Fifth Generation

Yesterday I saw the HBO documentary, “To Die in Jerusalem”. The documentary tells the story of the mother of a suicide bomber, Ayat, who kills Rachel Levy in a Jerusalem supermarket in 2002. This story made the cover of Newsweek as the killer Ayat and Rachel are almost the same age and look similar.

The movie follows Avigail Levy, an Israeli who lived for a time in the USA, who wants to meet the mother of Ayat to gain understanding. She wants to know if Ayat’s mother, Um Samir, really knew her daughter was going to blow herself up. If not, she wants to know if the mother really supported her daughter’s suicide.

The documentary shows the grief of Avigail in detail and shares pictures and memories of her daughter Rachel. Um Samir has moments of grief and emotion, but cannot get out of victim mode. She lives in a land that is under Palestinian authority, yet all she can think about is wanting her home in Jaffa and wanting Muslims to pray in Al- Aqsa mosque. Paintings and pictures of suicide murderers or “martyrs” are painted all over the walls near Ayat’s family. Even Ayat’s face is painted all over Bethlehem as a martyr.

I really got to understand the mothers of these girls. However, I would like to learn more about Rachel and Ayat. Rachel wanted to be famous in Israel. Ayat always wanted to be the best at everything she did. She always wanted to have the highest score in class and was engaged to be married. I wonder what Ayat thought of as she entered the supermarket ready to push the button to her death. Right before pushing the button a girl turns around, Jewish and unveiled, and who looks exactly like her.

Ayat lived in a death hate culture. She was oppressed in her land politically and socially. She had to do what was expected of her. She had to be wife, mother, and she had to hate Jews. Martyrs of those who killed themselves for the cause and took innocents with them were painted on the walls as heroes. Parents who held their babies in front of Israeli guns were also highly revered. Ayat witnessed a man holding a baby in front of the Israeli army shortly before she died. One of the last pictures of her is one of her holding up a gun. She wanted to be a martyr.

The “meeting” of Ayat’s mother and Rachel’s mother represents the conflict itself. There is the Israeli mother pleading for communication and understanding. The Palestinian mother is screaming nothing but hatred and victimhood. She never denounces the violence her daughter took part of. Why not, her daughter achieved the highest achievement in the Palestinian culture.

The documentary ended with no conclusion, just like the real Israeli conflict.