News and Politics | July 15, 2009 | 3 comments

'Everyone is your enemy,' Israeli soldiers in Gaza told - Yahoo! News

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20090715/wl_mcclatchy/3272283

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WorldPeaceTV
Israeli combat soldiers have acknowledged that they forced Palestinian civilians to serve as human shields, needlessly killed unarmed Gazans and improperly used white phosphorus shells to burn down buildings as part of Israel's three-week military offensive in the Gaza Strip last winter.

In filmed testimony and written statements released Wednesday, more than two dozen soldiers told an Israeli army veterans' group that military commanders led the fighters into what one described as a "moral Twilight Zone" where almost every Palestinian was seen as a threat.

Soldiers described incidents in which Israeli forces killed an unarmed Palestinian carrying a white cloth, an elderly woman carrying a sack, a Gazan riding a motorcycle, and an elderly man with a flashlight, said Breaking the Silence, a group formed by army reservists in 2004.

Any Palestinian spotted near Israeli troops was considered suspect. A man talking on a cell phone on the roof of his building was viewed as a legitimate target because he could've been telling militants where to find Israeli forces, the group quoted soldiers as saying.
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How much more credible information do we need to convict these murderers in the Israeli government?
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3 comments // 'Everyone is your enemy,' Israeli soldiers in Gaza told - Yahoo! News

  • freecrack
    • 0
      freecrack  

    • its so sad that palastinian leadership has kept these poor people without any infrastructure while israels free society has allowed israel to create one of the strongest militaries in the world. now when they fight the israelis force is overwhelming to the palastinians that are being used by hamas as martyr shields. if hamas didnt use spotters on roofs of civilian buildings israel could better target combatants from non combatents. if hamas didnt put automatic weapons in the hands of children israel could avoid engaging them in fire fights. if hamas would only stop running thier terrorist activities from schools and apartment complexes maybe the civilians who enhabit them wouldnt be victimized as they are. its too bad like other militaries of the world israels enemies dont wear military uniforms to distinguish combatents from civilians, too bad that hamas wages war from residential homes instead of vast areas of land like all other conventional wars where civilian casualties are impossible.

    • 2 years ago
  • WorldPeaceTV
    • 0
      WorldPeaceTV  

    • A NEW BOOKLET BY "BREAKING THE SILENCE": 7/15/2009

      AROUND 30 ISRAELI SOLDIERS TESTIFY ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCES IN OPERATION CAST LEAD – A NEW BOOKLET BY "BREAKING THE SILENCE":
      "You feel like an infantile little kid with a magnifying glass looking at ants, burning them."

      Fifty-four testimonies of Israeli combat soldiers who participated in Operation Cast Lead reveal gaps between the reports given by the army following January’s events; the needless destruction of houses; firing phosphorous in populated areas and an atmosphere that encouraged shooting anywhere.

      Half a year after Operation Cast Lead, the organization "Breaking the Silence" is announcing the release of a new booklet today (Wed. 7/15) that includes numerous testimonies by soldiers who participated in the operation. The testimonies expose significant gaps between the official stances of the Israeli military and events on the ground.

      Among the 54 testimonies are stories revealing the use of "accepted practices," the destruction of hundreds of houses and mosques for no military purpose, the firing of phosphorous gas in the direction of populated areas, the killing of innocent victims with small arms, the destruction of private property, and most of all, a permissive atmosphere in the command structure that enabled soldiers to act without moral restrictions. The booklet compiles the testimonies of about 30 reserve and regular combat soldiers from various units that participated in the fighting. The testimonies demonstrate that the soldiers were not given directives stating the goal of the operation and, as one soldier testifies, "there was not much said about the issue of innocent civilians."
      more at link

    • 2 years ago
  • WorldPeaceTV
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