Israeli Veterans Break the Silence

Their testimonies tell the truth that exposes Israel’s lies and propaganda

‘Breaking the Silence’ was founded twenty years ago. It is a group of Israeli veteran soldiers and officers who have committed crimes against human beings in the course of their military service, and are speaking out about it.

The video below is a compilation of testimonies. Much of what these veteran soldiers say echoes what I have been saying about the way Israel indoctrinates its citizens.

These veterans are speaking out because they find it difficult to live with the crimes that they have colluded with, or committed. Their purpose is to counter Israel’s propaganda, and let the world know what Israel is really like.

By speaking out they are probably seeking some kind of redemption. If you cannot undo what you did, you try to do something to stop it from happening again. When you have a conscience and you feel guilt over what you did, staying silent is much harder than speaking out.

Criminal countries like Israel turn all their citizens into criminals. Some of the veterans say that ‘ordinary’ Israelis do not know about what Israel has been doing to the Palestinians. But this is not entirely accurate. The Israeli media lie and present a sanitised narrative that perpetuates the same brainwashing everyone receives in Israel. The British and US media have always done this, so Israel is hardly original. But despite what the media say there, the people do know. The role of the media is to help them rationalise, deny, minimise, or avoid. But they all know the truth.

The veterans who speak out have the capacity for empathy. Despite the brainwashing, and the heightened, intense, hyper-vigilant atmosphere that the military deliberately creates, these soldiers could see they were dealing with human beings just like them. When they finished their duties, they could no longer live with themselves.

Unfortunately, the majority of soldiers are taught to switch off their empathy, and they do. They do it willingly because to do otherwise would be unbearable. But I have no doubt this destroys them. Only psychopaths remain unaffected by the abuse they perpetrate. Most people are not psychopaths, and when they do something wrong it catches up with them at some point or another. When it does, their psychology pays a heavy price. It happens in all contexts where abuse is committed by people who are not psychopathic. Most Israeli Jews are psychologically unwell. The live with chronic anxiety and fear. Living like this has far-reaching implications to every aspect of life and human relationships.

Israel is already imploding. It is a society with no cohesiveness. The only thing that binds it together is hatred and fear of the Palestinians, and much of the rest of the world. A decisive international campaign of boycotts and sanctions will provide the necessary push to bring down Israel’s settler-colonial project once and for all. Ireland and Spain are leading the way, so maybe there is some hope on the horizon. But the longer the world waits, the more Palestinians are murdered, traumatised, and displaced. Human beings do not have time to wait when they are abused and need to be rescued and protected.

Be aware that some of the testimonies are not easy to hear, and some footage can trigger difficult feelings.

These testimonies tell you what Israel has been doing to the Palestinians for decades. What you see in Gaza now is an escalation of existing behaviours, tactics, and policies. There is much more material on Breaking the Silence website, and I encourage you to visit their website.

Israel has no leg to stand on, morally or legally, and there is no coming back from what Israel is doing.

Please share widely. People need to see this. This is the truth.

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