Dorothy Naor, New Profile, 20 August 2008
This evening spouse and I went to see Avi Mugrabi’s new movie: Z32. Very strong, as are his documentaries generally. I recommend it should it come your way.
To me it was in some ways personal. Some years back my spouse and I translated a number of testimonies for Breaking the Silence (spouse did by far most of the work). Tonight’s story was about the conduct of one of the participants in one of the testimonies among those we translated. It was not emotionally easy to read when translating, nor is it when hearing it. It is mainly about the soldier’s feelings in retrospect, that is, of them at the time he performed the act. Now, some years later, no longer a soldier, he realizes that what he did was a war crime. But that is not the main point. The main point is that at the time that he committed the act of killing an innocent person, he saw nothing wrong with it. Why? Because he perceived Arabs to be the enemy rather than human beings. Thus when he killed, he did not feel that he was killing a human being.
This feeling, of seeing Palestinians as enemies or as bothersome creatures that one would rather not deal with, undoubtedly underlies many of the uglier acts that IOF soldiers perform in the OPT—acts of humiliating, of harassing, of not letting women in labor go through the checkpoint to get to the hospital, of killing a man who asked to be allowed to go through the checkpoint faster because his wife had given birth the day before and was not feeling well. This attitude towards Palestinians undoubtedly underlies the conduct of the soldiers that kept Hani Amer and other Palestinians from entering Azun Atmei yesterday. Prior to the separation barrier around Mas’ha (which swallowed from the village 92% of the residents’ land), it took Hani about 3-5 minutes in his car to get to his family’s lands in Azun Atmei. Now, with the village closed off from using the road (which has been incorporated into the settlements and is for settlers only), Hani’s drive to his lands take him an hour on good days when there are no delays at the checkpoint, and hours on days when there are delays. Such was the situation yesterday.
The soldiers held the Palestinians at the checkpoint refusing to let them enter Azun Atmei to go to work or attend to other affairs. At the same time, the soldiers attempted to provoke the Palestinians by cursing them. When this did not produce a reaction, a soldier picked on one of the Palestinians standing and waiting. The Palestinians had a pack of cigarettes in his shirt pocket. The soldiers told him to throw the pack in the garbage pile. The Palestinian did as told. Then, one of the Palestinians had had enough and expressed this by saying ‘halas’ (enough). This apparently enraged the soldiers. They demanded that the person who had said the single word to identify himself. When no one responded, they announced that no one would be let through until the person who said that identified himself. No one spoke up. So for several hours the Palestinians were held there. Finally, one man said, ‘I did not say that, but if by my admitting that I did the others will be allowed to go into the village, then I will say that I said it, even though I did not.” The soldiers then told the Palestinians that it was not their business to complain. They had to take whatever the soldiers dished out to them, because soldiers have the right to say whatever they want. The Palestinians, on the other hand, have to obey. Thus, they were obliged to stand quietly even when humiliated, without uttering a complaint. Finally, after this Palestinian said that he would say that he’d said ‘halas,’ even though he hadn’t, the rest were allowed to enter the village, but the man was detained. Hani did not know what his fate was.
But in addition to the humiliation and harassment such an event causes the Palestinians, it also allows soldiers to behave in ways that they would not—had they not been soldiers–conduct themselves at home. What happens to Palestinians we know—or some of us do. But what happens to Israelis who behave as these soldiers? Obviously they do not immediately if ever denude themselves of habits acquired in three years of military service in combat units. Small wonder that Israel is a highly violent society.
The editorial that follows Amos’s ‘Don’t say we didn’t know’ is about violence in Israeli schools. The editorial believes that “The education system does not operate in a vacuum. It reflects what is happening beyond the school premises. Violence and bullying in the streets infiltrate the classroom, and it is hard for teachers to stop this. Since teachers have been pushed to the margins of the social hierarchy, and their authority has been considerably eroded, instant plans imposed from above can perhaps stop the violence in some schools temporarily, but they will not cure the ill.”
Undoubtedly one has to get to the root of the problem before being able to deal with it. One source of violence is the IOF. Had it indoctrinated its soldiers to act in humane and decent ways when dealing with Palestinians it might have been a very different world.
Dorothy
August 19, 2008
Don’t say we did not know # 123
The IDF continues to harm the Palestinian inhabitants of the Jordan Valley.
About five months ago, the Civil Administration cut off the water connection of the village El-Farsiyya, to its spring. The agricultural crops dried out.
On 31st July, 2008, the Civil Administration issued an expropriation order of 14 dunums (one dunum=1000 sq.m.) of agricultural land belonging to Hajj Rated, an inhabitant of Bardale. Bardale is situated near the Separation Fence between the northern West Bank and Israel, and Hajj Rated’s land was closest to the fence. In 1967, after occupation, the IDF expropriated 40 dunums of his land. Now, after having 14 dunums expropriated, he is left with 7 dunums.
On 12th August, 2008, the IDF demolished 25 vegetable stands belonging to Palestinians, placed along Road 90, in the northern Jordan valley.
Questions & queries: amosg@shefayim.org.il
אל תגידו לא ידענו
צה”ל ממשיך לפגוע בפלסטינים תושבי בקעת הירדן.
לפני כחמישה חודשים ניתקו אנשי המנהל האזרחי את חיבורי המים של הכפר אל פרסיה אל המעין שלו. הגידולים החקלאים יבשו…
ב-31.7.08 הוציאו אנשי המנהל צוו הפקעה על 14 דונם אדמה חקלאית של חאג’ ראתד, תושב הכפר ברדלה. הכפר ממוקם ליד גדר ההפרדה בין צפון הגדה לישראל, ואדמתו של חאג’ ראתד היתה הקרובה ביותר לגדר. בשנת 1967, לאחר הכיבוש, הפקיע צה”ל 40 דונם מאדמתו. לאחר ההפקעה הנוכחית של 14 הדונם נותרו לו שבעה…
ב-12.8.2008 הרס צה”ל 25 דוכני ירקות ופרות של פלסטינים לאורך כביש 90, בצפון בקעת הירדן.
שאלות וברורים: amosg@shefayim.org.il
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Last update – 04:32 20/08/2008
Violence does not exist in a vacuum
By Haaretz Editorial
The plan to fight violence that the Education Ministry put into effect in 15 schools around the country is now stirring controversy (Or Kashti, Haaretz, August 19) mixed with anger and a settling of accounts. The plan focuses on student behavior and employs tough means. Its initiator, Professor Amos Rolider, believes the plan was made to fail by bureaucracy, whereas the ministry people believe it is unsuited to the education system, and especially to children.
Read the editorial
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1013387.html