Breaking the silence
Encyclopedia
Breaking The Silence ( Shovrim Shtika) is an Israel
i Non-Governmental Organization
(NGO) established by Israel Defense Forces
(IDF) soldiers and veterans who collect and provide testimonies about their military service in the West Bank
, Gaza Strip
, and East Jerusalem
during the Second Intifada, giving serving and discharged Israeli personnel and reservist
s a platform to confidentially describe their experience in the Israeli-occupied territories
.
The organization's stated mission is to 'break the silence' of IDF soldiers who return to civilian life in Israel and "discover the gap between the reality which they encountered in the [occupied] territories, and the silence which they encounter at home." Since 2004, Breaking the Silence has run a testimonies collection project called "Soldiers Speak Out" They have collected several hundred testimonies from "those who have, during their service in the IDF, the Border Guard, and the Security Forces, played a role in the Occupied Territories." By publishing soldiers' accounts, Breaking the Silence hopes to "force Israeli society to address the reality which it created" and face the truth about "abuse towards Palestinians, looting, and destruction of property" that is familiar to soldiers.
. The three were motivated by a desire for Israel to "confront the truth about its policies". The exhibition was attended by thousands and the organization has since become a vehicle for serving and ex-service personnel of the IDF to record their testimonies, attracting hundred of members.
Shaul, who served with the IDF Nachal
unit’s 50th battalion in Hebron
by completing two tours of duty, is the executive director
of BtS. Mikhael Manekin is director of BtS. The organisation's main aim is "to break the silence and taboo surrounding the behaviour of Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian territories"
The organization had a hostile response from Israeli establishment since 2004. Government pressure particularly increased after the group disclosed confessions from soldiers who took part in the Gaza bombing in 2009-09.
In May 2011, 24 former soldiers of the IDF provided testimonies describing the "neighbor procedure". The neighbor procedure uses Palestinian civilians as human shields to protect soldiers from suspected booby traps or attacks by militants. Some of the testimonies described the daily harassment at military checkpoints and deliberate ransacking of homes.
amounting to NIS 229,949 and funding from international governments. In 2008, according to the NGO's presentation to the Jerusalem Post
, the British Embassy in Tel Aviv
gave the organization NIS 226,589 (c €40,000); the Dutch Embassy donated €19,999; and the European Union
gave €43,514. In addition, during 2008, Spain is reported to have provided tens of thousands of euros to fund patrols run by Breaking the Silence in Hebron
. The Women Soldiers’ Testimonies report published as part of the NGO's in January 2010 was funded by The Moriah Foundation, The New Israel Fund, ICCO, SIVMO, Oxfam
GB, The British Embassy in Tel Aviv, the EU, and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation.
"Breaking the Silence" representatives who tour to campuses and US Jewish communities, criticizing the IDF policy in the West Bank
are sponsored by Jewish and Palestinian organizations.
Forces, played a role in the Occupied Territories."
In June 2004 Breaking the Silence produced a photo exhibition at Yad Eliahu Institute in Tel Aviv detailing some of the alleged abuses of Palestinians in Hebron
. It also released a report on the West Bank
city of Hevron state of affairs including 39 eyewitness accounts and testimonies of Israeli soldiers.
In addition to publishing written and videotaped reports on its website, members of the group have carried out speaking tours throughout Israel, Western Europe
and the United States
. Some of the incidents reported by members of the movement have stirred public debates in Israel with respect to the implications of its ongoing occupation of Palestinian territories.
at the Yitzak Rabin pre-military course
at Oranim Academic College at Kiryat Tiv'on caused an international furor. The Palestinian accusations of indiscriminate and disproportionate fire-power being used in civilian areas during the ground assault, that the Israeli government had dismissed as "Palestinian propaganda", had apparently been backed by IDF testimonies at post operation discussions. The IDF conducted an investigation and the Military Advocate General
announced that the soldiers testimonies regarding civilians being shot were based on hearsay
and no corroborating evidence was found.
