Israeli Officer Confesses: We 'Blow' Violence into Palestinians like Poison

An Israeli soldier standing at the West Bank city of Hebron. (File Photo: Reuters)
An Israeli soldier standing at the West Bank city of Hebron. (File Photo: Reuters)
TT

Israeli Officer Confesses: We 'Blow' Violence into Palestinians like Poison

An Israeli soldier standing at the West Bank city of Hebron. (File Photo: Reuters)
An Israeli soldier standing at the West Bank city of Hebron. (File Photo: Reuters)

While right-wing officials in Israel are trying to prevent human rights' seminars for Israeli army, "Breaking the Silence" will publish a new pamphlet containing testimonies of officers and soldiers who admit that during their military service they abused and tortured Palestinians and violated Palestinian human rights.

Former officer Ram Cohen admitted in his testimony that violence is an integral part of the daily and humiliating occupation.

"Taking control of the other means feeling what I felt during my reserve service when I stopped a Palestinian bus that was returning after a day's work in Israel. They were sleepy, tired and exhausted, and wanted to just go home. I stood there with my M16 rifle in my hand and my ammunition ready ordering them all to step down from the bus. I aligned them in a long queue," he narrated.

Cohen went on to say how he ordered the Palestinians to present their IDs, and then he searched their belongings "hoping to find something there."

"Finally, I ordered them back to the bus. "Stop!" I shout, "Why did you move?!" They obeyed, went down, walked, stood, came back, and returned to the bus. I felt strong. I have a rifle with a full ammunition of live bullets, my finger ready on the trigger. I thought at the time that Palestinians were not human beings. Enemies. Potential terrorists," he added.

The officer felt that Palestinians lacked any human trait that could make him feel sympathetic or like them.

"The soldiers feel free and blow violence inside them like poison. This is not only practiced against Palestinians, but also against Ethiopian refugees, even gay and left-wing Jews," he added.

Israeli Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev's official Facebook page: "It is unnecessary to point out to you that Breaking the Silence works to tarnish the image of Israel, presenting it as an immoral state and its army and soldiers as an immoral army." Cohen believes that by writing this, the minister is seeking to defend the country as a Jewish democratic state, but rather the occupied territories.

"What should we do with the territories we occupied in 1967?" wondered Cohen, adding: "if we want it, we must include it in accordance with the law and grant equal rights to its two and a half million Palestinian residents. By doing so, we will undermine the entire Zionist project and endanger the identity of Israel as a Jewish state. If we are not willing to pay this price, we must plan for a smart and organized separation of regions and authority that fascinate us."

Cohen then concluded: "There is one thing we should not forget: with pikes we can achieve everything, but sit on it. "

It is worth mentioning that Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, B'Tselem, organizes several seminars and sessions for the Israeli army, in which legal experts talk about "human rights in the occupied territories".

The director-general of B'Tselem, Shai Glick, sent a letter to Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, warning him not to concede to the demands of the right-wing parties and cancel the sessions.



Blinken Speaks to Israel’s Dermer about Humanitarian Situation in Gaza

 A man sits on rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
A man sits on rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
TT

Blinken Speaks to Israel’s Dermer about Humanitarian Situation in Gaza

 A man sits on rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
A man sits on rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized the importance of improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza in a meeting with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer in Washington on Monday, the State Department said.

Dermer updated Blinken on operational changes and policy decisions taken by Israel in response to a US letter sent in October, the department said in a statement on Tuesday.

Blinken "emphasized the importance of ensuring those changes lead to an actual improvement in the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, including through the delivery of additional assistance to civilians throughout Gaza," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in the statement.