Lately there have been a
lot of emotional discussions as to whether the NGO - Breaking the Silence - is
investigating soldiers’ testimonies on human rights abuses of the IDF on a
defenseless, innocent Palestinian population and using these testimonies to bash
Israel internationally. There are people, who define the activities of Breaking
the Silence as treasonable or treacherous. Those who do so have no
understanding of the word “treason”
This word has been used
colloquially in Israel to label anybody who does not agree with the Netanyahu
Coalition Government line. Netanyahu Coalition pundits are giving “treason” a
very wide definition, encompassing those who oppose the government line. Labeling
Breaking the Silence and weakening their activity by passing laws that are
close to outlawing them is detrimental to Israel’s vibrant democracy.
Breaking the Silence
does pose a problem as it can be viewed in two ways:
- It can be viewed as a watchdog
for upholding human rights of innocent Palestinians in a war situation
where Israeli soldiers enter Palestinian homes with search warrants for
weapons or signs of hostility and prevention of looting by IDF.
- It can be viewed as an NGO
whose main purpose is to gain testimony from soldiers, who had served in
the various campaigns in Gaza, claiming human rights abuse that are made
public, even to countries who seek every opportunity to bash Israel on
these issues. Hostile countries do wait for opportunities like this.
Testimonies of soldiers
made public are also available to those, who are hostile to Israel. This,
unfortunately, is the price that is paid by a democratic country - the price of
openness. This does not negate the importance of watchdog activity by an NGO
such as Breaking the Silence. It is no less important that the IDF does examine
itself in this sphere, despite the problems, and establish a committee to
investigate the authenticity of these soldiers’ testimonies. It is not enough
to say that “The IDF is the most moral army in the world.” The function of
human rights NGO is to ensure that this statement remains true. This does
not mean that all those, who serve in the IDF, have committed crimes against
innocent Palestinians.
If high ranking generals
in the IDF, who had served with distinction, such as General Amiram Levin, support
Breaking the Silence,
we must bear in mind that they know what they are talking about. I do respect
the high ranking officers’ decision in supporting Breaking the Silence. If
these generals feel the importance of this NGO, who are we to question.
These high ranking generals are not traitors
to Israel. They held responsible
positions in the IDF and in the intelligence service as well as being entrusted
with state secrets.
Most human rights NGOs
receive funds from the EU, US and some countries who have a political agenda
against Israel. The NGOs involved in pro-Israeli government activities such as Im Tirtzu
and other pro-settlement activity beyond the green line, receive funding from
private donors (or “philanthropists” such as Irwin Moskowitz) as well as government subsidies. (In 2009, Im Tirtzu’s largest donor was the John Hagee Ministries (JHM) via the Christian-Zionist organization Christians
United for Israel
(CUFI). Im Tirtzu received US$100,000 from JHM and $34,000 from other sources.
In 2010, The Jerusalem Post reported that JHM "expressed deep
displeasure" with Im Tirtzu after its campaigns against the New Israel
Fund and Ben-Gurion University and announced the cessation of its funding. A JHM
spokesman said that Im Tirtzu "misrepresented its focus when they told us
their mission was strictly Zionist education."[55]
The group's spokesperson, Erez Tadmor, was found guilty of
embezzling munitions from the Israeli military.[56]
The organization was accused of acting in an Anti-Semitic
fashion, including emulating Nazi propaganda, in its criticisms of U.S.
Ambassador Martin
Indyk and
of the New
Israel Fund.[57][58] From Wikipedia )
All NGOs, irrespective
of political leanings, accept donations from any source sympathetic to the
causes they represent. They are not concerned with the origin of donors’ funds.
The main point is that the sources should be transparent and be held
accountable for the amount of money they donate.
Another evil, racist
organization, Lehava, is also involved in preventing assimilation of Jews in Israel
with Arabs. They are more militant in contrast to Bayit Hayehudi of its leader,
Naftali Bennett, and now the Minister of Education. The latter wants to instil
a religious right wing Zionist education in the Department of Education and
prevent students from gaining access to books or novels that are about intermarriage
between Arabs and Jews.
Here the similarity to the Lehava ideology is blatant.
In a democratic country,
education should be non-political. Healthy discussion with responsible,
objective moderation should be encouraged. The same is true of Breaking the
Silence. There should be NGO monitoring of activities (not concerned with
security secrets) in the IDF as well as the government law-making process to
ensure that democratic values and transparency remains paramount.
