Bulldozing Peace
The East Jerusalemite construction worker’s rampage through Jerusalem this morning is hardly the first time bulldozers have been used as weapons in the region. One testimony of an Israeli military bulldozer driver shows how a bulldozer was used to create a “stadium” in Jenin refugee camp.
It is the first time a Palestinian-manned bulldozer has been used to attack Israelis. Normally, Israel used the bulldozers to destroy Palestinians homes, clear Palestinian agriculture and disperse crowds (see left). So frequent are such attacks that civilian committees against home demolitions have proliferated. Israel orders armored bulldozers from companies such as Caterpillar. The project he was working on, the Jerusalem light rail line, was itself dispossessing Palestinians and consolidating Israeli control over technically occupied land.
By killing three Israeli civilians, these acts of murder represent an ironic tragedy. While the shedding of no civilian blood is ever justified, how we talk about such acts is important. Rather than framing it as an isolated incident or as one more heedless Palestinian attack, we should really examine why construction equipment has become a tool of death and destruction in Israel-Palestine. For Palestinian, the bulldozer is a symbol of Israeli aggression. One assault with a bulldozer by a Palestinian does not change that. It only reminds us of the urgent need for a just peace.
