http://indymedia.org.il
Dear Ronnel,Saturday 13 Apr 2002
author: Jacob Katriel
Dear Ronnel,
You sound so innocent, naive and sincere that I feel I should briefly respond. You write:
"I have spoken with friends in Israel who tell me that 90 percent of the people being killed in these camps are connected with terrorism."
Unfortunately, your Israeli friends have no way of knowing. Neither do I. In fact, it is possible that we will never know. If we do know, I will be surprised if even half of the Palestinians killed were armed. I will be even more surprised if even 10% of them were remotely affiliated with any kind of terrorist activity.
You continue:
"These IDF soldiers ... are 18, 19, 20, and 21 year olds who would much rather be at home enjoying the company of there friends and family then going into Palestinian territory's."
This is true of any army. The US army, the French army, even the army that one does not dare to mention in a manner that could be taken to imply any kind of comparison with the IDF. In fact, in view of the role of the reserve army, this is more true about most other armies than about the IDF!
And you go on:
"A friend of mine who knows an IDF soldier who is in Ramallah right now, told me that his friend ... hates himself for going into Palestinian homes and rummaging through them."
Many Israeli soldiers will hate themselves for what they have been doing. Right after the 1976 war (in which I was a 22 year old soldier) a book appeared, called "The Seventh Day" (in Hebrew: Siach Lochamim) in which those young people reflected on what they had done. They were rightfully ridiculed by being referred to as "shooting and whining" (in Hebrew: "yorim ubochim"). A recent slogan of a group that opposes this war is "not shooting and not whining" ("lo yorim velo bochim").
You add:
"I also believe that the Palestinian people need to look themselves in the mirror and ask themselves who is the cause of there oppression, the Palestinian government which walked away from a chance of an independent state or an Israeli government that takes responsibility for there people's safety."
Unfortunately, here you are simply rehashing the fake mantra that we were all brainwashed with. Israel NEVER intended to give up the (illegal!) settlements, nor to let a truly sovereign Palestinian State be established. The aim of the present war is to avoid a peaceful resolution that requires dismanling the settlements. Nobody believes that it will have any effect on terrorism against civilians, about which I am a lot more concerned than you could possibly be, living where you are.
I agree with your final statement:
"You be the judge"
provided that you make an effort to be somewhat informed.