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Checks should be made out to “Breaking the Silence” and sent to:
POB 51027
6713206 Tel Aviv
“Breaking the Silence”
Account number 340211, Branch 567 at Hapoalim Bank
SWIFT: POALILIT
IBAN:
IL310125670000000340211
US tax deductible donations can be made through the website of the New Israel Fund.
For tax deductible donations from Europe please contact info@breakingthesilence.org.il
Checks should be made out to “Breaking the Silence” and sent to:
POB 51027
6713206 Tel Aviv
“Breaking the Silence”
Account number 340211, Branch 567 at Hapoalim Bank
SWIFT: POALILIT
IBAN:
IL310125670000000340211
US tax deductible donations can be made through the website of the New Israel Fund.
For tax deductible donations from Europe please contact info@breakingthesilence.org.il
Visit the occupied center of Hebron: once a lively Palestinian market, now a ghost town.
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“It’s a Gazafication of the northern part of the West Bank,” said Nadav Weiman, the director of Breaking the Silence, an advocacy group made up of former Israeli soldiers who say they are collecting testimonies from soldiers who took part in the raids in Jenin and another city, Tulkarm.
The soldier said that he and his comrades refused to carry on with the practice after two days and confronted their senior commander about it. Their commander, who first told them not to “think about international law,” saying that their own lives were “more important,” ultimately relented, releasing the two Palestinians, the soldier said. The fact that they were released, he said, made it clear to him that they had no affiliation with Hamas, “that they are not terrorists.” CNN was connected with the soldier by Breaking the Silence, an organization that provides a forum for Israeli soldiers to speak out and verifies their testimony.
The soldiers who spoke to The Times said they began using the practice during the current war because of a desire to limit the risks to infantry. Some of the soldiers who saw or participated in the practice found it deeply troubling, prompting them to take the risk of discussing a military secret with a journalist. Two were connected to The Times by Breaking the Silence, an independent watchdog that gathers testimony from Israeli soldiers.
Using stealthy bureaucratic measures, Israel has transformed the nature of governance in the West Bank, taking it from a military occupation with obligations towards the occupied population under international law to a system in which Israeli civilian government institutions, carrying a duty of loyalty to Israelis, run most aspects of Palestinian life in the West Bank. Under Minister Bezalel Smotrich, adherents to the settler ideology have been given greater control over the West Bank and, in practice, the power to implement their ideological agenda.
Breaking the Silence says its research shows the use of human shields is not limited to a few isolated incidents or a commander acting on a whim. “The testimonies make it clear that it’s both systemic and systematic to how the IDF is fighting in Gaza,” a recent statement said.
There were soldiers who protested at the sight of the new "dogs," several brave ones even gave testimony to Breaking the Silence. But the procedure, which was once specifically forbidden by the High Court of Justice, has been adopted on a broad scope in the army. The next time that the public protests the fact that Benjamin Netanyahu ignores High Court rulings, we should remember that the army also brazenly ignores its rulings.
Through Breaking the Silence's organized tour, Vasquez and the other U.S. veterans heard from a range of perspectives – journalists, lawyers, nongovernmental organizations, Palestinian youth groups – that provided a deep dive into the history and realities of the Israeli occupation. "It was the most impactful 12 days of my life," the U.S. veteran sums up. "I learned so much and felt inspired meeting Israelis and Palestinians who care about ending the occupation."
“Every boundary” of military behavior, Avner Gvaryahu writes, “is destined to be redrawn in a military occupation, whose very existence relies on terrorizing a civilian population into submission.”
"There is no quick fix for Israel’s wrongdoings, since they are all symptoms of the same root cause: Israel’s absolute prioritization of “managing the conflict” and deferring any real solution, no matter how many civilians—Palestinian or Israeli—are harmed."
"At each stop on the tour, repeated themes and patterns came up; settler violence as a systemic issue, eviction and demolition orders based on...
Number: 47468
Unit: Nahal Brigade
Rank: First Sergeant
Place: Hebron
Period: 2004-2007
The mission there is not to maintain order; the mission there is to enforce...
Rank: Lieutenant
Unit: Nahal, 932nd Battalion
Area: Hebron
I suddenly understood that some of the things I did there are illegitimate,...
Rank: Major
Unit: Artillery Corps
The random checks had an operational rationale that actually sent a message...
Rank: Captain
Area: Hebron
There, I remember, it was settler kids between the ages of 6 to 8. A group...
Rank: First Sergeant
Unit: Nachal Special Forces
Area: Hebron