My friend Shai, who was assigned to accompany two prisoners en route to Shin Bet interrogators, told me that the interrogators ordered the soldiers to finish their meals and put the remains from the plates into a sandwich for the Palestinians. Shai refused - "Are we Nazis?" - and gave them half his meal. He also told me that when the Palestinians offered some of the food back to the soldiers, the Shin Bet men tossed it out the window, saying, "Don't eat food after an Arab's touched it."This is mild as far as stories go, but it reveals the depth of racism inherent in the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
It was an interesting article to me, because I find myself often wondering what is going through the minds of these Israeli soldiers as they force Palestinian shepherds off their land, harass Palestinians at checkpoints, and refuse to escort Palestinian children to school (and the children are attacked by Israeli settlers as a result.)
If you're interested in leaning more in the same vein, I'd highly recommend you visit the website of Breaking the Silence, an organization of veteran Israeli soldiers that collects testimonies of soldiers who have served in Israeli military in its occupation of Palestine.
The amount of good documentation and information of human rights abuses committed by Israeli occupation of Palestine is incredible. This information comes from such a variety of sources, as well: Palestinian, Israeli, and international. Yet the world continues to turn a blind eye and stand idly by in the face of such incredible injustice.
This fact so deeply troubles me. But I suppose it's best not to think about it too much.
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