"Embodied Imperative" An Illustrated Essay on Martyrs and Martyrologies

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Embodied Imperative: An Illustrated Essay on Martyrs and Martyrologies

Friday, April 19

Presented by:

Anne Marie Oliver and Paul Steinberg

Anne Marie Oliver and Paul Steinberg are writers based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and since 1993, have been Visiting Scholars at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University. Of the six years they spent in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, they lived for half a year in Khan Yunis with a Palestinian refugee family. From 1990-93, they were researchers at the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and from 1991-94, their work on the intifada and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was supported by the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. Their work has appeared in Le Monde diplomatique, Partisan Review, Jusur, The Jerusalem Report, International Journal of Comparative Sociology, and Public Culture. They have lectured at institutions throughout the United States, including The University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, the University of Chicago, Columbia, Stanford, Harvard, UCLA, The Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine, and the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute.

In this handpainted poster hung in Palestine Mosque, Gaza City, Hamas claims ownership to two recent armed actions and reiterates its opposition to talks between the PLO and Israel in graphic terms. Palestine Mosque is, notably, one of the largest of the mosques controlled by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The mosque's imam, Sheikh Ahmad Bahar, is a frequent critic of the Palestinian Authority (PA). In November 1994, worshipers set out from the mosque in a demonstration which led to the death of twelve of them and the wounding of over a hundred more at the hands of the PA police--an incident which is now commonly referred to as "the Gaza Massacre."

Moving from right to left, the first of the poster's three panels features a tree, which terminates in a clenched fist. An axe has been driven into the tree's trunk. Its roots feed off a pool of blood. The fist is closed around a dagger, dripping blood. The index or "trigger finger" of the fist is raised heavenwards, forming the one-way sign of the Islamic Movement. Surrounding the tree on three sides are the basmala--"In the Name of God the Merciful the Compassionate," the invocation used by pious Muslims before initiating any act; the identifying marker, "The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas",; and "Islam is the solution," the major rallying slogan of Hamas and it's parent organization, the Muslim Brotherhood.

The second panel begins with the basmala, followed by a headline written in bold red script: "Three cowardly Jews killed and numbers wounded in lightning bolt operations in Tulkaram and Ramallah. One of our Lions martyred, another wounded, three escaped." Following a third basmala is verse fourteen of chapter nine of the Qur'an ("Repentance"): "'Fight them so that God may put them to shame at your hands and bring you victory over them and heal the hearts of the believers.'" The verse refers to Muhammad's nullification of a treaty made by the first Muslims with a party of unbelievers who later violated the contract's terms. In light of Hamas' counsel that the current treaty with Israel is illegal according to Islamic law and, accordingly, jihad must continue, the meaning of the allusion will be missed by no one.

The list of greetings which follow are meant to contrast the differences between Hamas and the PLO, Hamas' major rival in the West Bank and Gaza Strip: "O upright masses of our people . .O mujahid heroes. . O patient free men. . O honorable men arrayed for war. .O distinguished men in a time of slavery. . O proud men in a time of kneeling and begging. .O descendants of al-Banna and al-Qassam. .O valiant leaders of glory and pride." O descendants of al-Banna and al-Qassam" places Palestinians as the inheritors of Hassan al-Banna, the Egyptian founder of the Muslim Brothers, and 'Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, a Syrian leader of the '36 Revolt in Palestine. Al-Banna and al-Qassam are chief symbols of Hamas and the most valuable assets in its long catalogue of martyrs. "O distinguished men in a time of slavery, O proud men in a time of kneeling and begging" is meant as a rebuke against the PLO, which is commonly accused by its Islamist rival of having forsaken the goal of reclaiming Palestine by arms and betrayed the Palestinian cause by recognizing the state of Israel. The rest of the text continues the rebuke, contrasting Hamas' continued dedication to the injunction of jihad with the shameful "surrender" of the PLO:

This is the road. .and this is the banner

Ant this is the language which the enemies of God and mankind understand.

The language of bullets and bombs. . No to the shameful language of destructive negotiations!!

Indeed, O free men, you have heard the voice of the bullets. .
Indeed, O honorable men, you have heard the whistle of bullets in Jerusalem and Tulkaram. . The operations were like thunderbolts and made laughingstocks of the Jews. . They set terror in their hearts and made them anxious and made them fear the Youth of Truth an the Lions of the Battalions. . These are the mend who have taken upon themselves the vow to hunt the enemies of God, May He be Glorified and Elevated, until victory is granted by God or martyrdom in His path.

O upright men. . These are the talks which we present to you so that you might shout at the top of your lungs. . No to the negotiations of surrender!. . No to paltry autonomy. .No to destructive and rotten positions. No to begging and slavery. Yes, a thousand times, yes, to the whistle of bullets. . Yes, a thousand times yes, to resistance until the alien occupation is expelled. . Yes, a thousand times yes, to the Battalions of Might, Eternity, and Pride. .

Written in large red letters across both panels of text is the slogan, "This is the language which the Jews understand!!"

