Lieberman’s divisionary tactics in the occupied West Bank

Punishing “Palestinians who support terrorism” is high on Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s agenda. A new proposal, scant details of which were reported in the Times of Israel, seeks to target Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank which have a record of support for Palestinian resistance while seeking to diminish such support by offering alleged economic benefits “in the Palestinian cities that have not been the hometown of terrorists.”

According to Lieberman’s plan, the Israeli army’s presence will increase in Palestinian villages known for active resistance. The justification was worded thus: “No one wants a Molotov cocktail thrown at them in the middle of the night and no one wants [soldiers] coming into their house in the middle of the night for searches and arrests.” The imposed separation between purported Palestinian action and Israeli alleged defence has obliterated remembrance of the Dawabsheh family, victims of an arson attack committed by Israeli settlers which resulted in the murder of three members of one family and left little Ahmed Dawabsheh with permanent scars.

Such belligerence would complement the current practice of withholding the bodies of murdered Palestinians for alleged security concerns – a decision which Lieberman upholds despite opposition from Shin Bet which has determined, according to the Times of Israel, that “there are no security conditions that justify the total prevention of returning bodies.”

Benefits for Palestinian villages not actively involved in resistance include construction of an industrial park near Nablus, an economic corridor between Jericho and Jordan, creating an Israeli news site in Arabic for the West Bank and Gaza, as well as upholding former defence minister Moshe Ya’alon’s proposal to improve checkpoints between the West Bank and Israel. Ultimately and clearly stated by Lieberman, the aim is to subjugate Mahmoud Abbas even further when it comes to communication with the PA: “We can hold a dialogue [with other Palestinian leaders in the West Bank] bypassing Abu Mazen as he is a barrier and unhelpful.”

Fragmentation of Palestinians is the ultimate aim. In Lieberman’s proposal and Abbas’ antics there is a strand of coherent manipulation. Lieberman is able to designate Palestinian villages as “terrorist” in part due to Abbas’ often-expressed derision and fear of Palestinian resistance. In doing so, Abbas has enabled Israel to fragment Palestinian narratives in concrete terms which stipulate and implement discriminatory and exclusionary policies for both villages engaged in resistance and others deemed as “safe”.

Departing from this premise, it is the Palestinian villages which are deemed as not supporting Palestinian resistance that are at risk of severe manipulation by Israel and the PA. The purported benefits are a blatant, enforced compromise which will ultimately increase surveillance of Palestinians under the pretext of facilitating security. At a time when demolitions and colonial expansion are on the rise, Israel is seeking to exploit the different expressions of resistance and living circumstances of Palestinians to promote one echelon over another.  With Abbas increasingly and willingly side-lined, even rhetorical contention is becoming obsolete.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.