Posted by Damozel | The young man described below was speaking to reporters from The Independent with the encouragement of
Yehuda Shaul, "a founder of Shovrim Shtika, or Breaking the Silence....which will publish tomorrow the disturbing testimonies of 39 Israelis....who served in the army in Hebron between
2005 and 2007. " (The Independent)
The dark-haired 22-year-old in black T-shirt, blue jeans and red Crocs is understandably hesitant... We know his name and if we used it he would face a criminal investigation and a probable prison sentence.
The birds are singing as he describes in detail some of what he did and saw others do as an enlisted soldier in Hebron. And they are certainly criminal: the incidents in which Palestinian vehicles are stopped for no good reason, the windows smashed and the occupants beaten up for talking back – for saying, for example, they are on the way to hospital; the theft of tobacco from a Palestinian shopkeeper who is then beaten "to a pulp" when he complains; the throwing of stun grenades through the windows of mosques as people prayed. And worse. (The Independent)
'Breaking the Silence' was formed by a group of ex-soldiers who served in Hebron. "It receives funding from groups as diverse as the Jewish philanthropic Moriah Fund, the New Israel Fund, the British embassy in Tel Aviv and the EU." (The Independent)
As the article explains, "Hebron is the only Palestinian city whose centre is directly controlled
by the military, 24/7, to protect the notably hardline Jewish settlers
there." (The Independent) The young man being interviewed "says firmly" that he regretted his actions while posted there.
The 39 collected testimonies in "Breaking the Silence" cover "a range of experiences, from anger and powerlessness in the face of
often violent abuse of Arabs by hardline Jewish settlers, through petty
harassment by soldiers, to soldiers beating up Palestinian residents
without provocation, looting homes and shops, and opening fire on
unarmed demonstrators."(The Independent) According to its website, it "seeks – through the experiences of the soldiers themselves – as its
website puts it "to force Israeli society to address the reality which
it created" in the occupied territories.(The Independent)
In the introduction to its testimonies, it touches on the tragedy by which the very young are corrupted.
"The soldiers' determination to fulfil their mission yields tragic results: the proper-normative becomes despicable, the inconceivable becomes routine ... [The] testimonies are to illustrate the manner in which they are swept into the brutal reality reigning on the ground, a reality whereby the lives of many thousands of Palestinian families are at the questionable mercy of youths. Hebron turns a focused, flagrant lens at the reality to which Israel's young representatives are constantly sent."(The Independent)
The young soldier interviewed by The Independent alleged that abusing civilians---including actually shooting them---became something of a routine.
The was "many times" in groups that commandeered taxis, seated the driver in the back, and told him to direct them to places "where they hate the Jews" in order to "make a balagan" – Hebrew for "big mess".
Then there is the inter- clan Palestinian fight: "We were told to go over there and find out what was happening. Our [platoon] commander was a bit screwed in the head. So anyway, we would locate houses, and he'd tell us: 'OK, anyone you see armed with stones or whatever, I don't care what – shoot.' Everyone would think it's the clan fight..." Did the company commander know? "No one knew. Platoon's private initiative, these actions."
Did you hit them? "Sure, not just them. Anyone who came close ... Particularly legs and arms. Some people also sustained abdominal hits ... I think at some point they realised it was soldiers, but they were not sure. Because they could not believe soldiers would do this, you know."(The Independent)
Children, even very young children, were apparently not exempt from the use of violence to make a point. The soldier described a scene reminiscent of the film Platoon (a film about war crimes in Vietnam):
Or using a 10-year-old child to locate and punish a 15-year-old stone-thrower: "So we got hold of just some Palestinian kid nearby, we knew that he knew who it had been. Let's say we beat him a little, to put it mildly, until he told us. You know, the way it goes when your mind's already screwed up, and you have no more patience for Hebron and Arabs and Jews there.
"The kid was really scared, realising we were on to him. We had a commander with us who was a bit of a fanatic. We gave the boy over to this commander, and he really beat the shit out of him ... He showed him all kinds of holes in the ground along the way, asking him: 'Is it here you want to die? Or here?' The kid goes, 'No, no!'
"Anyway, the kid was stood up, and couldn't stay standing on his own two feet. He was already crying ... And the commander continues, 'Don't pretend' and kicks him some more. And then [name withheld], who always had a hard time with such things, went in, caught the squad commander and said, 'Don't touch him any more, that's it.' The commander goes, 'You've become a leftie, what?' And he answers, 'No, I just don't want to see such things.'
"We were right next to this, but did nothing. We were indifferent, you know. OK. Only after the fact you start thinking. Not right away. We were doing such things every day ... It had become a habit...
"And the parents saw it. The commander ordered [the mother], 'Don't get any closer.' He cocked his weapon, already had a bullet inside. She was frightened. He put his weapon literally inside the kid's mouth. 'Anyone gets close, I kill him. Don't bug me. I kill. I have no mercy.' So the father ... got hold of the mother and said, 'Calm down, let them be, so they'll leave him alone.'""(The Independent)
During interrogations, he alleges, some of the soldiers liked to have a little fun with those being questioned, much like certain American soldiers at Abu Ghraib:
As one said: "We did all kinds of experiments to see who could do the best split in Abu Snena. We would put [Palestinians] against the wall, make like we were checking them, and ask them to spread their legs. Spread, spread, spread, it was a game to see who could do it best. Or we would check who can hold his breath for longest.
