"Drop Your Knife": Suicide by Knife Attack

A failed love and several previous unsuccessful suicide attempts could have been the basis for a Hollywood film, but these issues are part of the life of a 29-year-old Palestinian girl. The story began last month during the early days of a new security crisis in Israel, when Palestinian youths attacked passing Israelis with knives at a gas station in the Israeli city of Afula in the north of the country. A video quickly circulated on social media, significantly fueling Palestinian anger; it showed a young woman holding a knife while armed Israeli police and security forces shouted at her to "drop your knife," which she refused to do. Soldiers stood around her with weapons, but even those armed were afraid she might attack them with the knife. The girl said, "You are terrorists," while holding the knife aloft; this standoff lasted several minutes until one of the soldiers shot her in the leg, bringing her down and kicking the knife away from her. The girl's family immediately appeared in the media, claiming that their daughter had no intention of stabbing anyone but rather wanted to commit suicide; the Israelis accused them of lying. The injured girl was taken under guard to an Israeli hospital for surgery and treatment, and after three weeks, she was brought to court on Wednesday, November 6. This girl is named Isra Abad Zaidane; she lived with her family in the city of Nazareth, a city where Jesus Christ spent part of his life and where Jews, Christian Arabs, and Muslims have lived relatively peacefully together for thousands of years. However, at the court session, Ms. Nurit Hadas, representing the Israeli prosecution, surprised those present, including the police forces, by stating that Isra Abad Zaidane should only be charged with illegal possession of a weapon and verbal violence, not with a terrorist act. The indictment from the Israeli prosecution states: "Isra wanted to end her life with an Israeli bullet." The prosecution requested her continued detention due to Isra's "tense spirit" to prevent her from "committing suicide" or endangering others' lives with "possible crazy actions." Israeli police commanders disagreed with this prosecution theory but stated they had to comply with the judiciary's opinion. The police commanders claimed she had terrorist intentions, but the prosecution's indictment noted that Isra was merely "acting like a terrorist." The Israeli prosecutor stated that his investigation revealed that this Palestinian girl had attempted suicide several times in the past, and a recent failed love had exacerbated her mental state, leading her to attempt suicide again, from which she survived. Isra's family also stated that their daughter knew that by holding a knife in her hand under these circumstances, she would be killed by Israeli forces, thus achieving her goal of death while also becoming a "hero" in the eyes of the Palestinian public, forever remembered as a "martyr." The Christian mayor of Nazareth, a family friend, attended the court session on Wednesday and stated that he had known Isra for years and had no doubt that she had no "terrorist" intentions. Isra remained silent throughout the court session. It is now unclear what Isra will do with her survival; will this event motivate her to continue living, or will she attempt to end her life in another way? There is no news or reaction from the man Isra was in love with. Isra's story is separate from several other young Palestinian girls who have deliberately engaged in attacks against Israelis during the recent security crisis, knowing they might be killed. Regardless of their motivations, these girls' lives will undoubtedly become subjects of documentaries or films. Isra's life is just one curtain of the tragic lives of Israelis and Palestinians in this land filled with suffering and bloodshed; a land where even suicide and its consequences are not like those in other lands.