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Female soldiers break their silence
Amir Shilo
Published: 29.01.10, 15:47
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76 Talkbacks for this article
1. and today the Israeli analyst is astonished
Krzysztof ,   Warsaw, Poland   (01.29.10)
why Israel's standing is losing worldwide. Of course, he did not mention any of immoral practices on the Territories: neither of such type, nor the settlement, nor stealing land here and there, nor overextensive net of roadblocks. Ohhh.... Do you think the West does not know about it all?
2. thank you for having the courage to speak out
observer   (01.29.10)
3. yawn.
Daniel90210   (01.29.10)
4. Waiting for the apologists
Mikesailor ,   Miami, FL   (01.29.10)
Again, testimony giving evidence of the brutality endemic with the occupation. Yet, I fear that nothing will change. Because for most Israeli Jews, any depredations committed against Palestinians is excused if not applauded. The only problem with such activities is when they are reported, not when they are committed. For when they are reported, the act of telling the truth is, in and of itself, is to be considered 'antisemitic'. And as such, must be denied or else it may somehow puncture the myth of the IDF being a 'moral' occupation force. The excuses are well known, but the problem is that only the most brain-dead or avowedly racist now accept them.
5. testemony
colin   (01.29.10)
Another batch of twisted lies and untruths to fill up the newspaper.Is your complaint against females in general or against the girls in the army because the datim disagree or possibley your wife refused to sleep with you. What is a palestinian?? Amir another made up word to either explain a terrorist or a non Israeli. There is no known nation but for journalists to call a group of dissatisfied people palestinain The bullshit splatters and is really an explanation to your junk
6. Willing to confess but only to condemn others
Ilan   (01.29.10)
These cowards are willing to dirty the names of others, but not to take responsibility in front of a court of law for their actions.
7. Despicable.
Michael Steiner ,   Bahrain   (01.29.10)
If some pimply teenage prick behaved like that to me, I'd want to blow him and his family up to smithereens, too. I am all in favor of ironclad security measure being in place, but if even 1% of what is described in the article is true, there is NO justification for it WHAT-SO-EVER.
8. Well done
Jarda ,   Czech Republic   (01.29.10)
Well done, ynetnews. I appreciate your courage.
9. no wonder the Palestinian are eager to learn Hebrew singing
observer   (01.29.10)
The actual issues that arise in the Breaking of the Silence testimonies – ammunition and rules of engagement, policy on house demolitions, treatment of civilian population, the tactics that were used – are neither explicitly denied nor confirmed. Instead, the army's spokesman decided to cast the testimonies as utterly unreliable, thereby avoiding the need to address their content.
10. #5 The despicable overt racist
Dismayer ,   Australia   (01.29.10)
You're a waste of oxygen. If there is no such thing as a Palestinian people, who are the millions living under opressive occupation next door? Fool.
11. Names?
M. Hartley ,   Atlanta, US   (01.29.10)
The story would have a lot more credibility, if the soldiers' names were given.
12. YNet either stop publishing libelous material...
Ari   (01.29.10)
...or just merge with Ha'aretz to become Al Jazeera's Hebrew branch and be done with .
13. Not "Testimony"- Allegations
David ,   NYC USA   (01.29.10)
The article repeatedly uses the word "TESTIMONY". This is the language used by Breaking the Silence to dress up their work. These are "allegations" and that is it. "Testimony" implies information given under oath, with an adverse attorney there to question and probe and a judge to enforce rules of evidence - separating first hand knowledge from rumors, retelling of tales. What you have here are allegations, many of the accounts written in the first person hide the fact that it is a retelling of a story and not based on first hand factual knowledge.
14. YNET: Bad Israel, bad Israel, poor Palestinians, poor Palest
inians, bad army...   (01.29.10)
15. Who are these people?
noa ,   israel   (01.29.10)
Get them out of the army and remove whoever invented the "procedure". They do not have the right to do these things, especially to do them in the name of the Jewish people.
16. #15 you precisely hit the point
Krzysztof ,   Warsaw, Poland   (01.29.10)
actions of those hooligans, together with impunity given to them by the Israeli army's iurisdiction contribute to spoiling the name of Jewish people. There must be some red line to this... Bring rule of law to Israel...
17. Who Funds This group
Joe Klien ,   USA   (01.29.10)
The question should be who is funding these groups. Some of these talkbacks supporting this group probably comes from these left wing groups and probably from some foreign embassies.