"Choke them. One guy would come, make like he was checking them, and suddenly start yelling like they said something and choke them ... Block their airways; you have to press the adams apple. It's not pleasant. Look at the watch as you're doing it, until he passes out. The one who takes longest to faint wins."(The Independent)
There was also, he avers, a certain amount of theft:
"There's this car accessory shop there. Every time, soldiers would take a tape-disc player, other stuff. This guy, if you go ask him, will tell you plenty of things that soldiers did to him.
... They would raid his shop regularly. 'Listen, if you tell on us, we'll confiscate your whole store, we'll break everything.' You know, he was afraid to tell. He was already making deals, 'Listen guys, you're damaging me financially.' I personally never took a thing, but I'm telling you, people used to take speakers from him, whole sound systems."He'd go, 'Please, give me 500 shekels, I'm losing money here.' 'Listen, if you go on – we'll pick up your whole shop.' 'OK, OK, take it, but listen, don't take more than 10 systems a month.'..."'I'm already going bankrupt.' He was so miserable. Guys in our unit used to sell these things back home, make deals with people. People are so stupid." (The Independent)
So where is the Israeli military in all this? There's no question that such conduct violates its rules.
The military said that Israeli Defence Forces soldiers operate according to "a strict set of moral guidelines" and that their expected adherence to them only "increases wherever and whenever IDF soldiers come in contact with civilians". It added that "if evidence supporting the allegations is uncovered, steps are taken to hold those involved to the level of highest judicial severity". It also said: "The Military Advocate General has issued a number of indictments against soldiers due to allegations of criminal behaviour ... Soldiers found guilty were punished severely by the Military Court, in proportion to the committed offence." It had not by last night quantified such indictments. (The Independent)
I am not going to say anything about any of this because what can I say? And who am I to judge? I'm an American who opposes the use of torture, torture broadly defined. But I'm an American. The highest officials in my country didn't think a little waterboarding was amiss when applied under certain circumstances; and one way or another, Abu Ghraib happened in Iraq. Who am I to speak?
But I hope that those better placed --- the Israelis themselves, for example --- will say all that needs to be said when such tragic stories surface. Not just for the sake of those civilians who are at the mercy of these young people, but for the sake of the young people themselves. To quote the tagline from Platoon: "The first casualty of war is innocence."
Memeorandum has more here.
For more news from the Israeli and Palestinian front, see Jeb Koogler's column at The Moderate Voice.
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This story is so sad. It's eerily reminiscent of the Abu Ghraib story. I expect charges will be brought on these issues. The IDF is usually good about disciplining those who go over the line. The courts also rule against the IDF on matters like this fairly regularly. There's a saying that the only place an Arab can get a fair trial in the middle east is in an Israeli court.
Israel really needs to get out of these isolated settlements like the one in Hebron. There's a feeling by some in Israel that ANY withdrawal from settlements sends a message that the terrorist attacks work. This is mixed with a feeling by some that these settlements should be held on to until there is a serious peace negotiation, so that withdrawal can be seen as a concession in the process in stead of a preexisting condition. But the only people who really believe that these isolated settlements will always be there are the Jews who live there and the ultraorthodox faction which supports them. Kadima did withdraw from Gaza when they won the election, but they have still left a few settlements like this that really serve no constructive purpose.
(My "favorite" story about this - a couple years back when Israel withdrew from Gaza, some of the orthodox settlers living there were actually planning parties for a couple days after the announced final withdraw date. They were utterly convinced that a divine miracle would prevent them from being pulled from their homes, because surely such a thing could not occur. It's sort of impressive that someone in modern times could have such unshakable faith in an active God. But it also demonstrates that there are people in this conflict that are NEVER going to accept the things that need to happen to effect lasting peace.)
Unfortunately, the use of Palestinians Arabs to locate fighters has become fairly common practice. This is because the fighters tend to hide among civilians. It's a callous tactic, because the fighters know that either they will be safe, or the IDF will cause civillian casualties trying to root them out. Either way it's bad for the IDF.
For example, ambulances used to be able to pass through Israeli checkpoints quickly. Then terrorist cells started using ambulances to smuggle suicide bombers into Israel. Now ambulances are held up, which of course amplifies humanitarian concerns.
It's the same story with the border crossings into Gaza. Israel tightened them up because of the rocket attacks, leading to the breakdown on the Egyptian border. All the stories from the media at the time were about the lack of food/gas/supplies in Gaza, which is certainly a story that merited reporting. Gaza is achingly poor, after all. But the unreported story was that when that border crossing opened up, more rockets and weapons flooded through. For Hamas, it was win-win. Either the borders stay tight and they get lots of good press about suffering Palestinian Arabs, or the border restrictions relax and they can get more weapons in.
Posted by: Adam | April 20, 2008 at 01:10 PM