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Israeli Soldiers Describe How They "Shot Innocent Civilians Because They Were Bored"
On July 12 of 2014 we reported that "after conducting countless sorties and bombing raids aimed at Hamas operatives in Gaza during the fifth day of Operation Protective Edge, but resulting in well over a hundred innocent civilian deaths in the past week, Israel, realizing it is not generating any brownie points with the international "humanitarian" media, finally did what it had threatened to do over the last few days - launch a ground assault."
The ground assault promptly led to a mini-war in the Gaza Strip that left more than 2,100 Palestinians dead, of which 80% civilians, and reduced vast areas to rubble: a "war" which many speculated was a predetermined massacre by highly skilled, trained, and ethically drained Israeli soldiers who used civilians for target practice.
Yesterday we got confirmation of that when a group of Israeli veterans released what the WaPo describes as "sobering testimony from fellow soldiers that suggests permissive rules of engagement coupled with indiscriminate artillery fire contributed to the mass destruction and high numbers of civilian casualties in the coastal enclave."
In a 242-page report titled "This is How We Fought in Gaza 2014" which was accompanied by videotaped confessions that aired on Israeli TV, the organization of active and reserve duty soldiers, called Breaking the Silence, gathered testimonies from more than 60 enlisted men and officers who served in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge.
What they described was nothing short of mass butchery of civilians and a flaunting of the Fourth Geneva Convention: among the actions described by the soldiers are "reducing Gaza neighborhoods to sand, firing artillery at random houses to avenge fallen comrades, shooting at innocent civilians because they were bored and watching armed drones attack a pair of women talking on cellphones because they were assumed to be Hamas scouts."
According to the Washington Post, the director of the group, Yuli Novak, called the rules of engagement in the offensive “the most permissive” it has seen and amounted to an “ethical failure . . . from the top of the chain of command.” Novak called for an independent investigation.
Some more details from the narrative that may have been fit for a barbaric middle-age crusade but has no place in our "civilized" times:
The soldiers said they were told by commanders to view all Palestinians in the combat zones as a potential threat, whether they brandished weapons or not. Individuals spotted in windows and rooftops — especially if they were speaking on cellphones — were often considered scouts and could be shot.
A first sergeant serving in the Mechanized Infantry in Gaza told the group, “If we don’t see someone waving a white flag, screaming, ‘I give up’ or something — then he’s a threat and there’s authorization to open fire.”
The Israeli army, the IDF, promptly tried to downplay the claims stating that the testimonies in the report are anonymous and impossible to independently verify. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declined to address details in the report and said that Breaking the Silence “does not provide IDF with any proof of their claims.”
“This pattern of collecting evidence over an extended period of time and refusing to share it with the IDF in a manner which would allow a proper response, and if required, investigation, indicates that contrary to their claims this organization does not act with the intention of correcting any wrongdoings they allegedly uncovered,” the Israeli military stated.
Just like in the case of Edward Snowden, the natural response was to attack the messenger: members of Breaking the Silence are viewed by many Israelis as "anti-military", which it appears is a bad thing.
The group says its mission is to tell the Israeli public what the IDF hides and what serving in the occupied West Bank and in wars in Gaza and Lebanon is really like. After graduating from high school, all Israeli men and women — except those who get deferments because of religious study or for medical reasons — must serve in the military.
Develop a conscience, however, is clearly frowned upon.
In an interview with The Washington Post, a young tank gunner whose testimony is included in the report described how he and others fired cannon and machine gun bursts at random travelers on a main Gaza highway simply because they were bored and wanted to prove how good their aim was.
“I am ashamed of this,” said the 21-year-old, who served in a Hamas hot spot near the town of Al Bureij in central Gaza.
The gunner said he fired his Browning machine gun at a man pedaling a bicycle but missed because of the distance.
“War crime is a big word,” he said in an interview at a Tel Aviv apartment Sunday. “I didn’t rape and kill anybody, but yeah, I shot at random civilian targets sometimes, just for fun, so yeah.”
The same soldier said a friend in his unit was killed by shrapnel to the neck from a Palestinian mortar round and described how a burst of small-arms fire once breezed by his head.
Yehuda Shaul of Breaking the Silence conceded that Gaza was a dangerous,
chaotic landscape for Israeli troops. But he said the military had
contributed to needless death and destruction with “a guiding military
principle of minimum risk to our forces, even at the cost of harming
innocent civilians.”
In other words, all out, brutal war, without the pleasantries of sparing civilians - a war passed on by countless generations, and in which both sides have no interest in taking the first step to end. Which is why it never will.
