This novel looks into war-torn Israel, which highlights an Arab doctor who possesses dual citizenship and looks for healing even as he is amidst the pain of random suicide bombers with warring parties still at each other’s throats. Dr. Amin Jaafari works well in order to lessen the suffering of others, where they return home to a life of contentment with his wife, Sihem. Beginning with a rocket attack, the street was full of the wounded as well as the dying. The scene changes into the hospital in Tel Aviv, where Dr. Jaafari and his coworkers try to save the lives of the victims of the suicide bomber. Then, his wife Sihem is not home when Jaafari returns, prompting him to think that she may have stayed with her grandmother. Yet, there is more to what he sees outright. The day after, someone informed him that his wife could have been the suicide bomber. He is asked to identify her remains. At this point, he realizes that his wife may have been the bomber, and he cannot accept this fact. The reign of the absurd has caused violence, and the setting of the story adds tremor and drama to it. Jaafari is lost in a country where there is violence and abject conditions, and he is at a loss as to how to behave.
The setting lends drama to each of the scenes that are important in the story. The risks of sudden and unconventional means of attack from the enemy are also manifest in such sort of war. Vietnam countryside, which was the arena of conflict, was plagued with different sorts of booby traps that claimed the lives of several American soldiers. Despite the difference in terrain, Iraq, too, is littered with traps of such nature, such as roadside bombs aimed at U.S. military vehicles. More fearful is the sort of dedication of the enemy to resort suicide bombers to wound the U.S. ground forces in Iraq.
Yasmina Khadra happens to be a pseudonym for Mohamed. The setting in The Attack is not so delineated in the novel. The narrator is able to maintain his objectivity even if he is in the midst of the raging Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Being a Palestinian with Israeli citizenship, Dr. Amin Jaafari is a successful surgeon who receives a lot of awards for his great contribution in the field where he excels. Amin considers the chaos as senseless and meaningless because he does not believe in violence and bloodshed. First and foremost, he is a healer since he has pursued being a doctor. He does not support the war, and he is also able to choose whatever side he so chooses. For some people, Amin is a traitor, and even his neighbors feel the same. He does not like his surroundings and sometimes refuses to recognize his own existence. He is determined to understand how his wife could keep things from him. In a certain way, the setting parallels the empty life of Khadra as well as the emptiness and meaninglessness of people living at this time. War is seen as devastating all lives and properties, and it is not too strange that Khadra ends up shedding light on both sides. Khadra has strong and vehement views about violence, citing through his main character.
One is brought back to September 11, 2001, stunned the world and revealed in bloody horror that globalization is a two-edged sword. Millions in the world are convinced that terrorism, like trade, extends beyond national borders. Al Qaeda is a sad by-product of the growing globalization, which means that Al Qaeda needs to be updated with the latest in technologies in order to succeed and sustain their terrorist activities. The issue on this has since been reshaping our thinking about why the US is in Iraq. To start off, the world today is seeking answers to questions about terrorism and its ethical standards. One end of the issue claims that there need not be any justification for actions when it comes to terrorism. Others raise the question of the legitimacy of revolutionary terrorist violence. Some revolutionary movements, such as the “Palestine Liberation Organization and the African National Congress have given official diplomatic status and have accepted in principle, an obligation to act within international law.”
It is a fact that any group that is seen to advocate the support for an organization that is in the U.S. jurisdiction, or across a state line, or even another country can be considered by the U.S. Government to be transcending boundaries. Also, any environmental group can be charged with the support of any terrorist activity if any of its members are seen to intimidate or coerce a civilian population (U.S. Anti-Terrorist Act. Free Speech and Assembly Act).
The setting of the novel elicits pain and truth, yet the values of the people characterized in it give beauty to work. The author is objective in its recount of war, and this is one of its strong points. It reveals what happens in each scene, and readers see how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict becomes a war that is full of each party’s own set of biases. It usually leans on one side and does not involve the views of the other party concerned. One cannot fathom the agony that Amin experiences as he learns of the secret life that his wife led. This is a unique story but one that could happen.
Terrorism is an extreme and radical way of influencing policies of any government to achieve a democratic or totalitarian objective by perpetrators. The world today is seeking answers to questions about terrorism and its ethical standards if any. One end of the issue claims that there need not be any justification for actions when it comes to terrorism. Others raise the question of the legitimacy of revolutionary terrorist violence. Some revolutionary movements, such as the “Palestine Liberation Organization and the African National Congress have given official diplomatic status and have accepted in principle, an obligation to act within international law” (Goertzel, Ted. 1988). One must also remember that all prisoners of war are presumed to be lawful combatants, and to prove it otherwise is under the burden of the captors.
The main purpose of extremist terrorism is to collapse all societies or regimes that are not aligned with the principles of Islam. The objective is not to kill or to destroy lives, for this will merely weaken a government’s stronghold of its people by destroying its image as an infallible pillar of a nation. Anti-terrorists must always be vigilant. It is incredible to think that it took three years of planning and organizing before 9/11 was executed, and during that time span, terrorists freely roamed American soil. It is wise to crack terrorism at its earliest stage: the reconnaissance and the planning phase. Based on the manual, the members or ‘soldiers’ penetrate an area using counterfeit documents; they must move along the crowd unnoticed by adapting to the environment and culture of the place and, most of all, by appearing as respectable, ordinary citizens. Their bases may be in the city or in the mountain or harsh terrains (hide-outs), where the utmost importance is devoted to secrecy and safety. A basic step-by-step plan is outlined on how to gather information about a subject, whether it is an important personality to be assassinated or an economically important building to be detonated. The principles of espionage and security intelligence were laid out. The manual also states ways to disguise important messages and how to mislead the enemy. In fact, practically all the must-do for a terrorist has been included within the text.
The nation is always swept with investigations and questionings after war and bombings. The novel relates well with the present times when suicide bombers abound and are willing to die for their principles. The setting of the novel is best depicted to give importance to its relevance today. It happens in Tel Aviv with a rocket attack, and the trouble is to create is far-reaching, The street is full of people who have been killed and injured. Thus, the scene is perfect as it focuses on the life of Dr. Amin Jaafari, who is the complete contrast of the setting as he heals those who are hurt and wounded. The novel indeed is a showcase of what happens when there is war and chaos. Similar events are brought highlighted as one reads the novel. It is, therefore, a setting that those in the war-torn areas easily empathize with, and everything is without any direction. War does not bring any good to people, and this is highlighted in the novel. Only people like Dr. Jaafari make sense of the confusion that pervades the setting and the environment.
Works Cited
Goertzel, T. The Ethics of Terrorism and Revolution. Reprinted from Terrorism.
“The Attack: A Novel” Amal Awad, The Electronic Intifada, 2006.
U.S. Anti-Terrorist Act. Free Speech and Assembly Act. 2008. Web.