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Israeli Officers Reject “Meaningless Occupation Wars”
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| Israeli
officers reject committing more war crimes against Palestinian civilians |
OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, Feb. 1 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – In a clear sign of their
intention to take their case to the end, the Israeli officers who signed a
petition “rejecting” to serve in the occupied Palestinian territories, are
gathering more signatures on their petition, already comprising more than 100
officers and soldiers.
The
Hebrew-language daily newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, reported Thursday that
Lieutenants David Zonshin and Yanief Itzikobitch said they want to attract the
support of at least 500 reservists. By Thursday night, the petition had already
attracted 104 signatures. Some of the signatories are officers and others are
from frontline units – the paratroops, infantry and armored and artillery
corps.
The
Israeli paper interviewed Zonshin and Itzikobitch who concluded their military
service in Gaza a month ago, along with other Israeli officers rejecting service
in the occupied territories. Signatories to the petition have called their
movement “Courageous Rejection”.
“Demolishing
homes is a daily routine in Rafah (Palestinian city in Gaza). As a commander,
you shoot and give demolition orders. We shall continue our duties as
reservists, but we will not fight occupation wars,” Zonshin told Yedioth
Ahronot.
To
a question on whether several dozens of rebellious officers can change the
occupation policy, Zonshin said “When our number reaches 500, they (Israeli
leaders) will have to decide then; is it (Israeli army) a defense army or an
occupation one? We have had values, but they changed us into fascistic,
aggressive occupiers who commit war crimes on a daily basis”.
“Those
who refuse to believe that, can spend three hours in a guard point in (Jewish
settlement in Gaza) Kfar Darum, to see the truth,” he added.
For
his part, Lieutenant Itzikobitch told the paper “You have to be an occupier -
you can't be an enlightened occupier, you have to be ... a cruel occupier”.
“Terrible
things happen there on a daily basis; besieging Palestinian villages, stop
people from going to work, delay them for hours…to say the least,” he added.
Itzikobitch
went on to say that he knew some may call him and other signatories
“traitors”. He, however, dared anyone to accuse him or others of being
“afraid” to serve the state.
“I
have served in Lebanon and other areas believing it was for peace. I never
questioned for a second the necessity of those wars. But, now that I have
finished my military service, I started wondering if I have risked my life in
vain! Have my colleagues lost their lives meaninglessly?
“It
seems absurd to me to stay all those years in Lebanon for nothing. When
A’miram Liven, then Sharon talked about withdrawal (from South Lebanon), I
lost confidence completely in the army’s decisions”.
Shokie
Sidieh, a reservist who returned a month ago from Khan Yunis refugee camp where
he was serving, told the same paper, “Whenever a Palestinian boy is 100 meters
away from our military position, we have orders to fire warning shots 50 meters
to his/her left or right. It does not matter if they just wanted to play”.
Reserve
officer, Ariel Shittil, also told the daily that he was “reluctant” to
enlist for the military service, but he had to, and went to serve in Gaza in
September 2001.
“I
used to shoot randomly at houses and people. I never knew the victims of my
bullets. I asked to be transferred to another post near the Egyptian borders or
any other place. But the commander refused and tried me”.
Shittil
emphasized that it was not true that Palestinians initiate the shooting, “it
is always the other way around”.
Meanwhile,
Israel's armed forces are struggling to contain the most serious internal
challenge of the 16-month Palestinian intifada against Israeli occupation.
At
least four of the signatories have been stripped of their command positions, and
the army's chief of staff, Lt-Gen Shaul Mofaz, declared that "there is no
place in Israel's military forces for such occurrences," reported British
daily newspaper, The Independent today.
The
petition said soldiers had been issued commands while serving in the occupied
Palestinian territories that "had nothing to do with the security of our
country", and had "the sole purpose of perpetuating our control"
over the Palestinians.
"We
shall not continue to fight beyond the 1967 borders in order to dominate, expel,
starve and humiliate an entire people," it stated.
The
reservists' protest is the most compelling example of the simmering dissent
within Israel over the conflict. In September, more than 65 Israeli teenagers
signed a letter to the Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, saying that they would
refuse to do compulsory military service because of the "aggressive and
racist policies of the Israeli government and army".
An
article appeared in the Israeli daily newspaper, Ha'aretz, two weeks ago,
by Dr Yigal Shochat, a physician who used to be an Israeli fighter pilot,
calling on F-16 pilots to refuse to bomb Palestinian cities.
At
the same time, the army faced intense domestic criticism for demolishing scores
of Palestinian homes in a Gaza refugee camp, while the Israeli left has begun to
accuse the army of war crimes. Contrary to Israeli claims, the demolished houses
were not abandoned.
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