Our Reign of Terror, by the Israeli Army

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Our reign of terror, by the Israeli army

In shocking testimonies that reveal abductions, beatings and torture, Israeli soldiers confess the horror they have visited on Hebron

By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem

Saturday, 19 April 2008

The dark-haired 22-year-old in black T-shirt, blue jeans and red Crocs is understandably hesitant as he sits at a picnic table in the incongruous setting of a beauty spot somewhere in Israel. 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 young man left the army only at the end of last year, and his decision to speak is part of a concerted effort to expose the moral price paid by young Israeli conscripts in what is probably the most problematic posting there is in the occupied territories. Not least because Hebron is the only Palestinian city whose centre is directly controlled by the military, 24/7, to protect the notably hardline Jewish settlers there. He says firmly that he now regrets what repeatedly took place during his tour of duty.

But his frequent, if nervous, grins and giggles occasionally show just a hint of the bravado he might have displayed if boasting of his exploits to his mates in a bar. Repeatedly he turns to the older former soldier who has persuaded him to speak to us, and says as if seeking reassurance: "You know how it is in Hebron."

The older ex-soldier is Yehuda Shaul, who does indeed "know how it is in Hebron", having served in the city in a combat unit at the peak of the intifada, and is a founder of Shovrim Shtika, or Breaking the Silence, which will publish tomorrow the disturbing testimonies of 39 Israelis – including this young man – who served in the army in Hebron between 2005 and 2007. They 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 maltreatment of civilians under occupation is common to many armies in the world – including Britain's, from Northern Ireland to Iraq.

But, paradoxically, few if any countries apart from Israel have an NGO like Breaking the Silence, which 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 Israeli public was given an unflattering glimpse of military life in Hebron this year when a young lieutenant in the Kfir Brigade called Yaakov Gigi was given a 15-month jail sentence for taking five soldiers with him to hijack a Palestinian taxi, conduct what the Israeli media called a "rampage" in which one of the soldiers shot and wounded a Palestinian civilian who just happened to be in the wrong place, and then tried to lie his way out of it.

In a confessional interview with the Israeli Channel Two investigative programme Uvda, Gigi, who had previously been in many ways a model soldier, talked of "losing the human condition" in Hebron. Asked what he meant, he replied: "To lose the human condition is to become an animal."

The Israeli military did not prosecute the soldier who had fired on the Palestinian, as opposed to Gigi. But the military insists "that the events that occurred within the Kfir Brigade are highly unusual".

But as the 22-year-old soldier, also in the Kfir Brigade, confirms in his testimony to Breaking the Silence, it seems that the event may not have been exceptional. Certainly, our interview tells us, he 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."

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 #### 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.'"

Not every soldier serving in Hebron becomes an "animal". Iftach Arbel, 23, from an upper-middle class, left-of-centre home in Herzylia, served in Hebron as a commander just before the withdrawal from Gaza, when he thinks the army wanted to show it could be tough with settlers, too. And many of the testimonies, including Mr Arbel's, describe how the settlers educate children as young as four to throw stones at Palestinians, attack their homes and even steal their possessions. To Mr Arbel, the Hebron settlers are "pure evil" and the only solution is "to remove the settlers".

He believes it would be possible even within these constraints to treat Palestinians better. He adds: "We did night activity. Choose a house at random, on the aerial photo, so as to practise combat routine and all, which is instructive for the soldiers, I mean, I'm all for it. But then at midnight you wake someone up and turn his whole house upside down with everyone sleeping on the mattresses and all."

But Mr Arbel says that most soldiers are some way between his own extreme and that of the most violent. From just two of his fellow testifiers, you can see what he means.

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."

And theft as well as violence. "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.

"A whole scroll-full ... 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.' Something like this.

"'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 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.

In its introduction to the testimonies, Breaking the Silence says: "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."

A force for justice

Breaking the Silence was formed four years ago by a group of ex-soldiers, most of whom had served in Israel Defence Forces combat units in Hebron. Many of the soldiers do reserve duty in the military each year. It has collected some 500 testimonies from former soldiers who served in the West Bank and Gaza. Its first public exposure was with an exhibition of photographs by soldiers serving in Hebron and the organisation also runs regular tours of Hebron for Israeli students and diplomats. 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.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/mi...rmy-811769.html

[Ban Hammer 13,133]

get the

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Ynet:

Testimonies from Hebron: Soldiers choke, beat Palestinians

Soldiers serving in Hebron testify to violent acts unleashed by troops, settlers on Palestinian residents. Four testimonies below

Hanan Greenberg

"Everyone there feels like they are doing something wrong. At least my friends felt they were doing something wrong." This was the opening sentence in a pamphlet over 100 pages long, which tells the stories of dozens of soldiers who have served in Hebron over the last few years.

