On January 21, Israel security forces arrested Mohanned Abu-Awwad on suspicion of involvement in terrorist activity. This came as no small disappointment to many, as Abu-Awwad's father, Khaled, is one of the more prominent Palestinian peace activists.
The event sparked outrage among pro-P activists. Palestine Monitor declared that the "arrest of Mohannad suggests a calculated attempt by Israel’s security forces to destabilize Palestinian movements for peace." One diarist here suggested that the Abu-Awwad arrest showed that "the effort is to establish the futility of nonviolent resistance, that the Israeli authorities will respond with violence to any kind of resistance."
Unfortunately, we learn today that Mohanned Abu-Awwad actually was engaged in violence, and was not what he purported to be. To make matters worse, Abu-Awwad's ties to B'Tselem became an issue, as he was reported to be in possession of a B'Tselem camera.
According to Ha'aretz, "B'Tselem issued a statement and said that 'after a strenuous investigation of the Shin Bet allegations it seems the claim that one of the suspects used a B'Tselem camera is unfounded.'"
The son of prominent Palestinian peace activist confessed Thursday he participated in an attempted terror attack against Israel Defense Forces last month which was documented with a camera belonging to Human rights organization B'Tselem.
[...]
Mohanned was detained several hours after a failed attempt to detonate an explosive device near a gas tank at the entrance to the village.
Mohanned, who admitted he and the others were acting on behalf of a Fatah division, said that a second man who was arrested with him was documenting the attempted attack using a B'Tselem video camera, which was given to them in order to film human rights violations in the village.
(Ha'aretz)
The biggest disappointment here is what Abu-Awwad represented. His father Khaled, runs the Israeli-Palestinian Bereaved Families Forum. For the uninitiated, their mission is to bring together Israelis and Palestinians, united by the grief of loss, to work toward a peaceful resolution of the Israel/Palestinian conflict. From their website:
It is, as far as we know, a world precedent that bereaved families, victims from both sides, embark on a joint reconciliation mission while the conflict is still active.
Consisting of several hundreds of bereaved families, half Palestinian and half Israeli, The Families Forum has played a crucial role since its inception in 1995, in spearheading a reconciliation process between Israelis and Palestinians. The Forum members have all lost immediate family members due to the violence in the region.
As one diarist wrote about them in a piece on the detention of Mohanned Abu-Awwad, "all of these people are saints. To loose (sic) a loved one and find a way to cross that bridge to find peace and reconciliation out of so much shared sorrow is the height of selflessness and forgiveness."
So, what of this latest incident? Well, for one, the depiction of Mohanned Abu-Awwad as a "Ghandi" by some, and the IDF as dastardly for detaining him both seem to have been wrong. But in a larger sense, it underscores the feeling of helplessness from those who would resolve this conflict through negotiations and cooperation, rather than bombs and guns.
If the son of the head of arguably the most forgiving of the peace groups in Israel/Palestine opts for violence, then what kind of hope is there for those without such a forgiving influence in their lives?