyah (Hamas), advocated the use of terror - including suicide bombings - as a means to destroy the Israeli state and establish an Islamic theocracy in Palestine. In a revolting tribute to their departed comrade, Fatah - the terrorist sect founded by Yassir Arafat - wired 16 year old Hussam Abdo, a boy with "the intelligence of a 12 year old", with 18 pounds of explosives and sent him to a military checkpoint outside of Nablus in order to kill as many Israeli soldiers as he could manage. For his part, Abdo was given 100 New Israeli Shekels and a promise of 72 virgins in heaven.
Recognizing Adbo as a threat, Israeli Defense Forces stopped him at gunpoint and disabled the bomb. Since the start of the al-Aqsa intifada in September 2000, over fifty others under 18 have not been so fortunate. Twenty nine of them died in suicide attacks, twenty two others in "sacrificial attacks" - opening fire on Israelis until they were shot down. Whatever grievances the Palestinians may claim to have are utterly abrogated by the use of innocent children as human bombs. Such actions only serve to illustrate in the most grim fashion the true nihilism of the Islamic cause.
Samaria has been home to territorial wars for nearly three millennia. Many lasted until there was no population left to fight. The latest may be no different.
26.03.2004 © ljr