Rio
08-11-06, 01:57
Breaking The Silence Because It’s time To Tell ! (http://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/how_we_are_en.asp)
Since our discharge from the army, we all feel that we have become different. We feel that service in the occupied territories and the incidents we faced have distorted and harmed the moral values on which we grew up.
We all agree that as long as Israeli society keeps sending its best people to military combat service in the occupied territories, it is extremely important that all of us, Israeli citizens, know the price which the generation who is fighting in the territories is paying, the impossible situations it is facing, the insanity it is confronting everyday, and the heavy burden it bears after being discharged from the IDF – a heavy burden that hasn’t left us.
That’s why we decided to break the silence, because it’s time to tell. Time to tell about everything that goes on there each and every day.
We all served in the territories. Some served in Gaza, some in Hebron, some in Bethlehem and the rest served in other places. We all manned checkpoints, participated in patrols and arrests and took part in the war against terror.
We all realized that the daily struggle against terror and the daily interaction with the civilian population has left us helpless. Our sense of justice was distorted, and so were our morality and emotions.
The reality we experienced was made of: Innocent civilians being hurt, Kids not going to school because of the curfew, and parents who can’t bring food home because they can’t go to work. This reality has stayed us and will not go away. After discharge from the army, we decided that we shouldn’t go on. We shouldn’t forget what we ourselves did and what we witnessed. We decided to break the silence.
Our first initiative was the exhibition. The “Breaking the Silence- Fighters Tell about Hebron” exhibition grew out of our will to show at home what we had never shown before. For the first time, we opened a window to the world of soldiers serving in Hebron. The reaction was overwhelming. Thousands came to see the exhibition: citizens, members of parliament, and perhaps most important – soldiers and their families.
We began to investigate, interview and document hundreds of former combat soldiers. All this was done under guarantee of full confidentiality to all those who contact us in order to testify. The amount of testimonies we have gathered proves time and again that it is not a matter of “exceptional cases” or “stray weeds”. It is a dangerous phenomenon growing from day to day. Things that were once exceptional have become the norm. Israeli society must know the price it is paying for every soldier serving in the occupied territories. Israeli society must realize the trap we are caught in, because while the army is trying to deal with the threat posed by terror, it is creating a disaster.
We are discharged soldiers who have decided not to keep silent. To stop keeping to ourselves everything we’ve been through in the past 3 years. So far, hundreds of discharged combat soldiers have decided to break the silence and every day more people follow.
During our combat service we’ve handled many different missions. We have one mission left: to talk, tell and not keep anything hidden.
“Breaking The Silence” (“Shovrim Shtika” in Hebrew) should serve as a warning sign to Israeli society. We are alerting about irreversible corruption.
Since our discharge from the army, we all feel that we have become different. We feel that service in the occupied territories and the incidents we faced have distorted and harmed the moral values on which we grew up.
We all agree that as long as Israeli society keeps sending its best people to military combat service in the occupied territories, it is extremely important that all of us, Israeli citizens, know the price which the generation who is fighting in the territories is paying, the impossible situations it is facing, the insanity it is confronting everyday, and the heavy burden it bears after being discharged from the IDF – a heavy burden that hasn’t left us.
That’s why we decided to break the silence, because it’s time to tell. Time to tell about everything that goes on there each and every day.
We all served in the territories. Some served in Gaza, some in Hebron, some in Bethlehem and the rest served in other places. We all manned checkpoints, participated in patrols and arrests and took part in the war against terror.
We all realized that the daily struggle against terror and the daily interaction with the civilian population has left us helpless. Our sense of justice was distorted, and so were our morality and emotions.
The reality we experienced was made of: Innocent civilians being hurt, Kids not going to school because of the curfew, and parents who can’t bring food home because they can’t go to work. This reality has stayed us and will not go away. After discharge from the army, we decided that we shouldn’t go on. We shouldn’t forget what we ourselves did and what we witnessed. We decided to break the silence.
Our first initiative was the exhibition. The “Breaking the Silence- Fighters Tell about Hebron” exhibition grew out of our will to show at home what we had never shown before. For the first time, we opened a window to the world of soldiers serving in Hebron. The reaction was overwhelming. Thousands came to see the exhibition: citizens, members of parliament, and perhaps most important – soldiers and their families.
We began to investigate, interview and document hundreds of former combat soldiers. All this was done under guarantee of full confidentiality to all those who contact us in order to testify. The amount of testimonies we have gathered proves time and again that it is not a matter of “exceptional cases” or “stray weeds”. It is a dangerous phenomenon growing from day to day. Things that were once exceptional have become the norm. Israeli society must know the price it is paying for every soldier serving in the occupied territories. Israeli society must realize the trap we are caught in, because while the army is trying to deal with the threat posed by terror, it is creating a disaster.
We are discharged soldiers who have decided not to keep silent. To stop keeping to ourselves everything we’ve been through in the past 3 years. So far, hundreds of discharged combat soldiers have decided to break the silence and every day more people follow.
During our combat service we’ve handled many different missions. We have one mission left: to talk, tell and not keep anything hidden.
“Breaking The Silence” (“Shovrim Shtika” in Hebrew) should serve as a warning sign to Israeli society. We are alerting about irreversible corruption.