Time for the soldiers to speak out

[Tinoire]

Sun., May 02, 2004 Iyar 11, 5764
Time for the soldiers to speak out

By Gideon Levy



When will the soldiers at long last start talking? When will their consciences get the better of them? When will they sit at home and tell the truth about what they did in their army service in the territories? Recently there have been a few signs that this inevitable process, already very late in appearing, may be about to occur. If so, it could signal an important shift. The refuseniks made their contribution but apparently have exhausted their strength and their influence. Now, the talking soldiers' turn has come. Those who do not refuse to serve - indeed, they are ready to go on bearing the burden - but who at least will tell the unvarnished truth at home.

It is not only the pursuers of peace and the advocates of human rights who should welcome this - so, too, should the Israel Defense Forces. In the meantime, though, fear is paralyzing the few who have arrived at the awareness that they have to tell their story. The organizing activity that has taken place in the past few weeks, encompassing a few dozen soldiers and recently discharged soldiers, has taken place in deep secrecy, for fear of getting into trouble. In any case, they are a minuscule minority. The majority of the soldiers apparently don't bother to ask themselves why they are there; who decided that they have to decide the fate of the Palestinians day in and day out; why they have to risk their lives in order to protect groups of delusional settlers; what their systematic abuse of the Palestinians has to do with security; and how many innocent people they have killed and are killing.

Victims of the process of the Palestinians' dehumanization, tainted with feelings of the intoxication of power and rule - alongside the fear, the soldiers for the most part probably see nothing wrong about their actions in the territories. It's a lot easier to carry out their orders without asking too many questions. Still, it's hard to believe that among the tens of thousands of soldiers who have served in the territories, there are none whose conscience bothers them, if not during the service, at least afterward, when they have matured and are at some distance from the horrors. It's difficult to imagine that with the exception of 600 or so refuseniks, all the rest of the IDF troops are totally in harmony with what they are doing.

The soldier who last Thursday shot to death a youngster who was throwing stones at Yakir junction knows the truth. He knows that the explanation offered by the IDF spokesperson, to the effect that the soldier fired at the young person's legs, but because he bent down the bullet struck him in the head and killed him, is a very dubious one. Maybe he also understands that not all the stone throwers have to be marked for death. The time has come for that soldier and his buddies to tell us the truth. Similarly, the soldier who in mid-March shot to death a 23-year-old woman, Delal Abu al-Hassan, as she was hanging out laundry on the roof of her house, knows the truth about the circumstances of her killing. Maybe one day his conscience will torment him for taking the life of a mother of three children, one of them a newborn infant. And the soldier who prevents a woman in labor from crossing the checkpoint, and the soldiers who provoke the children at Qalandiyah and kill them, time and again, and the soldiers who open fire with live ammunition at people who are demonstrating against the separation fence - we need their accounts.

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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/422416.html

[The Magistrate]

1. This Is True, Ma'am

Any number of young men must be sickened by the duties they perform; the task itself is a morally corrosive one, even for people who are convinced of its necessity, and doing their best to do it decently.

It seems there has been at least some stirring of this: was therte not last year an excellent novel or memoir published by a soldier, that was discussed here at some length? Recollection of the title, and the young man's name, evades me just now, but someone must remember....

[Tinoire]

2. I don't recall

because I took a break from I/P ;) but if you ever recall its name, I'd appreciate having it. Don't go to any trouble because I have about 15 books still waiting to be read (right now am in the Middle of Yergin's "The Prize").

I remember articles from about 18 months ago concerning soldiers, so in turmoil, sickened by their duties as you said, that they were going off to India, Burma, Thailand and losing themselves in drugs.

There is no glory in this and seasoned soldiers know it. Like most lessons worth learning, the path to that realization is usually long and slow.

Too slow :(