Haaretzcom weekend newsletter

Haaretzcom weekend newsletter - 10/4/2009 

"I love Palestine with a great love, I desire death for the sake of Palestine, the cries of Gaza are in my ears..."

By Yoav Stern
Haaretzcom weekend newsletter - 10/4/2009

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1077679.html

The best student in the 10th grade, from a well-to-do family in one of the recognized Bedouin communities, took a pistol (it's not clear from whom), and arrived (it's not clear how) at a Border Guard base about two kilometers from her home last Shabbat. When she got to the guard at the entrance, he asked what she was doing. She pulled out the pistol, he pushed her hand away. She fired four or five shots, hitting no one. She ran and hid in the bushes. They communicated in Arabic. She was killed by bullets shot at her by soldiers who rushed at her, because according to reports, she continued to fire.

On Sunday the police released excerpts from the notebooks of Basma Nabari, 16. One page showed a drawing of masked Hamas fighters armed with missiles, and an Arab woman wearing a sash holding a gun. On one page of her math notebook, Nabari wrote in literary Arabic: "In the name of the merciful Allah. My lord, today I will carry out an act of suicide. I want you to help me reach the place."

It's not clear if anyone read these lines. In one notebook, beneath a picture of the Palestinian flag, she wrote a poem: "I love Palestine with a great love, I desire death for the sake of Palestine, the cries of Gaza are in my ears." And also: "I long for martyrdom, I need martyrdom."

In her hometown of Hura, near Be'er Sheva, no one believes Nabari acted out of nationalist feelings or an affiliation with Hamas. Kaid Abu al-Kia'an, the chairman of the parents' association at the Yitzhak Rabin Amal School, rejected these possibilities. He believes it's only a matter of time until the truth comes out.

"If Allah loves Hura, the truth will come out soon. They can say what they will, but it's impossible. She was a good, smart girl who didn't talk about politics. She was a top student - not only in the Nabari family but in the entire school. Rumor has it that she went to complain against someone and was shot," he said.

Who would be the subject of this complaint? Nobody knows. Was she beaten? Harassed? Had she been accused of "violating the family honor"? Did her parents want to marry her off to an unwanted groom and this was her way of escaping?

Her parents were rigorously interrogated over the past few days, but the police did not release any details of their account. The above questions are based on theories and rumors among the community residents. A nationalist attack is considered to be out of the question by a 16-year-old girl, not in this community, not in the Negev.

A Hura businessman, who preferred not to be named, said that if Basma Nabari fired a pistol, it means that someone gave it to her and taught her how to use it. "Do you want to tell me we have a terror squad here? There's no such thing. If there's a terror squad Hura, then we're facing eradication," asserted the man, who served in the Israel Defense Forces and speaks fluent Hebrew. His livelihood depends on preserving calm in his town.

Hura was established more than 20 years ago as one of several permanent communities for Bedouin residents of the Negev. Some of the families lived here even before the town was recognized officially and built. Other families moved here. Long roads separate the neighborhoods. Members of different tribes or families usually don't mix.

In spite of that, Hura is relatively well established: It has sidewalks and roads, which are a rare sight for a Bedouin town. It has an industrial zone, and the businessmen pay property taxes. The local council functions, the schools are good, there are programs for outstanding students. Admittedly, many of the homes still have goat pens or stables. Some people live in shanties, but there is also an unusual number of luxurious homes. Many residents are contractors or have other businesses, and work outside the community. There are few signs of distress. If this place is breeding terrorists, then this contradicts the prevailing theory that terror attacks stem from economic distress.

Perhaps the women knew something about Nabari's troubles? They are almost totally absent from the Bedouin public sphere. Bedouin feminist activists declined to discuss the matter, even though they usually are ready and willing to describe the difficulties borne by Bedouin women. One says she has no colleagues from Hura; another does, but declines to share phone numbers.

It is also very difficult to reach Basma's family. Her parents and uncle are under arrest, and members of the extended family declined to be interviewed.

