i24 News..
07 May '15..
For a few days we vainly hoped that the international media would cover the Israeli military’s disproportionate response to the earthquake in Nepal. No other country of Israel's size contributed as much to help the victims. But the Israeli military teams on the ground did not interest the hordes of journalists.
But then Breaking the Silence put us back on the media stage, as if its 240-page report was timed to coincide with the return of the Israel Defense Forces humanitarian teams from Nepal. The IDF once again found itself cast as the villain, a cruel army that indiscriminately shoots at everything that moves.
Hamas is using its civilian population as a human shield? Terrorists are firing from populated areas? "It's not our problem," the numerous international media outlets have been saying since the daily Haaretz graciously served up the "explosive report" of Breaking the Silence.
The report, consisting of "testimonies" of soldiers and officers who fought in Operation Protective Edge, loses its credibility from the word go since it was commissioned and funded to the tune of $300,000 by a Palestinian Arab organization based in Ramallah, the Arab Human Rights Fund (AHRF). The Palestinian Authority uses the organization to put together "strong cases" against Israel for presentation to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Ramallah has no problem lying, and if some Israeli soldiers collaborate in the task, why refuse that gift.
The Israeli student organization Im Tirzu, which revealed the perverse link, said that Breaking the Silence is a political NGO funded by anti-Zionist circles based in Europe, and that the AHRF is in direct contact with terrorist groups such as the Global Jihad or the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The "testimonies" of those soldiers are presented, without verification, as evidence of a general decline in the ethics of the Israeli army. The upper echelons of the IDF are accused of having left the choice to open fire and the choice of targets to the discretion of field officers. Some soldiers denounce the principle of "minimum loss to the IDF even at the cost of civilian enemy deaths." Others are shocked by the extent of destruction of houses in Gaza and accuse the IDF of not respecting the distinction between gunmen and innocent civilians.
There is no worse lie than a half-truth, as the saying goes.
The Breaking the Silence report is false because it is completely decontextualized. It fails to mention this form of a new and unbalanced war between a democracy and terrorist organizations, a state of law against cynical and unscrupulous barbarians, an army that protects its civilians against terrorists who protect themselves using their civilians.
This report is immoral because it exempts the terrorists of their heavy responsibility while peering through a microscope at the slightest flaw in its own camp, which fights under extremely difficult conditions while adhering to ethical principles.
This report was compiled in bad faith, seeking minute flaws inherent in any conflict but omitting the massive efforts made by the IDF not to involve civilians, even those who distribute candy in the streets of Gaza after deadly attacks on Israel. No other army in the world would bother to preventively call people in targeted neighborhoods or to send millions of leaflets asking civilians to leave the area before the bombing of terrorist positions.
This report is malicious because possible inappropriate behavior on the battlefield should be dealt with through the chain of command and not the international media, eager to attack the Israeli soldier.
Finally the report is political because it expresses the views of soldiers with an ideological orientation, often to the extreme left, who knowingly collaborate with the international campaign to demonize Israel.
Its goal is not Breaking the Silence, but Breaking Israel.
Whoever condemns the IDF should place himself in the situation and honestly answer the following questions: what would he have done, for example, in a split second, if he found himself facing a terrorist aiming at him from behind the back of a child? Or how would he overcome a terrorist firing rockets amidst a group of children? Or from a hospital? These are the dilemmas faced by IDF soldiers in the fight against terrorism.
Looking at the faces of our soldiers it would be an insult to consider them vulgar war criminals.
We unconditionally support our brave soldiers, some of whom gave their lives, while others allow themselves to spit on their graves.
Link: http://www.i24news.tv/en/opinion/70300-150507-the-soldiers-are-not-breaking-the-silence-they-re-breaking-israel
Shraga Blum is an independent journalist. He publishes a weekly press review in the "P'tit Hebdo" and political analysis on Israeli-French language sites.
Related: Publication of Israeli soldiers' accounts clouded by political agenda - Gerald Steinberg
Breaking the Silence: A Middleman For Anonymous Sources - Honest Reporting
A Closer Look at Who Funds Breaking the Silence - CAMERA Snapshots
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