How to spend 40 years morally corrupting a society

The banality of Israel’s evil occupation is laid bare with startling descriptions in the new book by Israeli group Breaking the Silence. Former IDF soldiers recount the daily beatings, humiliation, violence and degradation handed out to Palestinians. It’s routine. It’s normalised. And it’s backed by most Western powers:

Testimony 48: “In reality you are just abusing the population”

What operations did you do in South Mount Hebron?

It’s the same operations, lookout activity. Sometimes we would”¦ the brigade would try to play with us. We would go on missions of”¦ we would join some infantry company or organize some kind of team, they would go into a house, just do whatever”¦ as a demonstration of presence. In order to draw”¦ it’s a mission which has a kind of logic, but in reality you are just abusing the population. You arrive”¦ the idea is like this: The infantry team takes control of some house; and we take one under cover so no one will know.

The Same House?


The Soldiers?


What time was this?


At dawn?


They are innocent, so you enter their house?


Where was the family?

I think they threw them out

Where was this?


It’s not an unordinary activity?

It is an activity that the infantrymen do.

Did you do it more than once or twice?

Yes, yes.

It was routine?
