If reactions to the death of Osama bin Laden run the gamut among Palestinians — and do they ever — one end of the spectrum is occupied by Issam Marbough, selling used cell phones from an overturned cardboard box on a sidewalk of downtown Ramallah. Five in the afternoon finds him oblivious to the news of the day and, even after hearing it, he is more inclined to discussion of his financial situation than talking about a man known for “injuring women and children.” He’s not broken up about it. “There’s no good to what he’s doing, so he’s useless,” Marbough says of bin Laden. “There’s no point to his existence.”
The other end of the spectrum turns out to be located conveniently just around the corner, where a man steps out of a mosque from afternoon prayers. “This is another vicious crime from America against the Islamic movement,” he says, giving his name as Abu Samir. “Whether he’s been killed or not, this does not end the struggle.” Asked to clarify what he means, the man declares, “One belief, one cause, one struggle. Against America.”
The daily reality of the Israeli occupation across more than four decades continues to inform a good deal of Palestinians’ feelings. “The United States and the world regard him as a terrorist,” says Victoria Khaseeb, shopping with her daughters on Ramallah’s main street. “And when you talk about people here they identify us as terrorists too. But we’re fighting for a cause, to end the Israeli occupation.”
Their discussion then grows convoluted. Bin Laden’s justification was always harder to fathom. By his own account, he attacked Americans because Saudi Arabia invited U.S. troops onto soil Muslims consider sacred. And the U.S. Invaded Iraq… “Why?” Khaseeb asks. “What’s the reason they are doing that?” Her daughter Haneen, 20, says it’s not really a matter of logic. Taking off her sunglasses, she says, “Let the Americans feel what we’re feeling.” Her little sister nods. Their mother picks it up. “We like anyone who is a freedom fighter and a leader, regardless if he is Pakistani, Saudi, whatever.”
Of Osama bin Laden, dead or alive, Khaseeb says, “We like him and respect him, because he aimed at targets and hit them. Innocent Americans that had nothing to do with this suffered. Let them suffer what we’re suffering.”
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