McClatchy, 15 July 2009
JERUSALEM — Israeli combat soldiers have acknowledged that they forced Palestinian civilians to serve as human shields, needlessly killed unarmed Gazans and improperly used white phosphorus shells to burn down buildings as part of Israel's three-week military offensive in the Gaza Strip last winter.
Israeli soldiers in Gaza describe a 'moral Twilight Zone'
Many of us "bleeding hearts" here warned against the invasion of a densely populated area like Gaza. We were horrified at a modern army attacking a virtually captive populace. But the invasion was justified by people living far away from the action because Hamas was launching small rockets at Israel. Then as the invasion progressed, initial reports such as those mentioned above were denied and scoffed at as mere propaganda. The I/P debate here did change significantly as the onslaught continued and reports were being verified by witnesses and aide agencies.
Even the most vehement supporters of the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli policy were silenced as the reports of the IDF dropping phosphorus on civilians were verified. Now we have soldiers themselves admitting to war crimes. Their names are protected because they can be arrested for speaking out.
How can we now respond when we read this:
Soldiers described incidents in which Israeli forces killed an unarmed Palestinian carrying a white cloth, an elderly woman carrying a sack, a Gazan riding a motorcycle, and an elderly man with a flashlight, said Breaking the Silence, a group formed by army reservists in 2004.
i am reminded of a question asked repeatedly by Billy in that great movie "The Year of Living Dangerously", "And now what must we do?" Whenever I have been overwhelmed with many tasks confronting me all at once, I say to myself, "just do one thing." That gives me the impetus to go on and on and complete the work. In the light of these new revelations, we could do just one thing. For example:
We can write to the US State Department and request that they stop supplying Israel with white phosphorus because the IDF has criminally misused it according to their own combat troops, according to witnesses on the ground and doctors who treated the burn victims.
The white phosphorus supplied by the U.S. is supposed to be used to illuminate targets or provide smoke cover for advancing troops. It was used on civilian buildings and homes and one officer ordered WP mortars launched because "it was cool."
Main address:
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Public Communication Division:
PA/PL, Rm. 2206
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20520
202-647-6575
There's more but emotional exhaustion has set in.
Please don't forget the people of Gaza.
Update courtesy of TomJ:
Is the US funding human rights abuses in Gaza?