Below is a sampling of the soldiers' quotes explaining how they fought in Gaza:
- "If you shoot someone in Gaza it ?s cool, no big deal"
- "The lives of our soldiers come before the lives of enemy civilians"
- "Rules of engagement were, in effect, to shoot to kill upon any identification"
- "The instructions are to shoot right away… Be they armed or unarmed, no matter what"
- "The civilian was laying there, writhing in pain"
- "I really, really wanted to shoot her in the knees"
- "We expect a high level of harm to civilians"
- "Go ahead - his wife and kid are in the car too? Not the end of the world"
- "People that look at you from the window of a house, to put it mildly, won ?t look anymore"
- "We want to make a big boom before the ceasefire"
- "They were fired at - so of course, they must have been terrorists…"
- "Lots of innocent people were hurt in that incident, lots"
- "What the hell, why did you have to shoot him again?"
Full report (pdf)
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What part of Europe and what era? Still no guts to say it?
Imposters
Persecuted for screwing up the world. Even when posing as Australian aborigines.
https://youtu.be/c0uTqQwIRM4
Free Francis Sawyer !!!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVeNEbh3A4U (2:20)
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Nice report - And not a frack was given
this is from a military that has never won a war without hiding behind mommy's dress.
In a guerilla war, there are no civilians. That's the reality and any soldier that wants to return home alive from one will have to come to grips with it.
The phrase "shoot first, ask questions later" dates back at least to the Mexican Revolutionary War and probably was around long before that. And many armies have adopted those rules including the US and Viet Cong in Vietnam, and Tyler's hero Putin in Chechnya. I have no doubt that Hamas soldiers would joyfully massacre Israeli civilians if they could and the entire Gaza population would cheer them on if they did. Remember the wave of suicide attacks against Israeli civilians that Nobel Peace Prizewinner Arafat ordered in order to win concessions from Israel in the "peace" talks then going on.
Of course, this doesn't justify shooting at clearly unarmed persons who are not presenting a threat. The IDF should prosecute any soldiers that it catches doing that. But I can understand their reluctance to second guess soldiers who fire in situations that are not so clear.
All this so an alien race can own this piece of dirt. Lets challange Israelis to a little gentics test that can easily confirm where they origniate. I am betting very few in Israel have any connection to Israel. Where will we find their gentic roots? I am betting between the Black and Caspian seas. From there they likely picked up a lot of Slavic genes as they spread west into Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Germany.
They claim the right to own other people's land, based on a holy book. The real Israelis stayed in the Middle East. The European jews have no connection to Israel, and I am betting a gentics test will prove it!
Great idea! And why don't we also challenge the residents of North America to a genetics test and send all those of European or African origin back to their respective continents?
It must be the end times if young Jews are growing a conscience.
That one is a toughie.
On one hand, it's fucked up what they did
OTOH, to come clean about it deserves some acknowledgement
For now, I'll place it in the same category as the Greenspan & Bernanke apology tours.
adr - I gotta be clear. IT's not end times and no large number of young jews are growing consciences. I know these people. Those Jews who object to what Israel does inside constitute a TINY percentage. Life in Israel involves straight-up death threats for holding political opinions that differ from the zio-majority (I was threatened with death by a coworker for merely mentioning I supporeted a non-zionist party). My friends served 2-years prison sentences for refusing to serve in occupation army. Even Mrs. Upgrayedd went to prison for refusing - she had a hearing where she outlined in detail her conscientious objection...you know what the result was - the transcript of the event was entirely doctored to remove her objections and to ensure she would have to go to the brig. Many of the Breaking the Silence people have to flee Isreal and go in exile. There is nothing growing here, indicative of anything, it's just conscientious people acting like humans - the government and society will be sure to destroy them.
Here's an example, an Israeli investigator who is more or less exiled to the US goes back for a visit and is arrested and interrogated by intelligence.
https://globalvoicesonline.org/2014/08/03/israeli-army-whistle-blower-le...
Every fucking stupid Christain needs to be asking, what is the synagog of Satan?
To choose either the "Palestinian" or "Israeli" side of the debate is to mire yourself in a bitter blood feud in which both parties are deeply stained.
While neither camp holds the moral high ground, the Israelis have, since their inception as a fiat nation thanks to western powers, disproportionately used unjustifiable violence against the Palestinians. Subsequent Israeli governments have conducted nothing less than genocide, or at the very least ethnic "cleansing", of what they believe to be their "promise land". They have done so using every means possible against the Palestinians while persistently claiming the victim who has no choice but to "defend" themselves by taking the offensive.
Anyone who believes that Israel is the one "defending" itself and the Palestinians are the ones, for no reason what-so-ever, are the "aggressors" is certainly delusional.
The suffering and violence endured by innocent people is revolting, as it should be, in any context and should never be supported. American politicians clearly are required to support Israel above even their own constituency, which is damning evidence that Israel holds sway over American politics and any rational person must ask "why" and "how"?
