De Israelische Terreur 786

Israeli troops shot 'unarmed Palestinian civilians under orders'
during Gaza war

Published soldiers' testimonies contradict official version of events
and reinforce Palestinian accounts of disproportionate force

* Rory McCarthy, Jerusalem
* guardian.co.uk, Thursday 19 March 2009 12.21 GMT

Striking testimony has emerged from Israeli soldiers involved in the
Gaza war in which they describe shooting unarmed civilians, sometimes
under orders from their officers.

One soldier described how an Israeli sniper shot dead a Palestinian
mother and her two children, adding that fellow troops believed the
lives of Palestinians were "very, very less important than the lives
of our soldiers".

The testimony, published in the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz today,
gives a rare insight into how Israeli soldiers fought the war on the
ground; reinforces Palestinian accounts of disproportionate Israeli
force; and sharply contradicts the Israeli military's official
version of events.

The accounts come from unnamed soldiers who were graduates of a
pre-military course at Oranim Academic College in Tivon and who spoke
in a session in mid-February. The transcript of the session was
published this week and obtained by Ha'aretz.

In that transcript, one infantry squad leader said: "There was a
house with a family inside Š We put them in a room. Later we left the
house and another platoon entered it, and a few days after that there
was an order to release the family. They had set up positions
upstairs. There was a sniper position on the roof.

"The platoon commander let the family go and told them to go to the
right. One mother and her two children didn't understand and went to
the left, but they forgot to tell the sharpshooter on the roof they
had let them go and it was OK, and he should hold his fire and he ...
he did what he was supposed to, like he was following his orders. The
sharpshooter saw a woman and children approaching him, closer than
the lines he was told no one should pass. He shot them straight away.
In any case, what happened is that in the end he killed them."

The squad leader said he believed the sniper did not feel regret. "I
don't think he felt too bad about it, because after all, as far as he
was concerned, he did his job according to the orders he was given.
And the atmosphere in general, from what I understood from most of my
men who I talked to ... I don't know how to describe it ... The lives
of Palestinians, let's say, is something very, very less important
than the lives of our soldiers. So as far as they are concerned they
can justify it that way."

A second squad leader, from the same brigade, described how a company
commander ordered troops to shoot an elderly Palestinian woman who
was walking on a road about 100 metres from a house the soldiers had
taken over. He said he argued with his commander about the rules of
engagement, particularly the way they shot without warning to clear
houses.

Ha'aretz reported: "After the orders were changed, the squad leader's
soldiers complained that 'We should kill everyone there [in the
centre of Gaza]. Everyone there is a terrorist.'"

The squad leader said: "You do not get the impression from the
officers that there is any logic to it, but they won't say anything.
To write 'death to the Arabs' on the walls, to take family pictures
and spit on them, just because you can. I think this is the main
thing: to understand how much the IDF [Israel Defence Forces] has
fallen in the realm of ethics, really. It's what I'll remember the
most."

The head of the Oranim course was apparently "shocked" after hearing
the soldiers' accounts of their fighting and reported his concerns to
the army chief, Major General Gabi Ashkenazi. Ashkenazi's office
asked for a transcript of the discussion, which was provided.

The Israeli military today first denied having "any previous
knowledge or information about these incidents". Then in a later
statement it admitted that the head of the course had sent a letter
to the chief of staff's office "several weeks ago" describing the
soldiers' accounts and that the military's chief education officer
then met with the course head.

It said the military advocate general, Brigadier General Avichai
Mendelblit, today instructed the military police to investigate the
soldiers' accounts.

Zie: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/19/israeli-troops-gaza-shootings-civilians