Breaking the Silence confirmed it had also taken testimony, from soldiers who took part in the Gaza assault, of a similar nature to the allegations made by soldiers at the conference of graduates of the Yitzak Rabin pre-military course. On 15 July 2009 'Breaking the Silence' published a new booklet "Soldiers' Testimonies from Operation Cast Lead, Gaza 2009". According to Breaking the Silence the booklet compiles the testimonies of about 30 reserve and regular combat soldiers from various units that participated in the fighting. 54 testimonies/stories reveal the use of "firing of phosphorus gas in the direction of populated areas, the killing of innocent victims [using] small arms, destruction of hundreds of houses and mosques for no military purpose." Testimonies also claimed that a tactic called 'Neighbor Procedure' was used, in which civilians, referred to as 'the Johnnie' were used as human shields and forced to enter buildings ahead of soldiers. The soldiers testimonies also included what The Times
described as "the role of military rabbis in distributing booklets that framed the fighting as a religious war."
Many of the soldiers allege they were given orders by their commanders to prevent harm to Israeli soldiers by any means necessary. They stated that brigade, battalion, and company commanders gave morale-building conversations before combat that led to "zero patience for the life of enemy civilians". According to the authors, the testimonies expose significant gaps between the official stances of the Israeli military and events on the ground.
The Israeli military dismissed the July 2009 report, saying that it was "investigating many of the requests from NGOs and other groups... But when you have a report that is based on hearsay, with no facts whatsoever, we can't do anything with it." It said that in the past some allegations had turned out to be second or third-hand accounts, rather than the witnesses' own experience.
Breaking the Silence argues that it verifies all of its information by cross-referencing the testimonies it collects. The material that is eventually published has been confirmed by a number of testimonies, from several different points of view. Breaking the Silence also made it clear that the personal details of the soldiers quoted in the collection, and the exact location of the incidents described in the testimonies, would readily be made available to any official and independent investigation of the events, as long as the identity of the testifiers did not become public.
According to Arutz Sheva
, in July 2009, an op-ed written by Abdallah al-Hadlaq appeared in the Kuwait
i newspaper Al-Watan
criticizing the allegations in the report as 'unfair, unbalanced, and lacking in proof' and BtS for not mentioning the Hamas exploitation of civilian facilities.
published excerpts that it described as "systematic humiliation of Palestinians, reckless and cruel violence, theft, killing of innocent people and cover-up." The IDF's Spokesperson's Office
, responding to the publication stated "These are anonymous testimonies, without any mention of a time or a place, and their reliability cannot be examined in any way. The IDF is a controlled state organization, which learns and draws lessons, and cooperates with any serious body with the shared goal of exhausting any inquiry when such an examination is inquired."
, the Netherlands
and Spain
of NGOs "with a clear anti-government agenda", and made attempts to dissuade the governments from continuing that funding. In relation to Spain's provision of tens of thousands of euros to fund patrols run by Breaking the Silence in Hebron, Israel said that this funding was disproportionate to that for human rights organizations in Arab countries. The Israeli Ambassador to the Netherlands said that Israel was a democracy and that such funds should go to places without it. Breaking the Silence was a "legal and legitimate organization", he said, but its funding by the Dutch government was unreasonable "in light of the political sensitivities." Another senior Israeli official said: "A friendly government cannot fund opposition bodies. We are not a third world country."
After its report on Gaza, Breaking the Silence came under severe criticism from the government of Israel. In response to criticism ten Israeli based human rights organizations have written a petition
("Do not silence 'Breaking the Silence") against the 'aggressive repression of the organization by the Foreign Ministry of Israel and other governmental agents' which reached its peak when the government attempted to interfere with the group’s funding. The petitioning organizations have publicly declared support for Breaking the Silence.
Journalist Jonathan Cook
reported that the government campaign is reported to be the brainchild of the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs
and Deputy Prime Minister of Israel Avigdor Lieberman, but has the backing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
. Ehud Barak
, Israel's defence minister, said: "Criticism directed at the IDF by one organisation or another is inappropriate and is directed at the wrong place." The head of the Israel Police
's Hebron
district, Commander Avshalom Peled said "Organizations such as Bnei Avraham and Breaking the Silence are wolves in sheeps' clothing" and "The left-wing organizations have become an even greater threat than the anarchists." MK Zahava Gal-On (Meretz) responded to the report saying "It would seem as though the police are working for the Kahanist and fascist groups in Hebron. I call on the internal security minister to conduct an investigation into the conduct of police forces in Hebron."