Israel should never have been "created" out of thin air by western powers, but it was and Israel is here to stay regardless of anyone's opinion. The only pragmatic thing to do is to do is to continue to shine light on the totality of events taking place and try to withdraw all political, financial, and material support to Israel and every other state or entity like it.
Israel has never shied away from making enemies and it's about time they reap what they sow by all western powers removing their support. It's their fight and we should not be dragged into it.
...And the Israelis kill their own leaders (Rabin, Sharon) if they even hint at making any kind of meaningful peace with the Palestinians.
Well, the media coverage of this will surely get saturation media coverage, just like every harmless bottle rocket flung into the Negev by some Israeli proxy.
/s
They are Jews. That's what Jewish people do. Not true. Not true. That is what all people do when morality is subject to entities that have no capacity for morality. Militaries, Corporations and Nations. Shut them all down. Replace them with open source software and let them be guided by each person's individual morality.
Oh BS. Not all people do it and even if they do, Jews do it more.Maybe, if we're lucky, some lab accidentally releases a virus that lays waste only to...awww wishful thinking!
Hey I was in the Armed Services and like any large military operation will always include pockets of evildoers esp. in a war zone. Attitudes on BOTH sides have included these kind of actions-don't be fooled in thinking otherwise. How many civilians were killed as a result of being used as human shields by their own side?
It's all true. If you didn't know this by now, you're a goy fryer who has been well programmed to serve your zio-masters. Remember, Upgrayedd was there for the massacre, knew people who committed the massacres, knew journalists who were covering the massacres and personally knows the authors/investigators of this report. The sad thing is that most people are too scared to pronounce the real narrative that explains violent Jewish supremacy. Don't be too scared, they want to steal from you, your nation, and your children.
And this wasnt war, this was a gangland hit on Palestinian women and children.
Netanyahu and his ilk are a demon scourge.
And they own your government, and media, and your 'top' schools.
But hey, the market is down. lets play 'what does it mean...'
there is a song for it jim,
Talking Heads - Psycho Killer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX6FsTIq6ls
You cannot blame the IDF for anything that was in the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS playbook
Lies,
If you can not blame them for that then they can not blame the Nazi's for it either. Cant have one without the other.
Sounds like a little payback....
islamic cult worshipers are primitive subhuman vermin and policy should be to eradicate them all, everywhere, to rid the earth of this scourge permanently
the only issue that I have with the israelis is that they did not eradicate ALL the islamic cult worshipers
and that is exactly how the US got a Muslim President
slackers
You share the same mindset as the 'fanatics' you claim to hate... go figure.
"Take the last train to Auschwitz
And I'll meet you at the station
We'll have guns and wooden truncheons
And we'll take your shiny fillings and your shoes...
Hoo hoo-hoo-hoo!"
The fact that Israel will have to defend that little sliver of land FOREVER is hilarious, and a perfect description of hell. Enjoy your "chosen" status, you fucking losers...
"God's Chosen Losers"?
pure Genocide-now its their turn to be 'The Master Race' -Jews dont learn their lessons very well-and the Palestinians are the new "Jewish Problem"
Myths of Modern Israel: Jews are not the Israelites of the Bible => http://wp.me/p4OZ4v-2
This is why we will never have peace in the M.E, when religion is put above life then life starts to become cheap, when 2 religions/cultures clash then women and children are murdered and put down as collateral damage, but this is unacceptable to a peace loving society, because this type of warfare creates generational hate, and leaves the children to pick up the fight later down the track.
The only thing that is saving Israel is that the Sunni and Shiite sects have been divided, god have mercy if they ever put their differences aside and launch an unified offensive. They argue over who the successor is, to think one argument is stopping a few billion Muslims from bum rushing Israel.
Victims of the holocaust (Jews..) should be the last one to engage in that kind of racial cleansing... Yet it is a sad to see how quickly humans forget... "You shall not do to others"... I thought that came from the Torah or smthg...
Chris Hedges witnessed and wrote about how Istraeli patros taunted, shot and killed kids who were not a threat, inciting them with curses until they retaliated with stones. They were then shot to death. Youtoob it.
"Novak called for an independent investigation."
Really? An independent investigation? Did this guy just fall off the turnip truck? Here, I'll save the Israeli taxpayers the expense and release the independent investigators report (this can also be used for all independent investigators of all governments everywhere) myself:
"We find that those we are investigating did nothing wrong."
The Torah/Sanhedrin make it quite clear
that the Commandments 6 through 10
do not apply to Jewish treatment of goyim
Can you imagine if these people couldn't find such activities to fight boredom? Disasters could happen...
"Chosen" to be the world's biggest dicks
If you read some of the quotes in the report you may notice that the IDF goons sound just like captured Nazi's after WWII. Lots of "we were just following orders" and "everybody was doing it". I guess that means the Nazification of Israel is now complete with Adolf "Bebe" Netanbozo goose stepping his way into history.