It’s the policy of occupation

It’s not a mistake. It’s policy. The policy of occupation

Breaking the Silence’s testimonies land on the desks of the Military Police investigators. They should find their way to the desks of the IDF Chief of Staff, government ministers and every Knesset Member.

The silence the testimonies are breaking do not concern the immoral acts of individual soldiers. It is the political silence that fuels the idea that we can continue military rule over civilian populations and still maintain the IDF and our society’s ethical code of conduct.

This is the mirror Breaking the Silence shows Israeli society. This is what the occupation looks like. We’ve sent generations of soldiers and officers to fulfill an impossible task and that’s what they tell us. These aren’t pacifist-anarchists. They’re combat soldiers with a conscience who look reality in the eye and have the courage to speak out.

This is perhaps the reason Breaking the Silence’s evidence so troublesome, so unbearable.

And accordingly, those who try to silence ‘Breaking the Silence’ and thus erase the occupation are not the IDF or its officers, but right-wing and centrist politicians and some on the left. They will not be successful.

Shabbat Shalom.

The original text by Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg was posted here. The translation is by Maya Haber.