Femke Halsema Versus Breaking the Silence

Israeli soldiers talk about the occupied territories Dear friends, Over the past two weeks it’s been impossible to open an Israeli newspaper or watch a newscast without coming across Breaking the Silence. It's not because of anything special that we did. After all, we've just continued to talk about what we carried out in the occupied territories during our army service. It’s because in present day Israel, talking about the occupation has become a subversive act. In Israeli society, a war is currently being waged against discussing and critiquing the occupation. Now’s the time to support Breaking the Silence! To donate click here Israeli law attempts to ban BtS from schools, but the occupation can’t be kept hidden This week the attempt to silence us hit a new level of danger for our democracy, as the Knesset passed what they like to refer to as “Breaking the Silence Law” (even though the main components of the law do not actually apply to us). The law grants the Minister of Education absolute authority to prevent organizations or individual activists from entering schools if they partake in activities that promote political action against the State of Israel or prosecution of IDF soldiers abroad. Though our organization does not act to prosecute IDF soldiers, this affects us since it gives unlimited authority to far-right figures such as Bennet to choose which groups are allowed within the Israeli education system according to their own political agenda. for more details read Haaretz's report >> Here is what our executive director, Avner Gvaryahu, has to say to Bennet and Lapid, who initiated the law. Watch: The law, in its current form, will stifle human rights organizations' educational activities within educational institutions in Israel, and impose sanctions on anyone who does not align with the official position of the Israeli government’s official position. As such, this law is among the most severe violations of freedom of expression on political grounds that currently exists among Israeli legislation.   Ram Cohen, Headmaster of Tichonet High school in Tel Aviv:   "I announced that Breaking the Silence and B'Tselem will be invited to my school, so that the students will see the best people who served in Israel's wars and operations, and listen as they tell them that their country is going to perish if it continues with its current policy. This is part of an open and democratic debate in a free society." Prof. Mordechai Kremnitzer of the Israel Democracy Institute: "Bennett, when he promoted the law, failed miserably as the minister of education, in ignoring the commitment of civic education to the value of truth, also, and especially, that which is uncomfortable; to the value of criticism of government institutions, including the army; to the value of freedom of expression and opinion, which is not confined to the realm of consensus; to universal and Jewish moral values, which demand sensitivity and intolerance of injustice."  Haaretz editorial on the new silencing law: "This law is a glaring example of the way efforts to silence opposition to the occupation are undermining our entire democratic structure. Now, freedom of expression is being limited to the education minister’s position – that is, to the commissar’s political views." Read the full article here >>  For over two years, Bennett has pushed endless failed attempts to shut us up, and we're only getting stronger. Because those who truly harm IDF soldiers are politicians like him, who send us to control millions of Palestinians, but remain silent when settlers routinely attack soldiers, police officers, and Palestinians. We suggest that Bennett and his youth get off the hilltops and begin to comprehend- the only way to stop us is to end the occupation. Watch Avner Gvaryahu's interview on Kan 11 >> Birthright is finally compelled to deal with the truth about Israel: there is occupation Few weeks ago, for the first time ever, five participants from Taglit-Birthright decided to leave their group and join us on a tour of Hebron to see what the occupation looks like with their own eyes. The participants shared the entire event on Facebook Live, and sparked unprecedented international discourse on the true price of the 'free' trip to Israel. Watch If Not Now's short video on the ideology of the Taglit-Birthright project, and the right-wing supporters who fund it >> Just one week later, another group of participants in Taglit-Birthrightwalked off the program’s biased tour in Jerusalem, and joined Ir Amim’s more realistic tour in order to see the truth about the occupation in East Jerusalem. The next day they joined us for a tour in Hebron, were they had a chance to see the reality in occupied West Bank through the eyes of the soldiers who once conducted it. For years, Taglit-Birthright Israel has brought hundreds of thousands of young Jews to Israel, claiming to show them the reality in Israel, while doing everything possible to prevent them from seeing the country’s backyard - the occupied territories. Slowly but surely, more and more young diaspora Jews are getting tired of it. Former Jewish Agency Chairman Avraham Burg made a simple request to Taglit-Birthright Israel organizers: "If we have nothing to hide, let's show them everything."   Frima Bubis, a former soldier who served in the Civil Administration and BtS's Jewish diaspora coordinator,  wrote about the growing gap between the values ​​of North American Jews and the reality of the occupation. Read her article here >> Sam Sussman, co-founder and director of Extend explains in Ha’aretz why young Jews began to abandon Birthright to see the occupation with their own eyes. Read His article here >>  If Taglit-Birthright's goal is to increase the involvement of young Jews in Israel, as they claim, then they must understand that it is wrong to hide the State of Israel's backyard from them, namely the one beyond the Green Line.  Want to join a tour of the occupied territories and see the reality of the occupation with your own eyes? Click here They silence, we persist It seems like with every additional group of people we meet in our tours, lectures and events, this far-right government and its settler friends gets more hysterical and deepens its attempt to silence us. In the past few weeks we were invited to speak in two conferences initiated and held by members of Knesset: the first touched on the closure of the Gaza Strip; and the second, 'Generation without a Future: Children under Occupation,' addressed the daily realities for Palestinian children and adolescents living under Israeli occupation. We weren't at all surprised to find out that in right wing coalition within which the minister of education has no problem with the killing of eight-year-old children, the Knesset speaker will go to great lengths to censor a video we made that portrays both Israeli and Palestinian children in a rare, humane fashion. However, that, too, did not stop us from talking about what we’ve seen and done in our military service.   This is the video the Knesset speaker saw fit to censor: Lately we have been dealing with an increasing surge of violence aimed towards us during our tours in Hebron. Not only do the soldiers, but also the police, usually stand idly by and do nothing as settlers harass and attack our guides. Just a few days ago, a similar incident happened, as our Jewish diaspora coordinator, Frima Bubis, was attacked by settler kids who through a whole can of oil paint on her. These violent settlers are anxious at seeing so many participants arriving to the ghost town they have been occupying, and so they react in the only way they know how - violence and provocation. But we don’t intend to stop. On the contrary: this only proves how effective our work is, and how important it is to expose as many people as possible to the everyday reality of the occupation. Wish to support Breaking the Silence! For donations click here We're not alarmed by the attacks and attempts to silence us. We're not alarmed because we're not alone, and silencing won't help. There are over a thousand testifiers behind us, each of whom saw with their own eyes how occupation is carried out. You, too, have the opportunity to join in the fight. Invite us for a lecture, sign up for a tour of either Hebron or Area C and the village of Susiya, follow and share us on social media, and in general - keep in touch.                                                           Wishing us all a pleasant and quiet summer,                                                                                              Breaking the Silence team