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From: Petokraka78_-at-_aol.com
To: pia_agestedt_-at-_hotmail.com, Mughir_Hindi_-at-_sympatico.ca, sysop_-at-_zmag.org, huwaidaa_-at-_yahoo.com, ronit_-at-_justvision.org, emanuele.bompan_-at-_email.it, CAWR_-at-_yahoogroups.com, de_-at-_undercurrents.org, vegan_-at-_kth.se, james.graff_-at-_utoronto.ca, ahanieh_-at-_yorku.ca, hermane_-at-_wharton.upenn.edu, susanha101_-at-_hotmail.com, info_-at-_ipyl.net, toronto_-at-_ismcanada.org, hazem.jamjoum_-at-_utoronto.ca, MartialKurtz_-at-_hotmail.com, dfm_-at-_yorku.ca, no_to_nato_-at-_flora.org, chrissypale_-at-_yahoo.com, Rafael.Pla_-at-_uv.es, justin.podur_-at-_utoronto.ca, san_-at-_tao.ca, gusto_-at-_dojo.tao.ca, ANTINATO_-at-_TOPICA.COM
Date: Sun, 05 Sep 2004 03:31:40 -0400
*** Please forward widely *** A Soldier's Testimony Reproduced below is the testimony of an IDF soldier serving in Nablus. The transcript comes from a trusted Israeli friend actively involved in the ‘refusenik’ movement who has given me permission to reproduce and distribute this text with the names of those involved omitted. In recent months a particularly dedicated group of soldiers has been actively engaged in gathering the testimonies of Israeli soldiers about human rights abuses perpetrated against Palestinian civilians by IDF units enforcing the illegal military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The interview is unedited except for the addition of section headings. The omissions in the text were left as presented to me when I was asked to edit the English version of the text. Some of the claims herein are shocking. I honestly hope that the interview - originally conducted in Hebrew - will impel people to action and that the commanders responsible for such abuses will be held to account. It is worth remembering that the soldier's unit was 'exemplary' in that it was considered to be one that had relatively good discipline compared to other fighting units in the IDF. The interview is thus testimony to the real nature of a military force that is often portrait as 'the most moral army in the world.' After reading this interview, it is hard to understand how such a mythology can be sustained within the Israeli body-politic and in the mainstream of US public opinion. For the full interview, click on the following link: http://intothemiddleeast.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2004/9/3/135150.html