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i Non-Governmental Organization
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
(NGO) established by Israel Defense Forces
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
(IDF) soldiers and veterans who collect and provide testimonies about their military service in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
, Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
, and East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem or Eastern Jerusalem refer to the parts of Jerusalem captured and annexed by Jordan in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and then captured and annexed by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War...
during the Second Intifada, giving serving and discharged Israeli personnel and reservist
Reservist
A reservist is a person who is a member of a military reserve force. They are otherwise civilians, and in peacetime have careers outside the military. Reservists usually go for training on an annual basis to refresh their skills. This person is usually a former active-duty member of the armed...
s a platform to confidentially describe their experience in the Israeli-occupied territories
Israeli-occupied territories
The Israeli-occupied territories are the territories which have been designated as occupied territory by the United Nations and other international organizations, governments and others to refer to the territory seized by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967 from Egypt, Jordan, and Syria...
.
The organization's stated mission is to 'break the silence' of IDF soldiers who return to civilian life in Israel and "discover the gap between the reality which they encountered in the [occupied] territories, and the silence which they encounter at home." Since 2004, Breaking the Silence has run a testimonies collection project called "Soldiers Speak Out" They have collected several hundred testimonies from "those who have, during their service in the IDF, the Border Guard, and the Security Forces, played a role in the Occupied Territories." By publishing soldiers' accounts, Breaking the Silence hopes to "force Israeli society to address the reality which it created" and face the truth about "abuse towards Palestinians, looting, and destruction of property" that is familiar to soldiers.
History
In 2004, Avichai Sharon, Yehuda Shaul and Noam Chayut exhibited a series of photographs and written accounts from IDF soldiers who had served in the city of HebronHebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
. The three were motivated by a desire for Israel to "confront the truth about its policies". The exhibition was attended by thousands and the organization has since become a vehicle for serving and ex-service personnel of the IDF to record their testimonies, attracting hundred of members.
Shaul, who served with the IDF Nachal
Nahal
Nahal is an Israel Defense Forces infantry brigade. Historically, it refers to a program that combines military service and establishment of new agricultural settlements, often in outlying areas...
unit’s 50th battalion in Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
by completing two tours of duty, is the executive director
Executive director
Executive director is a term sometimes applied to the chief executive officer or managing director of an organization, company, or corporation. It is widely used in North American non-profit organizations, though in recent decades many U.S. nonprofits have adopted the title "President/CEO"...
of BtS. Mikhael Manekin is director of BtS. The organisation's main aim is "to break the silence and taboo surrounding the behaviour of Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian territories"
The organization had a hostile response from Israeli establishment since 2004. Government pressure particularly increased after the group disclosed confessions from soldiers who took part in the Gaza bombing in 2009-09.
In May 2011, 24 former soldiers of the IDF provided testimonies describing the "neighbor procedure". The neighbor procedure uses Palestinian civilians as human shields to protect soldiers from suspected booby traps or attacks by militants. Some of the testimonies described the daily harassment at military checkpoints and deliberate ransacking of homes.
Funding
Breaking the Silence is funded through various grants it receives from Israeli and international donor community. In 2007, Breaking the Silence received a total of NIS 500,000, and in 2008 it was able to raise NIS 1.5 million, around €275,000. This included funding from the New Israel FundNew Israel Fund
The New Israel Fund is a U.S. based non-profit organization established in 1979, and describes its objective as social justice and equality for all Israelis.-Ideology:...
amounting to NIS 229,949 and funding from international governments. In 2008, according to the NGO's presentation to the Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English-language broadsheet newspaper, founded on December 1, 1932 by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post. The daily readership numbers do not approach those of the major Hebrew newspapers....
, the British Embassy in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
gave the organization NIS 226,589 (c €40,000); the Dutch Embassy donated €19,999; and the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
gave €43,514. In addition, during 2008, Spain is reported to have provided tens of thousands of euros to fund patrols run by Breaking the Silence in Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
. The Women Soldiers’ Testimonies report published as part of the NGO's in January 2010 was funded by The Moriah Foundation, The New Israel Fund, ICCO, SIVMO, Oxfam
Oxfam
Oxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...
GB, The British Embassy in Tel Aviv, the EU, and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation.
"Breaking the Silence" representatives who tour to campuses and US Jewish communities, criticizing the IDF policy in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
are sponsored by Jewish and Palestinian organizations.
