"The lives and property of Palestinians have no value whatsoever"

As he so often does, Gideon Levy cuts to the heart of the matter:

The soldiers' transgressions are an inevitable result of the orders given during this brutal operation, and they are the natural continuation of the last nine years, when soldiers killed nearly 5,000 Palestinians, at least half of them innocent civilians, nearly 1,000 of them children and teenagers.

Everything the soldiers described from Gaza, everything, occurred during these blood-soaked years as if they were routine events. It was the context, not the principle, that was different. An army whose armored corps has yet to encounter an enemy tank and whose pilots have yet to face an enemy combat jet in 36 years has been trained to think that the only function of a tank is to crush civilian cars and that a pilot's job is to bomb residential neighborhoods.

To do this without any unnecessary moral qualms we have trained our soldiers to think that the lives and property of Palestinians have no value whatsoever. It is part of a process of dehumanization that has endured for dozens of years, the fruits of the occupation.

It's honest, fearless Israelis like Levy who give me hope that Israel might just have a chance of pulling back from its insane descent into the moral abyss.

By the way, if you're wondering what he means by "the only function of a tank is to crush civilian cars", here's an example:

I took this picture in 2002 a few blocks from Arafat's compound in Ramallah (just before we headed to the compound).  As you can see, the Israelis not only used tanks to crush cars, they actually used the crushed cars to build roadblocks.  Hey, at least they weren't letting them go to waste.

The Israelis had crushed all the cars in the parking lot outside Arafat's compound, too.  It's just a thing with them.

Comments

[gfod]

Can you imagine getting up in the morning and wondering where you parked your car. Or trying to file an insurance claim because your house was ransacked and all your worldly possessions (literally) shit upon. I don't know how Palestinians live like this, day after day, year after year, decade after decade.

[eric]

It would be even better if both sides recognized the other as human beings.

[John Caruso]

Yes, I remember thinking the same thing in the 1980's about whites and blacks in South Africa.

[eric]

So, history is not your strong point. Good luck in your other endeavors.

[John Caruso]

Nor Desmond Tutu's.

[eric]

"When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews - this is God's own truth...anti-Zionist is inherently antisemitic, and ever will be so."
Marin Luther King, Jr.---who understood history

[John Caruso]

Thanks for demonstrating your deep knowledge of history by vectoring a fabricated quote, eric. But when you choose to be an apologist for land theft, ethnic cleansing, racism and mass murder, I suppose there's not much point in being picky about the details.

And thanks also for claiming that criticizing Israel = hating Jews; I really appreciate it when Israel's groupies deploy this absurd tactic, since the more you do it, the more you reveal how morally bankrupt your cause is. So by all means, keep it up.

gfod: No, I can't. I imagine that for a Palestinian it's a relief every time they come out and find their car hasn't been crushed by an Israeli tank.

[eric]

The quote is a fake.

Now, Hamas cites The Protocols of the Elders of Zion in its Charter. A fabricated bit of Jew-hating. Does that make its cause "morally bankrupt?"
Hell no, not in hypocrisy land of the left.

[eric]

Curious what you would find just solution to bloodletting in ME:

1. Jewish state behind '48 borders.
2. Jewish state behind '67 borders, both giving piece of Jerusalem to Palestine.
3. No Jewish state at all.

Since #s 1 and 3 seem impossible without huge slaughter, could you live with #2? Would the Palestinians?

[John Caruso]

Yes, eric, it was your use of a fabricated quote that made me identify your cause as "morally bankrupt". Clearly your reading comprehension and command of basic logic are right up there with your knowledge of history.

In answer to your question, the Palestinians, even including Hamas's leadership, have expressed their willingness to go along with the international consensus on a final resolution. It's only Israel that opposes it, since it would mean they'd finally have to stop stealing other people's land.

[eric]

Ah yes, John, your trust in Hamas' leadership is touching.
The quote I used--had no idea it was fabricated.
What that mistake has to do with either reading comprehension or logic only you can dream up.
I do not accept what Israel's leadership says at face value.
That you accept the assurances from that of Hamas tells me more about you than about Hamas.
The Palestinians--as, sad to say, the Israelis too--deserve more thoughtful, humane and honest supporters in the USA.
But John, carry on in your tirades and jr high ad hominem attacks. It's what you expect from the New Left.

[John Caruso]

...carry on in your tirades and jr high ad hominem attacks.

As someone who waded in here with "So, history is not your strong point. Good luck in your other endeavors", you're certainly speaking from a lofty moral perch.

Thanks for the comments; it's been entertaining, if nothing else.

[eric]

The South Africa-Israel comparison reveals the pitfalls of historic analogy.
But glad to have given you a sliver of entertainment, my fellow American.

[KDelphi]

Ah, yes, the pitalls of historic analogy. The pitfalls of fake quotes...

[Quin]

Ahem, if I may step in and change the direction of conversation for a bit...

John, you keep on referring in passing to a visit you made to the Palestinian Territories a few years back. Do you have any posts up where you detail a bit more about this trip? Or if not-- mind writing one some time?

[John Caruso]

I appreciate you asking, Quin. I actually wrote up my entire experience at the time for inclusion in a book (which didn't happen, though one part of the essay was included in Searching Jenin). I've long planned to post all of it here either as a whole or serialized, along with my photos, but I haven't put in the many hours it's going to take to reorganize it all, rescale and upload the images, and so on. But given your gracious request I'll make the time and post it all sometime soon.

For now I do have two excerpts here and here, if you're interested. You can also read an account of the eventful end of my trip here.

[Quin]

Thanks, John! Whenever you do get it all up, I'm sure there's a lot of us who are interested in reading it.