Born and raised in the American Jewish community, we joined the IDF to defend Israel and its borders. What we did in the occupied territories was a far cry from that. The Lone Soldiers’ Letter demands of our communities to take responsibility for their seemingly unconditional support for Israel despite 52 years of occupation. It’s time to break the silence.
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The former soldier who was our guide said something that day that stuck with me:
“You may see yourself as a moral person, as someone who will go into the army and change the system from within, buthttps://t.co/ssm2U3RccA— Avner Gvaryahu (@AGvaryahu) December 14, 2019
And there is no way of exerting that control without the constant use of violence and fear tactics. That's the reality in Hebron and across the territories. And that's why the occupation must end. 4/4
— Breaking the Silence (@BtSIsrael) December 8, 2019
Because it's impossible to maintain the necessary balance of power, and to keep the settlers safe, without exerting complete control over the Palestinian civilian population, who are the overwhelming majority in the occupied territories. 3/4
— Breaking the Silence (@BtSIsrael) December 8, 2019
The reality of Hebron – where 800 Israeli settlers live in the heart of a city of over 230,000 Palestinians – demonstrates perfectly why there can never be such a thing as an 'enlightened occupation', as the Israeli right would like to think. 2/4
— Breaking the Silence (@BtSIsrael) December 8, 2019
Full testimony: https://t.co/xXo52XzefF
Palestinians in Hebron are oppressed on a daily basis because of a violent ideology advanced by Jewish supremacist settlers who believe their God-given right to the land trumps respect for the basic human rights of those living there. 1/4 pic.twitter.com/a6KdQBqGpY
— Breaking the Silence (@BtSIsrael) December 8, 2019
We're in Hebron today with our partners @peacenowisrael, @zazim_org_il, @cfpeace & @omdimbeyachad and 100 Israelis to say loud and clear: settler expansion in the heart of Hebron? Not in our name! pic.twitter.com/dbwufMjEZt
— Breaking the Silence (@BtSIsrael) December 6, 2019
4/ And yes, the construction workers are Palestinians who would not be allowed to set foot in the settlement if it weren't for the fact that they're working for the settlers.
Welcome to the occupied territories. pic.twitter.com/X8mdMWhS5i
— Breaking the Silence (@BtSIsrael) December 2, 2019
3/Meanwhile, Park Kahane in Kiryat Arba, the adjacent settlement (named after an extremist outlawed by the Israeli parliament), where Goldstein is buried, is now being renovated. Also at taxpayers' expense. pic.twitter.com/AqvFwoRedx
— Breaking the Silence (@BtSIsrael) December 2, 2019
2/Yesterday, interim Defence Minister Bennett announced that a new neighborhood would be built on the market's ruins. That's right. The extremists who carried out the 1994 massacre are now being rewarded by having their settlement doubled in size.Paid for by the Israeli taxpayer.
— Breaking the Silence (@BtSIsrael) December 2, 2019