Methods used
Since 2004, Breaking the Silence has run a testimonies collection project called “Soldiers Speak Out” They have collected several hundred testimonies from "those who have, during their service in the IDF, the Border Guard, and the SecurityForces, played a role in the Occupied Territories."
Anonymous soldier testimony
Breaking the Silence's most controversial method is anonymous soldier testimony. The Israeli military has claimed that anonymity of some of the testimonies used by Breaking the Silence has led to failures in the investigation of reported incidents. Breaking the Silence maintains that the anonymity is necessary because of alleged orders by IDF against speaking out publicly. The organization has however stated that personal details of soldiers can be provided to official and independent investigations, if the identities of soldiers are not made public.In June 2004 Breaking the Silence produced a photo exhibition at Yad Eliahu Institute in Tel Aviv detailing some of the alleged abuses of Palestinians in Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
. It also released a report on the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
city of Hevron state of affairs including 39 eyewitness accounts and testimonies of Israeli soldiers.
In addition to publishing written and videotaped reports on its website, members of the group have carried out speaking tours throughout Israel, Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Some of the incidents reported by members of the movement have stirred public debates in Israel with respect to the implications of its ongoing occupation of Palestinian territories.
Hebron tours
BtS is conducting tours to Hebron for the Israeli public. The tours are limited because of alleged settlers attacks. In June 2008, police District Commander Avshalom Peled said that BtS provokes settlers in hope of producing a violent response, and that the organization's behavior is "severe and dangerous". Police further claimed that BtS had held an illegal rally during a Hebron tour on 25 April.Gaza conflict
A post operation discussion on the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict
The Gaza War, known as Operation Cast Lead in Israel and as the Gaza Massacre in the Arab world, was a three-week bombing and invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israel, and hundreds of rocket attacks on south of Israel which...
at the Yitzak Rabin pre-military course
Rabin Pre-Military Academy
The Rabin Pre-Military Academy is a secular mechinah for high-school graduates in Israel, located at the Oranim College in the Western Galilee...
at Oranim Academic College at Kiryat Tiv'on caused an international furor. The Palestinian accusations of indiscriminate and disproportionate fire-power being used in civilian areas during the ground assault, that the Israeli government had dismissed as "Palestinian propaganda", had apparently been backed by IDF testimonies at post operation discussions. The IDF conducted an investigation and the Military Advocate General
Military Advocate General
The Military Advocate General assists the Israel Defense Forces in imposing rules of conduct through legal advice, legal instruction, maintaining the mechanisms for military prosecution and legal defense, and fulfilling special legal tasks...
announced that the soldiers testimonies regarding civilians being shot were based on hearsay
Hearsay
Hearsay is information gathered by one person from another person concerning some event, condition, or thing of which the first person had no direct experience. When submitted as evidence, such statements are called hearsay evidence. As a legal term, "hearsay" can also have the narrower meaning of...
and no corroborating evidence was found.
Breaking the Silence confirmed it had also taken testimony, from soldiers who took part in the Gaza assault, of a similar nature to the allegations made by soldiers at the conference of graduates of the Yitzak Rabin pre-military course. On 15 July 2009 'Breaking the Silence' published a new booklet "Soldiers' Testimonies from Operation Cast Lead, Gaza 2009". According to Breaking the Silence the booklet compiles the testimonies of about 30 reserve and regular combat soldiers from various units that participated in the fighting. 54 testimonies/stories reveal the use of "firing of phosphorus gas in the direction of populated areas, the killing of innocent victims [using] small arms, destruction of hundreds of houses and mosques for no military purpose." Testimonies also claimed that a tactic called 'Neighbor Procedure' was used, in which civilians, referred to as 'the Johnnie' were used as human shields and forced to enter buildings ahead of soldiers. The soldiers testimonies also included what The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
described as "the role of military rabbis in distributing booklets that framed the fighting as a religious war."
Many of the soldiers allege they were given orders by their commanders to prevent harm to Israeli soldiers by any means necessary. They stated that brigade, battalion, and company commanders gave morale-building conversations before combat that led to "zero patience for the life of enemy civilians". According to the authors, the testimonies expose significant gaps between the official stances of the Israeli military and events on the ground.
The Israeli military dismissed the July 2009 report, saying that it was "investigating many of the requests from NGOs and other groups... But when you have a report that is based on hearsay, with no facts whatsoever, we can't do anything with it." It said that in the past some allegations had turned out to be second or third-hand accounts, rather than the witnesses' own experience.
