I do not at all endorse a lot of it. Read on for some disturbing, but essential findings from my mom's latest trip. (thanks, Mom!)
"Early in our trip we heard from a representative of this group of former Israeli Defense Force (IDF) members who can no longer remain silent about what they saw and did during their years of military service in the Occupied Territories. They are about 800 strong and are both male and female. Military service is compulsory in Israel, 2 yr for women and 3 for men. Orthodox Jews are exempted, if requested.
The young man who spoke with us, Ayal Kantz, was a 28 y.o. I could gladly have counted as my son. He was handsome, articulate, and of obvious high moral character. I guess that’s why he eventually joined “Breaking the Silence.” He said it took him 6 years after completing his military service to join. He did so because he was struck by the divergence between his Jewish faith and what he was doing in the military. He thought the Israeli public needed to know what their sons and dgtrs were doing in the Occupied Territories.
Ayal was born in Israel but educated in part in the US, studying in the United World College in New Mexico during his 11th and 12th grades. Right after high school he joined the IDF and served in the Special Operations Unit all over the West Bank as a member of the Nahal Brigade, which is supposed to be one of the more “moral” brigades. He was in Hebron for one year and was eventually “traumatized” by what they did there. As a result, 6 yr later, he joined “Breaking the Silence”.
That group originally put together an exhibit displaying what they had been doing in Hebron and presented it in Tel Aviv, the most secular of the Israeli cities. They hoped that 400 people would attend. They were greatly surprised to be invited to show their exhibit to the Kennisit, the Israeli parliament. 12,000 people came to see it. Two things became apparent as a result of the exhibit: 1) there was a huge gap of knowledge between what was happening with the IDF in the Occupied Territories and what the general public was aware of; and 2) there were LOTS of soldiers who said “we did the same thing”, even though we were not in Hebron.
The “same thing” was horrendous for us to hear about: 4 - 5 arrests made each night; regular “appearance patrols” during which IDF soldiers did what was necessary to make the local populace afraid……….lighting fires, shooting out street lights, banging pans……..anything loud to instill fear (“if they don’t fear us, we can’t control them”); and periodically doing “training arrests”………..arresting a family that you know is not a threat just to sharpen your skills.
I think the worst thing I heard from Ayal, having been on this trip before and feeling that the situation in Hebron was HORRENDOUS, was that Hebron was no worse than any other place in the West Bank; it was simply more obvious there.
I was also deeply disturbed to learn that most Israelis thought nothing wrong with “Operation Cast Lead”, the 12/08 incursion into Gaza that resulted in 1400 Palestinians dead. Ayal told us that many Israelis feel threatened today and see their society as “victim”. Nonetheless, he strong claimed that not everything done today by the Israeli govt is for security; much is because of “religious ideology” or “land ideology”.
Finally, Ayal told us that all the time he served in Hebron, he never thought about the fact that he was doing raids by moving from house to house but rather from “terrorist nest to terrorist nest””. He deliberately detached himself and never directly looked at anyone he arrested. There was one exception, however, and that was when he dragged from a house the father of a family and accidentally looked into the face of a child who was standing near-by. That child looked absolutely petrified. Maybe this is what drove him to joining Breaking the Silence 6 yr later?"
The young man who spoke with us, Ayal Kantz, was a 28 y.o. I could gladly have counted as my son. He was handsome, articulate, and of obvious high moral character. I guess that’s why he eventually joined “Breaking the Silence.” He said it took him 6 years after completing his military service to join. He did so because he was struck by the divergence between his Jewish faith and what he was doing in the military. He thought the Israeli public needed to know what their sons and dgtrs were doing in the Occupied Territories.
Ayal was born in Israel but educated in part in the US, studying in the United World College in New Mexico during his 11th and 12th grades. Right after high school he joined the IDF and served in the Special Operations Unit all over the West Bank as a member of the Nahal Brigade, which is supposed to be one of the more “moral” brigades. He was in Hebron for one year and was eventually “traumatized” by what they did there. As a result, 6 yr later, he joined “Breaking the Silence”.
That group originally put together an exhibit displaying what they had been doing in Hebron and presented it in Tel Aviv, the most secular of the Israeli cities. They hoped that 400 people would attend. They were greatly surprised to be invited to show their exhibit to the Kennisit, the Israeli parliament. 12,000 people came to see it. Two things became apparent as a result of the exhibit: 1) there was a huge gap of knowledge between what was happening with the IDF in the Occupied Territories and what the general public was aware of; and 2) there were LOTS of soldiers who said “we did the same thing”, even though we were not in Hebron.
The “same thing” was horrendous for us to hear about: 4 - 5 arrests made each night; regular “appearance patrols” during which IDF soldiers did what was necessary to make the local populace afraid……….lighting fires, shooting out street lights, banging pans……..anything loud to instill fear (“if they don’t fear us, we can’t control them”); and periodically doing “training arrests”………..arresting a family that you know is not a threat just to sharpen your skills.
I think the worst thing I heard from Ayal, having been on this trip before and feeling that the situation in Hebron was HORRENDOUS, was that Hebron was no worse than any other place in the West Bank; it was simply more obvious there.
I was also deeply disturbed to learn that most Israelis thought nothing wrong with “Operation Cast Lead”, the 12/08 incursion into Gaza that resulted in 1400 Palestinians dead. Ayal told us that many Israelis feel threatened today and see their society as “victim”. Nonetheless, he strong claimed that not everything done today by the Israeli govt is for security; much is because of “religious ideology” or “land ideology”.
Finally, Ayal told us that all the time he served in Hebron, he never thought about the fact that he was doing raids by moving from house to house but rather from “terrorist nest to terrorist nest””. He deliberately detached himself and never directly looked at anyone he arrested. There was one exception, however, and that was when he dragged from a house the father of a family and accidentally looked into the face of a child who was standing near-by. That child looked absolutely petrified. Maybe this is what drove him to joining Breaking the Silence 6 yr later?"
If you'd like to hear more of these reports as my mom emails them out, let me know. The more you know, the more you'll speak out!
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