Israeli troops shot 'unarmed Palestinian civilians under orders' during Gaza war

Published by You on 19 March, 2009 - 17:18

Published soldiers' testimonies contradict official version of events and reinforce Palestinian accounts of disproportionate force

Striking testimony has emerged from Israeli soldiers involved in the Gaza war in which they describe shooting unarmed civilians, sometimes under orders from their officers.

One soldier described how an Israeli sniper shot dead a Palestinian mother and her two children, adding that fellow troops believed the lives of Palestinians were "very, very less important than the lives of our soldiers".

The testimony, published in the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz today, gives a rare insight into how Israeli soldiers fought the war on the ground; reinforces Palestinian accounts of disproportionate Israeli force; and sharply contradicts the Israeli military's official version of events.

The accounts come from unnamed soldiers who were graduates of a pre-military course at Oranim Academic College in Tivon and who spoke in a session in mid-February. The transcript of the session was published this week and obtained by Ha'aretz.

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Submitted by You on 20 March, 2009 - 00:54

awww you're back!

Just , but its nice to have an antagonist.

I gotta admit though that this topic has the better title ("Israeli Troops admit Gaza abuses").

EDIT - combined topics.

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"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

Submitted by YouShutup on 20 March, 2009 - 15:16

Indeed.

I'm your antagonist... I thought you were mine?

Submitted by You on 20 March, 2009 - 15:24

no. An antagonist always plays second fiddle.

I would be the protagonist. The main guy.

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"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

Submitted by YouShutup on 21 March, 2009 - 12:57

Thursday, I haven't a clue what your talking about!

You wrote:
no. An antagonist always plays second fiddle.

I would be the protagonist. The main guy.

Depends on where you sit and which world you live in. 'Obviously' your world is a deluded one!

“the two can be regarded as protagonist and antagonist, respectively.[4] Contrary to popular belief, the antagonist is not always the villain, but simply those who oppose the main character. Writers have also created more complex situations. In some instances, a story is told from the villain's point of view, and any hero trying to stop the villain can be regarded as an antagonist. Such antagonists are usually police officers or other law enforcement officials. Sometimes, antagonists and protagonists may overlap, depending on what their ultimate objectives are considered to be.”

We should create our own thread for this really.

Back to the point. This just adds value to what most people already thought and Israel fought hard to cover up from the mainstream!

Submitted by You on 21 March, 2009 - 16:38

YouShutup wrote:
Back to the point. This just adds value to what most people already thought and Israel fought hard to cover up from the mainstream!

yes, yes I totally agree.

Actually, I don't think tey tried too hard to cover things up - just denied journalists access and then sang "la la la there is nothing wrong going on here".

On the other hand it is good to see that some soldiers did have a moral conscience and did question their orders and what they were expected to do.

PS the important bit of the wikipedia quote is the antagonist being a person or people "...who oppose the main character...". Nothing about heroics and I ahve not triedto take the high ground either.

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"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

Submitted by You on 23 March, 2009 - 15:08

Israeli Army T-Shirts Mock Gaza Killings

The Israeli army is at the centre of a second controversy over the moral conduct of its soldiers in as many days.
courtesy of Yanai Yechiel Via Sky News)

The revelations centre on t-shirt designs made for soldiers that make light of shooting pregnant Palestinian mothers and children and include images of dead babies and destroyed mosques.

The t-shirts were printed for Israeli soldiers at the end of periods of deployment or training courses and were discovered by Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

One, printed for a platoon of Israeli snipers depicts an armed Palestinian pregnant women caught in the crosshairs of a rifle, with the disturbing caption in English: "1 shot 2 kills"...

Read more @

—

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

Submitted by You on 23 March, 2009 - 15:23

UN criticises Israelis over Gaza

A UN human rights investigator, Richard Falk, has questioned the legality of Israel's Gaza incursion in a new report to the UN Human Rights Council.

Many international organisations have raised concerns of war crimes during Israel's recent Gaza operation.

Mr Falk has been highly critical of Israel in the past and Israel has repeated accusations that he is biased.

It comes as an Israeli rights group criticised Israel for hitting medics and impeding medical evacuations.

...

Israeli authorities denied entry to Mr Falk, a former Princeton University international law professor, last December, when he attempted to conduct his regular investigative mission to the Palestinian territories.

Israel was angered by a series of comments he had made accusing it of war crimes and comparing its actions in Gaza to Nazi Germany in WWII.

Legality question

Because Mr Falk was unable to enter the Palestinian territories, his latest report focuses on the legality of Israel's January operation in Gaza in general, rather than in specific cases or claims that disproportionate force was used.

...

Mr Falk, who will present his findings at a news conference at 17:15 GMT, is calling for an independent inquiry to examine possible war crimes committed by both Israel and Hamas.

Further, he suggests that the Israeli blockade of Gaza is in violation of the Geneva Conventions and must be lifted.

The report is certain to anger Israel, which has long complained of bias by Mr Falk.

...

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"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

Submitted by You on 31 March, 2009 - 02:59

Gaza soldier accounts 'hearsay'

Israeli military police have closed an investigation into soldiers' accounts of abuses committed in Gaza, saying they were based on hearsay.

An Israeli military college published the accounts, which included claims that soldiers fired on civilians and vandalised property.

The probe concluded that the stories were "purposely exaggerated".

Rights groups fear war crimes took place during the January assault which Israel said aimed to end rocket fire.

In a written statement, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said the investigation had focused on two stories which alleged that civilians had been fired on, but found the soldiers who told them were not direct witnesses...

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—

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

Submitted by Dawud on 31 March, 2009 - 10:29

You wrote:

Further, he suggests that the Israeli blockade of Gaza is in violation of the Geneva Conventions and must be lifted.

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SubhanAllah
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Gentleness and kindness were never a part of anything except that it made it beautiful, and harshness was never a part of anything except that it made it ugly.

Through cheating, stealing, and lying, one may get required results but finally one becomes

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