Human Rights Issue

The pamphlet was published by an organization called Breaking the Silence, and includes horrifying descriptions about the behavior IDF soldiers have adopted towards the Palestinian residents of Hebron, and that of the settlers.

To read the pamphlet in full, click here:

http://www.shovrimshtika.org/testimonies_category_e.asp

Representatives of Breaking the Silence claim that their goal is "to encourage a public debate about the moral price paid by Israeli society as a whole due to the harsh reality faced by young soldiers forced to take control of a civilian population."

According to the organization, all testimonies were investigated fully before being printed and cross-referenced with witnesses' testimonies and archives of other human rights organizations.

One of the organization's activists said that the situation in Hebron has not changed much during recent years, and that Breaking the Silence has been hearing a lot about the "moral deterioration" of the system as a whole and the soldiers subjected to it. He added that Israeli society has a duty to listen to the soldiers and take responsibility for what is being done in its name.

Four testimonies

Metal wire causes loss of hand:

Soldier: "There was one really crazy soldier in my unit, and he loved torture. One time he caused a man to have his hand cut off."

Interviewer: "What happened?"

Soldier: "Just this Arab… The soldier stole a tobacco box from him. "Suddenly the Arab came and yelled, 'thieves, thieves, I saw you.' He got close to the soldier and we tried to keep him away… We didn't know about the stealing.

"The soldier started to beat him, and everyone started pushing… It became a situation where the Arab was being beaten up badly.

"Then the soldier took a metal wire. He was really screwed up. Grabbed the Arab and started to twist it around…"

Interviewer: "On his hand?"

Soldier: "Yeah, he really twisted it. I tell you, we tried to stop him. 'No, I won't let him go. He lifted a hand on me, he'll be punished.' Around and around… Afterwards we tried to get it off and we couldn't, it actually made a groove in his hand. It was blue. And the guy is yelling, 'I can't feel my hand anymore.'

"I said he would have to have his hand cut off. We even tried to dig with a knife, to get it off, but we couldn't… We told him to go to the hospital. Nothing to do, we couldn't cut the wire off."

Theft:

Soldier: "There was a lot of theft… Once we were at these rich people's house in Hebron. We found a ton of dollar bills in one of the drawers. Insane. The commander said to the two senior guys in the unit, 'Okay, we'll split the money.' They split it. Left a little there and told me, 'If you talk we'll come back and slaughter you.'"

Interviewer: "Was looting normal?"

Soldier: "A little looting was normal. Backgammon and cigarettes, everything… Everything that looked nice we took. Other guys took presents for their girlfriends from stores."

Beating:

Soldier: "We were on a patrol and we saw a guy in a cab that looked like he was hiding something. We stopped the car… There was just an incident of a soldier getting stabbed there or something.

"We found a knife… We asked the guy, 'Why the knife?' and he said, 'It's for my mother, to chop vegetables.' We said, 'what are you, an idiot? Are you kidding? Are you lying?' He really pissed us off. We grabbed him, hit him a little, in the ribs, not the face.

"Then the rest of the guys on patrol saw the beating. Everyone jumped on him… They beat him up, really beat him up… Hit him with sticks, in the head… And then one started choking him, with two hands. He was 17 or 18 and he started yelling, 'Mama, Baba.' He kept choking him, he was starting to get blue and lose consciousness.

"Suddenly the other guys saw what was happening and started pulling off the soldier. But he wouldn't let go. He wouldn't let go and he yelled, 'You're trying to kill us, you want to kill us, you want to stab me, eh? Son of a ######, you want to stab me.'

"He was crazy… We pulled him, his legs and stomach. And his whole body was in the air, and we were pulling and pulling… He went at him like a pit-bull. Finally we got him off."

Choking:

Soldier: "We did all kinds of experiments to see who could do the best split in Abu Sneina. We would put them 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."

Interviewer: "How do you check that?"

"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."

http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLa...3533441,00.html

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

The middle east

Jewish = .17%

Arab = 99.83%

Enough already. Let the Jews be. Tell the Palestinians to stop supporting Hamas and firing rockets at civilians and watch what happens.

The Israelis pull out of Gaza and the thanks is rocket fire? What an ungrateful bunch of savages terrorists are. Wake up.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

The middle east

Jewish = .17%

Arab = 99.83%

Enough already. Let the Jews be. Tell the Palestinians to stop supporting Hamas and firing rockets at civilians and watch what happens.

The Israelis pull out of Gaza and the thanks is rocket fire? What an ungrateful bunch of savages terrorists are. Wake up.