One family member is the local council head, a member of the Islamic Movement (the southern branch). He is currently abroad. As is the person considered to be the family's "information minister." When asked the whereabouts of the deputy council head, a council employee responded: "He doesn't come here much any more." Another said with a knowing smile: "You know how we Arabs are. At odds, quarreling."

Hura has experienced serious internal conflicts for the past six months. Last November four young men, including some of Basma Nabari's classmates, left the school grounds for a nearby kiosk. Words were exchanged. The kiosk owner, a member of the Nabari family, was stabbed to death. The men were caught and two of them, members of the Abu al-Kia'an family, will stand trial for the killing, even though they are minors.

A violent cloud hovers over the town. Nabari family members are expected to avenge the death. Since that incident, the deputy council head, a member of the Abu al-Kian family, doesn't go to his office, because the local council building is near the Nabaris' neighborhood. The secretary general of the community center avoids his office for the same reason.

All the Abu al-Kia'an children left the Rabin Amal School, essentially splitting its student population: Nabari's classmates formed a class in the old community school, which was built in the 1960s on one of the hills, and was recently condemned.

The fear of revenge is clearly evident. The residents of the Bedouin "diaspora" no longer come to eat in the area because they are afraid; some local families also avoid buildings or businesses belonging to either of the families. Meanwhile, the two families don't do any business with each another. Kaid Abu al-Kia'an's cafe, which has almost 20 billiard tables, used to be bustling. Now there are no lines of people waiting to play. Instead, there is palpable tension.

Crossing the line

This was Basma Nabari's world. She observed the Gaza campaign as a young woman who identifies with the people on the other side of the border. She was overcome with anger. Many others probably felt as she did, but she is the only one who crossed the line, after a surprising three-month delay.

In the large mosque in the Nabaris' neighborhood, a printed sign reads, "Please turn off your telephone. Here you can call Allah." This is the first permanent mosque in Hura, and all the residents contributed money to build it. The electricity poles on the main road bear signs posted by the local council: "Mention Allah's name," "Hura is your village, take care of it," and on the last pole, which Nabari saw when she left the village on Shabbat: "Remember to recite the traveler's prayer."

But even senior members of the Islamic Movement, whose southern branch reigns in Hura, deny claims of nationalist activity there. Sheikh Habbes al-Attawna, the head of the Islamic movement in the town, was surprised by what happened with Nabari. He is an assistant school principal and he worked with the students during the war in Gaza. He says the images from Gaza must not lead to such deeds in the community.

"In spite of the major events, in spite of everything we saw on the satellite channels, the teachers in all the schools spoke to the pupils about what was happening. The students expressed their feelings, but there are many ways of expressing feelings. After all, we condemn killing, of Arabs and of Jews," he said in a phone conversation, because he too prefers not to meet in person.

Relative to their proportion within the population, Israeli Arabs have perpetrated very few attacks in the past several years. Mohammed Habishi, a resident of Abu Snan, carried out a suicide attack in Nahariya in 2001, in which three people were killed. An organization called the Galilee Freedom Brigades killed soldier Oleg Shaichat in 2003, and carried out a shooting attack at the Beit Rimon junction in the Galilee the following year. Ahmed Khatib of Kafr Manda seized the weapon of a security guard in the summer of 2007 and was shot dead.

Arab citizens have also assisted attacks. Last year several groups were caught after they made contact with Global Jihad members or Hezbollah and passed on information about targets in Israel, or tried to collect data about the helicopter U.S. president George W. Bush used when he visited.

Security officials note that there has been a significant decline in the number of Israeli Arabs involved in terror in recent years. But there has been a new phenomenon in the past year: attacks by individuals. These cases usually involve personal distress - such as drug addiction, crime, family pressure - and nationalist leanings. That is the explanation given for the bulldozer attacks in Jerusalem, as well as others. But was it these sorts of factors that motivated Basma Nabari?

ends

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