18. its always hard to face the truth
(01.29.10)
19. What is the truth?
Daniel ,   CH   (01.29.10)
The army should examine these allegations, and if there is evidence of truth, fight this arbitrary behaviour among its troops with every possible means, punishing each single uncovered offence. Such facts, if proved, are unworthy for a army that want to be moral and cast a bad light on the IDF and Israel as a whole. They should just not happen.
20. To #10 Dismayer...
EST ,   Miami USA   (01.29.10)
The people living next door are Jordanians and Egyptians ... there is no such thing as Palestinian people, that is a modern day propagandist Arab invention. Actually the so called "father of the Palestinian people", Yasser Aarafat was born and raised in Cairo! His uncle, the mufti was a supporter and friend of Hitler....years before the modern recognition of Israel....yes, Arabs have been persecuting and killing Jews way before 1948 ...that is something the world - fueled by Arab propaganda, would like to forget. not a chance!!!
21. armed service male female
kevin j lee ,   Glasgow Scotland UK   (01.29.10)
Israeli is born,things they know as a fact,is a) they will go to school b)they will serve in 1 of the armed sevices. 18 year olds. its a lot to contend with. kevin j.lee
22. This is not surprising
Michael ,   IL   (01.29.10)
Interesting how the apologists here automatically deny the article. As if this should be any surprise. It is well-known that the IDF and Police frequently abuse and humiliate Palestinians. As you should know, denial of things such as this does not serve any purpose.
23. The occupation
Moti, ,   Jerusalem, Israel   (01.29.10)
This is simply occupation, nothing more and nothing less. It will be 50 years of this very soon. Think about it, we all must be very proud. I was a commander on a West Bank checkpoint, what we did was shameful I know that but these soldiers are young, frustrated, do not understand the big picture and serve their country well. We let some these things slide. The leaders are at fault and this whole situation must stop, then it all ends. Our leaders want this occupation, then fine but do not point fingers at these soldiers they are there doing what they are told.
24. Yes indeed we committed "war crimes"
Rosen ,   NZ   (01.29.10)
My troop and I were based at Rafah. We used to steal loaves of sliced bread, jams and canned meat from the Military Kitchen and pass them over the fence to the Palestinians. This was our daily routine, after lunch and there was enough food to feed themeselves and their goats. 3 decades later I have nightmares and a tormenting sense of guilt for the "crimes" my troops and I committed.....
25. Did I read that the soldiers were ordered to do so? No. Whats the negative comment against Israel
Prince ,   Niger Delta, Nigeria   (01.29.10)
Dear talkbacker, Before you comment, tell me which country that dont have some "irresponsible few animals" in the Army or Police who take pleasure in breaking the law in the name of strength and showcase of power. Please name the country, Matty, Bbsnews, Observer and other more righteous than I commentators. This evil is never any State's deliberate policy including Arabs not to talk of Israel. These evil heroes should present themselves to authorities for punishment to attorn for their sin instead of being tools in the hand of their ENEMIES If you are not Antisemite condemn the act and actors and not Israel
26. Anonymous unverifiable testimony unquestioned & published
A Nice Fellow ,   Montreal   (01.29.10)
Foreign funded antizionist organizations continue to spew unsubstantiated libel against Israel, and the leftist self-hating Israeli media jumps at any opportunity to publish that libel. Disgusting. No names/times/places = not legitimate.
27. let's differntiate between border police and IDF
(01.29.10)
Border police are many time people coming from problematic background, many of them Druzs. If these reports are true then it's despicable and someone should clean up these units ASAP. Makes me ashamed to be Israeli. But again, I believe these things don't happen so much in the IDF.
28. Funny how it seems to be secular who are doing these things
Wonderer   (01.29.10)
the ones who dont follow anything and find themselves doing evil things. They should be put in jail for their actions as there was no reason to agree to "kick someone in the balls". Find their names and put them where they belong. Doesn't help to feel bad about it and blame others. Take Break the Silence activists to jail if they were involved and openly admit to carrying out these actions.
29. these woman should not be soldiers, no bravery
Jo   (01.29.10)
and the story is not the whole story either. I am sure we could get hundreds of testimonies of woman combat soldiers who do not act like this and work with equally ethical male soldiers. You will find abuses in every army in the world the woman who give these stories should have been more brave and spoke up while in service at the first instance of such. That would be honourable, but to go ahead with it , finish service and then write anonymous testimonies. For those combat female soldiers who disagree and do not behave this way - the majority, now is the time to speak up.
30. Joe Klien, yes it's all a big anti-Israel conspiracy...
BBSNews ,   Charlotte, NC   (01.29.10)
...paranoid much?
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