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.
download letterCrippling the courts is just one step along the way to removing obstacles that might hinder their apartheidist aspirations. Another clear reminder that we can’t talk about democracy without talking about the occupation – and without working to end it.https://t.co/05ZbRcmkyr
— Breaking the Silence (@BtSIsrael) March 29, 2023
"[…]'ask' is a bit of a euphemism. You order a Palestinian to accompany you and to open the door of the house you want to enter, to knock on the door and ask to enter, with a very simple objective: if the door blows up, a Palestinian will be blown up, and soldiers won’t[…].”
— Breaking the Silence (@BtSIsrael) March 29, 2023
And what is a ‘neighbor procedure’?
“The system is very simple,” explains an officer who served in the Bethlehem area and gave us testimony. “You enter the neighbor's house, that's why it's called 'neighbor procedure,' and you ask a Palestinian to accompany you." pic.twitter.com/hnRYgjtac3— Breaking the Silence (@BtSIsrael) March 29, 2023
This week at a pro-judicial overhaul protest, coalition member MK Tali Gottleib shouted: “If I want to do a ‘neighbor procedure,’ who stops me? The Supreme Court!" reminding us of a simple truth: Entrenching the occupation is an integral goal of the right-wing’s judicial overhaul pic.twitter.com/wO30Ti8KdA
— Breaking the Silence (@BtSIsrael) March 29, 2023
We don’t want to go back to the status quo. The way forward is to recognize what it means when we call for “equality,” and collectively speak out against occupation and for freedom and democracy. Together. pic.twitter.com/taDAz3DNql
— Breaking the Silence (@BtSIsrael) March 28, 2023
As we in Israel think we feel the first pangs of “dictatorship,” we need to realize that Palestinians have been living under a brutal military dictatorship for years – one that we enforce. pic.twitter.com/XECwmYD2SQ
— Breaking the Silence (@BtSIsrael) March 28, 2023
A future where we don’t instill fear or make our presence felt. Where we don’t invade Palestinian homes in the middle of the night. Where we don’t give Jewish supremacists the keys to an apartheidist reality pic.twitter.com/H8ZGpYBzuX
— Breaking the Silence (@BtSIsrael) March 28, 2023
And we remember that the future we want to build together is one that doesn’t administer an occupation – one where there is democracy and freedom for all pic.twitter.com/KyYTgjmjc7
— Breaking the Silence (@BtSIsrael) March 28, 2023
We’re taking part in the protests. We’re also horrified by the judicial overhaul and this “pause” in the legislation doesn't pacify us. We’re excited about the energy and power of the protest movement that is willing to take risks for a better future for the people of this land. pic.twitter.com/03UIKfGUGZ
— Breaking the Silence (@BtSIsrael) March 28, 2023