Um... please refer to a map. Hebron is not in Gaza. This article has nothing to do with Gaza. It is an article about Israeli soldiers speaking out about atrocities against Palestinians in Hebron.

[amiquechu 0]

get the

[Hanna&Mohamed 0]

I believe that completely. i saw things when i was there i would never forget. How the israeli soliders are to the

Palestinian .I know you have seen alot also going there wife of mahmoud. I went there in 1988 It was bad then now it is worst . I pray for the Palestinian people so much!!!!! This is terrible reading this but its so true.

Edited April 20, 2008 by mohamedandmelinda

[SaadBell 0]

Just as all the horrific wars in the past, such a human tragedy and waste of life, Shame on humanity.

• Greek Civil War, 1946-1949
• Malaysian Emergency, 1948-1960
• Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1948-Present
• Korean War, 1950-1953
• Cuban Revolution, 1953-1959
• Tibetan insurgency, 1954-1973
• Vietnam War, 1957-1975
• Guatemalan Civil War, 1960-1996
• Congo Crisis, 1960-1965
• Bay of Pigs Invasion, 1961
• Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
• Angolan Civil War, 1974-2002
• Ogaden War,1977-1978
• Afghan-Soviet War, 1979-1989
• Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979
• Iran-Iraq war, 1980-1988
• Invasion of Grenada, 1983

Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

I believe that completely. i saw things when i was there i would never forget. How the israeli soliders are to the

Palestinian .I know you have seen alot also going there wife of mahmoud. I went there in 1988 It was bad then now it is worst . I pray for the Palestinian people so much!!!!! This is terrible reading this but its so true.

Yes, I've seen some extremely disturbing things...

But I want to point out that these are *Israeli soldiers* who are speaking out -- and it's because they want the Israeli people to know the reality of what is being done in their name.

The reason the Israeli army is stationed in Hebron is *not* for defense -- it's in order to protect a gang of illegal, extremist Israeli squatters who continue to appropriate Palestinian property, and who conduct a vicious ongoing campaign to harass the residents.

The illegal settlers are one of the main instigating factors in the conflict (and they're not just in Hebron, but in hundreds of settlements all over the West Bank -- about 275,000 of them now, plus another 200,000 living in occupied East Jerusalem, which Israel claims it has "annexed.")

The soldiers know this, and they're sick of having to be part of it.

[SaadBell 0]

extremist Israeli squatters

I have seen this, they are pretty hard core, over some land, what a shame!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ggreen 12]

The middle east

Jewish = .17%

Arab = 99.83%

Enough already. Let the Jews be. Tell the Palestinians to stop supporting Hamas and firing rockets at civilians and watch what happens.

The Israelis pull out of Gaza and the thanks is rocket fire? What an ungrateful bunch of savages terrorists are. Wake up.

Um... please refer to a map. Hebron is not in Gaza. This article has nothing to do with Gaza. It is an article about Israeli soldiers speaking out about atrocities against Palestinians in Hebron.

...

hope if they go after terrorists and leave children alone...jews and palestinians civilians should live in peace together and extremists from both sides should stop their actions: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=95...8yyBA&hl=en

[SaadBell 0]

Enough already. Let the Jews be. Tell the Palestinians to stop supporting Hamas and firing rockets at civilians and watch what happens.

Killing and torture are always WRONG PERIOD.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Enough already. Let the Jews be. Tell the Palestinians to stop supporting Hamas and firing rockets at civilians and watch what happens.

Killing and torture are always WRONG PERIOD.

How do you feel about Hamas?

[sandinista! 1,816]

The middle east

Jewish = .17%

Arab = 99.83%

Enough already. Let the Jews be. Tell the Palestinians to stop supporting Hamas and firing rockets at civilians and watch what happens.

The Israelis pull out of Gaza and the thanks is rocket fire? What an ungrateful bunch of savages terrorists are. Wake up.

where are you going with this? because hamas has fired rockets then the events described by israeli soldiers in hebron are not condemnable? do you condone such behaviour by israeli soldiers and think it is justified? can you address the article wom posted without stinking up the place with the red herring of hamas?

[rclouse 0]

Pot: You're black!

Kettle: No, you're black!

Pot: No, you're black!

Kettle: No, you're black!

Pot: No, you're black!

Kettle: No, you're black!

Pot: No, you're black!

Kettle: No, you're black!

Pot: No, you're black!

Kettle: No, you're black!

Pot: No, you're black!

Kettle: No, you're black!

Pot: No, you're black!

Kettle: No, you're black!

Pot: No, you're black!

Kettle: No, you're black!

Pot: No, you're black!

Kettle: No, you're black!

Pot: No, you're black!

Kettle: No, you're black!

Pot: No, you're black!

Repeat for 60 years...