This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.
Other incidents involved shackling, blindfolding and slapping boys who threw stones, then "dry them out in the sun." Property was also destroyed and concussion grenades, tear gas, and rubber bullets used freely against demonstrators.
A Hebron Sergeant said some commanders and soldiers talk about human dignity, "that it's really important. But when it comes to facts on the ground, it's all bullshit. People behaved as they pleased." They disregard people, shove them, curse them, harass them in other ways.
A Hebron Sergeant said soldiers' "brutality comes out in the toughest situations. And I think the Border patrolmen I lived with for half a year were people whose very language is violence. They also communicate violently with each other. Verbal aggression, plenty of dirty talk (and) that's how they behave....Whether it's the Palestinians or each other....The rules are just for appearances. There are no rules."
Whenever there's an incident investigation, it ends with no conclusion. Some of the things gotten away with are awful because you're in a position to do anything you want - harassing, beatings, shootings, anything, including against children. "It's horrifying," but goes on all the time.
Abuses in Times of War
The above abuses happened during the second Intifada. During wars they're far worse. On February 3, The (London) Independent's Donald Macintyre quoted an Israeli commander saying: "We rewrote the rules of war for Gaza." As a result, civilians were freely targeted. People posing no threat were shot or attacked by drones or helicopters. A junior officer said the policy followed the 2006 Lebanon war to assure "literally zero risk to the soldiers."
It was Israel's Dahiya Doctrine, named after the Beirut suburb the IDF destroyed in the conflict. The idea was to treat civilians the same as combatants, an approved plan according to Northern Command General Gabi Eisenkot at the time. Southern Command General Yoav Galant used the strategy to "send Gaza decades into the past," with no regard for the safety or welfare of civilians or the entire infrastructure of the territory. Major General Giora Eiland said it was to destroy "the national infrastructure and (inflict) intense suffering among the population."
Dahiya tactics were central to the overall war strategy to inflict mass civilian deaths, injuries, destruction, and human suffering on 1.5 million Gazans. Israel waged its most brutal offensive since its 1948 War of Independence. Still under siege, Gaza is prevented from recovering, and its people keep suffering.
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
1
