Middle East Trials and Errors

Monday, Jan. 11, 1988 By WILLIAM R. DOERNER
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Beyond images, there was the much more substantial question of whether Israel truly understands the root causes of the riots. Rabin insisted the protests were the work of a few organized provocateurs, a view that may be shared by most Israelis. "There were instigators forcing kids to demonstrate, forcing people to close their shops," he said. "This unrest was organized by a few at the local level."

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But to most Palestinians and some Israelis, such contentions represent a profound misreading. In their view, the riots were widely supported and spurred by a generation of Palestinian youth that has grown up under the occupation. These disaffected Palestinians are contemptuous of both the Israelis, who show no signs of ending their rule, and the P.L.O. leaders, who have been ineffectual in challenging it. "We have reached the point where we have nothing to lose," says Gaza Attorney Al Qudra. "It is not important whether we live or die if we do not have our rights."

Calling themselves the shabab, an Arabic word loosely translated as the "guys," this embittered, sullen generation has taken to the streets of the occupied territories spoiling for trouble. "We are a pot full of steam, and pressure must explode," says Mahmoud Hamaid, 32, one of the shabab, whose 22-year-old brother Khalid was killed in the rioting. "You can't decide when this explosion will take place. It is always there."

Meron Benvenisti, a former deputy mayor of Jerusalem who heads the West Bank Data Base Project, an independent research organization, is no advocate of Palestinian independence. But he believes government officials are ignoring reality when they deny there is widespread support for the Palestinian cause. "They're still trying to define it as the work of a small group of agitators," he says. "They can't admit that it's broadly popular because they will not face that problem." A number of U.S. Jews, profoundly disturbed by the riots and how they were handled, agree. Said Hyman Bookbinder, a longtime leader of the American Jewish Committee: "Most of us do understand the frustrations of the Palestinians, and we are sympathetic. We feel a responsibility to the young Palestinians, most of whom have spent their entire lives in anger, bitterness and disappointment. We know the situation has been allowed to drag on for too long."

If Rabin is right, the military and judicial shows of force that brought an uneasy calm to the occupied territories last week will continue to keep the Palestinians in check. If Benvenisti and Bookbinder are right, the Israelis have only bought a little breathing space, and no amount of jail time and fines will keep the West Bank and the Gaza quiet for very long.

With reporting by Johanna McGeary/Jerusalem and Nancy Traver/Washington