Israeli Troops Break the Silence: "Anyone is Your Enemy"
by KAREN MURPHY, Contributing Writer
When I was growing up, Israel was always the “good guy.” Remember that? It seems that we swallowed something unpleasant, though, or things have changed drastically since then in terms of the morals and ethics practiced by the Israeli army, because their “Operation Cast Lead” of last December and January, the fiery foray into Gaza that left possibly 1500 dead, two-thirds of them civilians, doesn’t sound at all like the good-guy Israel we were taught to believe in.
Now, I totally get the he-said/she-said aspect to this story, but the statements of 26 Israeli soldiers compiled by the activist group Breaking the Silence lend credence to charges by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and U.N. agencies that Israeli forces used excessive techniques and inflicted civilian death and destruction on an unjustifiable scale. Ouch.
Claims include:
•using human shields in the “Neighbor Procedure” (the forcing of civilians to open doors and search buildings so as not to endanger Israeli troops, which the Israeli Supreme Court banned in 2004)
•the copious use of white phosphorus munitions (white phosphorous can cause severe burns and toxic injuries if it touches a human body)
•the complete razing of Gaza’s streets
•orders to fire at anything suspect, and the mindset that “In urban warfare, anyone is your enemy. No innocents.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claims all such claims are false. Who are we to believe? That 26 soldiers would all lie in the same way? That seems hardly credible.
Stuart Whatley of The Huffington Post suggests this is a grievous disconnect between rules of engagement as laid down by IDF top brass and those practiced by the men in the trenches, but I’m going to go one step further: I can’t help but start to think “genocide” here when I read the reports by the soldiers in the Gaza raids.
How you can help:
•READ AND WATCH testimony by the Israeli soldiers who stepped forward.
•CONTACT your elected officials and urge them to rethink U.S. policy on Israel.
•DONATE to Amnesty International to help support their efforts toward human rights in Gaza.
•SUPPORT the Al-Awda Emergency West Bank and Gaza Relief Fund, dedicated to bringing a peaceful solution and supporting the people of the region.
Photo by coutouriere7, flickr
- Posted by Causecast
Related causes: Human Rights
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Interesting reads and links.
But you lose credibility by tossing around notions of 'genocide' so casually. If you read the translated reports, you'll find hearsay abundant throughout the the interviews. I didn't have to scroll twice to find the phrase "I heard it from someone who heard from someone else" in one of the murder/killing testimonies. (#19)
I have friends who serve in the Israeli military. When threat levels are raised (e.g., during a sustained operation into Palestinian Territories) and retaliation and fire is anticipated, different rules of engagement are in place. And across the board, due to intense international scrutiny and moral obligation, Israel takes extreme, almost bewildering, precautions to minimize casualties to civilians. The truth? It's a lot different on the ground that it appears to be when filtered through media.