Although Palestine is often referred to as a mother, she is almost never depicted, as here, as a seductive woman. The drawing was done in honor of International Woman's Day, by an artist from Beit Sahour, who referred to it as a "Mother's Day Card." The formula on the left is a play on the traditional 'Eid al-adha greeting. The woman's body is formed out of a map of historical Palestine. Her veins are roots. Drawn within a fist giving the thumb's down sign, as in "Let her die," is a globe of the world. Beneath are four knives dripping with blood which correspond to the four rivers of blood flowing from the woman's wounded neck. The knives symbolize the Western world, in particular, the U.S., Britain, France, and Germany. The three khanjars depicted to the right represent Arab countries, particularly, the treacherous triumvirate of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt. A map of North Africa and the Middle East can be seen further to the right. According to the artist, it forms a rat or a dog. He has added a tail to enhance the resemblance.

At times, a shabb will abandon the anonymity of the mask. This often occurs after the IDF has become aware of his identify, but sometimes it takes place at the youth's own initiative. In the latter case, the decision signifies a challenge to the Israeli army and an irreversible commitment to death on the part of the youth. Therewith, both the practical modes of his existence and his status as a symbol change radically. "Hunted" (mutarad) by IDF undercover squads who often dress as Palestinians in order to trap their quarry, just as "the hunted" often dress as Israelis when "hunting," the youth no longer lives at home but rather, according to popular West Bank Legend, in one of the many limestone caves which dot the countryside.
Video-footage of the youth is collected to be released after his death as a testimony to his commitment to and preparation or death and as a recruitment device for those who would follow in his footsteps. Graffiti such as "The hunted are the most noble offspring of the intifada" are spraypainted on the walls in his honor, and his image appears on cards to be given to friends, relatives, and fellow activists, or sold on the street to admirers as memorials and souvenirs.
The move towards immortalization of the you the even before his death can be seen in the following "hero card" for Mahmud az-Zaraini, former West Bank commander of the Black Panther of Fatah. Like Abu-Surur before his death, Zaraini is a "living martyr" or a "martyr with a stay of execution," as is made clear in the "certificate for self-sacrifice" which he has earned:

Name: Martyr with stay of execution

Date of birth: I am as old as the revolution

Occupation: Self-sacrificer

Summary of above: Certified for self-sacrifice for the homeland

To the right of the i.d., Mahmud, drawn in a keffiyah, design, tears through and simultaneously, initializes a bleeding wound in the heart of a map of All Palestine. Here as throughout intifada media, the name of the hero, regardless of how commonplace, functions as a solecism capable of temporarily staving off the impersonality of death . . . and language. The talismanic power it acquires is a glimpse of immortality, a small compensation for a life unlived.

At the top of the card is inscribed the accolade, "The martyr of Arabitude and the homeland, Mahmud." It is followed by a poem popular long before the advent of the intifada. Advocating patience as a means of resistance, the poem, say former prisoners, was often written on the walls of their cells:

I will be patience until Patience is worn out from my patience

And I will be patience until God decrees my condition

And I will be patient until Patience knows

That I will bear stoutly that which is more bitter than Patience

To the left of the poem is a photograph of Zaraini, dressed in military garb, holding an M-16 assault rifle. Behind him is a black panther, the totem of his group, which, upon his death, will be engraved upon his tombstone. He points to a cactus called a sabr--a word which means both "cactus" and "patience"--and, simultaneously, to himself, thereby presenting himself as the incarnation and verification of the cherished word. He is the latest demonstrative of the "I" of the poem.

The topic of this Hamas poster from Khan Yunis, the Gaza Strip, is the maintenance of female honor and its implications for Palestinian collective honor. Accompanied by a depiction of a masked ninja holding swords in both hands, the text is both an announcement and a warning against female "deviation":

In the Name of God the Merciful and Compassionate

Thanks be to God, Lord of the Worlds, Bringer of Victory to the Faithful, Destroyer of the Tyrants, and Blessings and Peace on the Lord of Messengers, our Prophet Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah, May the Blessings of God and Salvation Be Upon Him and Upon His Family and Companions, and Upon Those Who Carry the Banner of Jihad on the Path of God until the Day of Judgment.

The adorning and unveiling of women who go out in public dressed in all their finery is a grave deviation leading to the Abyss and a determining factor in the spread of prostitution and vice and blind imitation of the enemies of our great religion. We see that a minority of our women have strayed from the teachings of our religion. O people of the blessed intifada and colossal will, we are the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, and those and those [sic]
guarding over our reputation , our honor, and our purity. . .[The scribe has here missed a line.]

May the intifada of our heroic people continue until God grants us victory or martyrdom. And Allahu akbar and victory is ours, God willing.

The Islamic Resistance Movement

Hamas Palestine

The rhyming slogan at the top of this IRM poster reads: "Strike, strike by Molotov; after the stone the kalashnikov." The accompanying visual--a masked youth in the act of throwing a flaming Molotov at an Israeli patrol driving through a deep gorge below--shows the slogan for what it is �a command to be put into action. The artist has, notably, paid great attention to detail--from the watch on the shabb's left arm to a tiny mosque seen in the background of the drawing. The flamethrower is depicted against a backdrop of burning tires. Beneath his feet lie shards of a concrete block, pieces of which are raining down on the patrol below by unseen hands.

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