Breaking the Silence argues that it verifies all of its information by cross-referencing the testimonies it collects. The material that is eventually published has been confirmed by a number of testimonies, from several different points of view. Breaking the Silence also made it clear that the personal details of the soldiers quoted in the collection, and the exact location of the incidents described in the testimonies, would readily be made available to any official and independent investigation of the events, as long as the identity of the testifiers did not become public.
According to Arutz Sheva
Arutz Sheva
Arutz Sheva is an Israeli media network identifying with Religious Zionism. It offers online news in English, Hebrew, French, Spanish and Russian. Arutz Sheva offers free podcasts, live streaming radio, a daily email news update, streaming video and 24 hour updated text news...
, in July 2009, an op-ed written by Abdallah al-Hadlaq appeared in the Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
i newspaper Al-Watan
Al-Watan (Kuwait)
The Al-Watan is a Kuwaiti Arabic language daily published by the Al-Watan publishing house. The editor in chief was Muhammad 'Abed al-Qader al-Jasem until 2005, when Sheikh Khalifa Ali al Khalifa al Sabah, a member of the Kuwaiti ruling family, took over....
criticizing the allegations in the report as 'unfair, unbalanced, and lacking in proof' and BtS for not mentioning the Hamas exploitation of civilian facilities.
Women soldiers’ testimonies
In January 2010, Breaking the Silence released a booklet called "Women Soldiers’ Testimonies" as part of their testimonies collection project "Soldiers Speak Out". The booklet contains 96 anonymous testimonies from more than 40 female officers, commanders and soldiers in various units who served as combatants and in supporting combat roles in the Israeli-occupied territories since the year 2000. The booklet lists the rank, unit and location of the soldiers who provided the testimonies. YnetnewsYnetnews
Ynetnews is the online English language Israeli news website of Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel’s most-read newspaper, and the Hebrew Israel news portal, Ynet...
published excerpts that it described as "systematic humiliation of Palestinians, reckless and cruel violence, theft, killing of innocent people and cover-up." The IDF's Spokesperson's Office
IDF Spokesperson's Unit
The IDF Spokesperson's Unit is the unit in the IDF Operations Directorate, responsible for information policy and media relations. The unit is led by the IDF Spokesperson, a brigadier general and member of the General Staff, and by the Deputy Spokesperson, a colonel. The current Spokesperson is...
, responding to the publication stated "These are anonymous testimonies, without any mention of a time or a place, and their reliability cannot be examined in any way. The IDF is a controlled state organization, which learns and draws lessons, and cooperates with any serious body with the shared goal of exhausting any inquiry when such an examination is inquired."
Israeli government criticism
Israel has protested the international government funding of Breaking the Silence. It made clear that it objected to the funding by BritainUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
of NGOs "with a clear anti-government agenda", and made attempts to dissuade the governments from continuing that funding. In relation to Spain's provision of tens of thousands of euros to fund patrols run by Breaking the Silence in Hebron, Israel said that this funding was disproportionate to that for human rights organizations in Arab countries. The Israeli Ambassador to the Netherlands said that Israel was a democracy and that such funds should go to places without it. Breaking the Silence was a "legal and legitimate organization", he said, but its funding by the Dutch government was unreasonable "in light of the political sensitivities." Another senior Israeli official said: "A friendly government cannot fund opposition bodies. We are not a third world country."
After its report on Gaza, Breaking the Silence came under severe criticism from the government of Israel. In response to criticism ten Israeli based human rights organizations have written a petition
Petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....
("Do not silence 'Breaking the Silence") against the 'aggressive repression of the organization by the Foreign Ministry of Israel and other governmental agents' which reached its peak when the government attempted to interfere with the group’s funding. The petitioning organizations have publicly declared support for Breaking the Silence.
Journalist Jonathan Cook
Jonathan Cook
Jonathan Cook is a British writer and a freelance journalist based in Nazareth, Israel, who writes about the Middle East, and more specifically, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.-Background:...
reported that the government campaign is reported to be the brainchild of the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs
Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel
The Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel is the political head of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The position is one of the most important in the Israeli cabinet after Prime Minister and Defense Minister...
and Deputy Prime Minister of Israel Avigdor Lieberman, but has the backing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He serves also as the Chairman of the Likud Party, as a Knesset member, as the Health Minister of Israel, as the Pensioner Affairs Minister of Israel and as the Economic Strategy Minister of Israel.Netanyahu is the first and, to...
. Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak is an Israeli politician who served as Prime Minister from 1999 until 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until January 2011 and holds the posts of Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister in Binyamin Netanyahu's government....
, Israel's defence minister, said: "Criticism directed at the IDF by one organisation or another is inappropriate and is directed at the wrong place." The head of the Israel Police
Israel Police
The Israel Police is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fighting, traffic control, maintaining public safety, and counter-terrorism...
's Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
district, Commander Avshalom Peled said "Organizations such as Bnei Avraham and Breaking the Silence are wolves in sheeps' clothing" and "The left-wing organizations have become an even greater threat than the anarchists." MK Zahava Gal-On (Meretz) responded to the report saying "It would seem as though the police are working for the Kahanist and fascist groups in Hebron. I call on the internal security minister to conduct an investigation into the conduct of police forces in Hebron."
Other criticism and controversy
In July 2009, journalist Amos Harel published in Ha’aretz: “Breaking the Silence...has a clear political agenda, and can no longer be classed as a ‘human rights organization.’ Any organization whose website includes the claim by members to expose the ‘corruption which permeates the military system’ is not a neutral observer. The organization has a clear agenda: to expose the consequences of IDF troops serving in the West Bank and Gaza. This seems more of interest to its members than seeking justice for specific injustices.”See also
- IDF Code of Conduct against militants and Palestinian civilians
External links
- Official website (English)
- Soldier Testimonies
- Breaking The Silence - publications
- Download Booklet "Soldiers' Testimonies from Operation Cast Lead, Gaza 2009" published by BtS on 15 July 2009
- Women Soldiers' Testimonies 2009
- Occupation of the Territories 2000-2010
- Testimonies from Hebron 2008-2010
- CounterPunchCounterpunchCounterpunch can refer to:* Counterpunch , a punch in boxing* CounterPunch, a bi-weekly political newsletter* Counterpunch , a type of punch used in traditional typography* Punch-Counterpunch, a Transformers character...
, 4 August 2009, Israel's Campaign to Silence Human Rights Groups - Full text of the Petition Letter publicly supporting Breaking the Silence dated 2 August 2009 from The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, BimkomBimkomBimkom - Planners for Planning Rights is an Israeli non-profit organization established in May 1999 by planners and architects seeking to address human rights concerns in their spatial and urban designs. Bimkom's goals include retroactively legalizing illegal construction in Arab neighborhoods...
, B'TselemB'TselemB'Tselem is an Israeli non-governmental organization . It calls itself "The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories"...
, GishaGishaGisha , originally KEYSHA is a neighbourhood in Tehran, Iran. The neighborhood is known as a center for youth recreation, shopping, and dating...
, Hamoked: Center for the Defense of the IndividualHamokedHaMoked an Israel based human rights organization founded by Dr. Lotte Salzberger with the stated aim of assisting "Palestinians subjected to the Israeli occupation which causes severe and ongoing violation of their rights." HaMoked works for the enforcement of the standards and values of...
, The Public Committee Against TorturePublic Committee Against Torture in IsraelThe Public Committee Against Torture in Israel is an Israeli human rights organisation specifically dedicated to combating torture, and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment and punishment...
, Yesh DinYesh DinYesh Din is an Israeli human rights group providing legal assistance to citizens of the Palestinian territories. Its name comes from a Hebrew phrase meaning “there is law”...
, AdalahAdalahAdalah means justice and denotes The Justice of God. It is among the five Shia Principles of the Religion.The Shias believe that there is intrinsic good or evil in things, and that God commands them to do the good things and shun the evil...
, Physicians for Human Rights-IsraelPhysicians for Human RightsPhysicians for Human Rights was founded in 1986 by a small group of doctors who believed the unique scientific expertise and authority of health professionals could bring human rights violations to light and provide justice for victims...
, Rabbis for Human RightsRabbis for Human RightsRabbis for Human Rights-Israel is an Israeli human rights organisation describing itself as "the rabbinic voice of conscience in Israel, giving voice to the Jewish tradition of human rights"....
. - Full Text of Reaction of IDF to "Breaking the Silence" human rights report dated 15 July 2009 published at Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel's Official website.