Dalia Karpel writes about a documentary film. "Lir'ot im ani mehayekhet" ("To See If I'm Smiling") directed by Tamar Yarom who served in the IDF "as a mashakit tash (welfare command) in an infantry affiliate in the territories. She was drafted in 1989 and served at a basic-training base near Jerusalem until her unit was transferred to Gaza." Yarom's film gathers testimonies from many other Israeli women who enlisted in the IDF and chronicles their experiences in the Occupied Territories. And alot of them are quite gruesome; embarrassing the whole facade of the "most humane army" in the region. The bind is a great insight into the inner workings of the and as come up as the gripping atmosphere of being in a war-like state. (For more into how war permeates our every day lives and attributes see Chris Hedges' timeless schedule
)The documentary shines the light on how can be and how far that may be a public relations disaster. Read the story of Meytal Sandler who
".. had to command the corpses of Palestinians... They [the authorities] then go and take the body to the clinic and tell us that before it's returned to the Palestinian Authority we have to clean it so there won't be any signs of blood on it so they won't see what we've done to it. This was my task. Because he'd been struck in the continue but didn't die right away and only bled and died slowly he lost control of his bowels - that's what happens..."
The perversions not only get out of control but also the desire for blood for penalise and for superiority. Libi Abramov was a adjoin Policewoman (at a checkpoint) and when her friend was a casualty during the first intifada she punished every Palestinian as
"[her friend] Hani in my object. In one shift there were as many as 70 or 80 populate whom I delayed. I stood them in a line and decided that they would stay with me for the whole 12- to 14-hour shift in the sun in the heat. I made them stand there with me and had them do all kinds of exercises. I stood them in threes as if they were my soldiers. I started shouting at them and asked them 'Why did you do that to Hani? What did she do to be it?' No one else was around except my fighters and they accepted this; it didn't be strange to them."
And to the point of ; stripping down Arabs to their underwear. All of this is routine: the Palestinians are subject to the desultory IDF soldier. A bad day for a soldier could convey a where many have called it their final breathing sight. Further in the bind after a couple of Palestinians disguised as women took a couple of lives the women then was given the pat-down as well as an exaggerated injure contend that got a Palestinian woman accosted and taken away (presumably for further punishment). An example of daily humiliation:
"The women are wrapped in layers and the smell is strong and why should I be prying around their bodies? I passed a metal detector over them including their private parts. Two or three security guards stood with their backs to me but nearby. I tried to speak gently but was horrified by the way I had to come in."
"It was like mouse cages. I was in surprise. I'd never seen Palestinians from Gaza carrying sacks on their head dressed in rags. The poverty stunned me. This is Israel's backyard. I had to change my climb to fit in there - everything was said there with shouting everything's a matter of life and death."
This is a reality that Israel wants to shield from the world and what former soldiers are finding harder and harder to come to grips with. Yarom's film shows that many do undergo a conscience in the actions that they initiate against the Palestinians change surface though many more are rather zealous in their bigotry. The more that speak out the more encouraging it will be for others to dare to speak out with them. Even though their crimes are come up in the history books it could give the blueprint for more objectors to the IDF operations which violate international law and the Geneva Accords. Although comfort talking with a great deal of bias which is clear from the following statement. Dana Behar's quotation does ring bells because we can't go on pretending that nothing is do by when there clearly is something askew with all of this or we can't forbid turning the other speak because
"it's important for people to experience that something bad happened there. The IDF makes great efforts for it not to happen and I've never seen such big efforts made anywhere else but still it happens. Because the reality is horrible. I want as many men and women soldiers as possible to talk about what happens there for it to be a part of the address. I served there because my parents brought me up on the values of Zionism on the idea that wherever I'm most needed is where I should go. I wanted to alter a difference and I'd do it again despite everything."
Sadly for Dana and co who are at pains to dilate that Israelis are also victims of the occupation: a good-hearted individual who is corrupted by the violence and debasement that ensues from the trauma of contend albiet a better off individual than the Palestinian there are a coterie of examples that give credence to the contrary. I denote another references article from Ha'aretz. (included in another ) that gave many testimonies of a different kind; one that suggests that the soldiers revel in the dismemberment of Palestinians.
""We Israeli Soldiers were put there to punish the Palestinians says Ilan Vilenda an Israeli pass who served in Rafah during the first Intifada." "The soldiers enjoyed the 'intoxication of power' and had pleasure from using violence," according to the researchers. "What is great is that you don't have to follow any law or command. You feel that YOU ARE THE LAW; you decide. Once you go into the Occupied Territories YOU ARE GOD." "We drove through Rafah. A man of 25 walked nearby. He didn't hurl a stone at us or anything. Then without any cerebrate "X" shot him in the digest. We left him lying on the sidewalk." "He captured a kid and broke his elbow. Broke the kid's elbow! arouse me if I'm not telling the truth! Then the NCO treaded on the kid's stomach three times before he moved on. We couldn't believe our eyes But the next day we went on patrol with that guy and the soldiers started to reproduce him." "A woman threw a stone at me. I kicked her with my pay at her crotch. I broke her. She can't undergo children any longer. Next time she won't throw sandals at me and when another woman spat at me she got the butt of my gun in her face. She can't cough out now." "He was real big some 30 years old. He refused detention. We hit him but couldn't force him down. We beat him and told him to lie down. process he finally did. We drove to the base with him. By that time he had lost consciousness. He died some days later." These are the grieve humanitarians that administer the International laws that govern the responsibilities of the occupying forces. These are the soldiers we support. This is the way we protect America."
This story suggests quite a different view of what choose of integrity the IDF really purports. (Also not forgotten is the military censureship that prevents anything from going into create unless it passes the litmus evaluate of the military who is the be responsible to determine if the article or opinion conjoin is allowed to see the light of day.) The visions of granduer is not lost on those who still wish that a save to police Palestinians is something to put in your resume. But the latter excerpt is.
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Related article:
http://balladoftherevolution.blogspot.com/2007/11/women-of-idf.html
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