A drunk non-combatant at that! Running amok on a multi million dollar 60
tonne D-9 bulldozer. UNDER OFFICIAL ORDERS! We might want to look at the
definition of 'combatant'. With a little thought, one might even want to
redefine 'army' and 'military' when it comes to Israel. A "non-combatant"
Israeli says in..
http://www.gush-shalom.org/archives/kurdi_eng.html
"What is 'opening a track'? You erase buildings. On both sides. There is no
other choice, because the bulldozer was much wider than their alleys. But I
am not looking for excuses or anything. You must 'shave' them. I didn't give
a damn about demolishing their houses, because it saved the lives of our
soldiers. I worked where our soldiers were slaughtered. They didn't tell all
the truth about what happened. they drilled holes in the walls, holes for
gun barrels. Anyone who escaped the charges, was shot through these holes."
"I had no mercy for anybody. I would erase anyone with the D-9, just so that
our soldiers won't expose themselves to danger. That's what I told them. I
was afraid for our soldiers. You could see them sleeping together, 40
soldiers in a house, all crowded. My heart went out for them. This is why I
didn't give a damn about demolishing all the houses I've demolished - and I
have demolished plenty. By the end, I built the 'Teddy' football stadium
there."
"Difficult? No way. You must be kidding. I wanted to destroy everything. I
begged the officers, over the radio, to let me knock it all down; from top
to bottom. To level everything. It's not as if I wanted to kill. Just the
houses. We didn't harm those who came out of the houses we had started to
demolish, waving white flags. We screwed just those who wanted to fight."
"No one refused an order to knock down a house. No such thing. When I was
told to bring down a house, I took the opportunity to bring down some more
houses; not because I wanted to - but because when you are asked to demolish
a house, some other houses usually obscure it, so there is no other way. I
would have to do it even if I didn't want to. They just stood in the way. If
I had to erase a house, come hell or high water - I would do it. And believe
me, we demolished too little. The whole camp was littered with detonation
charges. What actually saved the lives of the Palestinians themselves,
because if they had returned to their homes, they would blow up."
"For three days, I just destroyed and destroyed. The whole area. Any house
that they fired from came down. And to knock it down, I tore down some more.
They were warned by loudspeaker to get out of the house before I come, but I
gave no one a chance. I didn't wait. I didn't give one blow, and wait for
them to come out. I would just ram the house with full power, to bring it
down as fast as possible. I wanted to get to the other houses. To get as
many as possible. Others may have restrained themselves, or so they say. Who
are they kidding? Anyone who was there, and saw our soldiers in the houses,
would understand they were in a death trap. I thought about saving them. I
didn't give a damn about the Palestinians, but I didn't just ruin with no
reason. It was all under orders."
"Many people where inside houses we stto demolish. They would come out of
the houses we where working on. I didn't see, with my own eyes, people dying
under the blade of the D-9. and I didn't see house falling down on live
people. But if there were any, I wouldn't care at all. I am sure people died
inside these houses, but it was difficult to see, there was lots of dust
everywhere, and we worked a lot at night. I found joy with every house that
came down, because I knew they didn't mind dying, but they cared for their
homes. If you knocked down a house, you buried 40 or 50 people for
generations. If I am sorry for anything, it is for not tearing the whole
camp down."
More:
http://www.gush-shalom.org/archives/kurdi_eng.html
<snip>
Comments by Gush Shalom on the interview:
This is the incredible, self-told Story of Moshe Nissim, a fanatic football
fan
and a permanent troublemaker, who begged his commanders in the reserves unit
for a chance to take part in "the action".
By "action" he was referring to the wide scale destruction carried out by
the Israeli army in many Palestinian locations, especially in the Jenin
Refugee camp.
He was sent into Jenin, riding a 60 ton demolition bulldozer - and equipped
with 16 years of pent-up personal frustration, plenty of whisky and only two
hours of training on that armored tool.
"Enough training to drive forwards and make a flat surface", as he himself
testifies in the interview.
His story may be extreme, and this man must answer to many serious
questions, but Moshe Nissim is not much different from thousands of other
frustrated and violent football fans, who terrorize cities in Europe after a
football match.
But then again, Of course, it is unconceivable, that the British army would
send a drunken and frustrated Manchester fan into Belfast riding a D-9
bulldozer.
Therefore, the really troubling questions must be directed at the system
that sent him into Jenin on this mission of destruction. This system is the
Israeli army.
What kind of army puts a 60 ton, multi-million dollar demolishing bulldozer
in the hands of such a person, who has not operated one before?
How could his rampage go on, without being stopped by any of the officers,
at any rank?
How can such an army insist it is the "most moral army in the world"?
Does this interview shed more light on Israel's refusal to have it's actions
in Jenin investigated?
What did happen in Jenin?
We hope that after reading this sickening interview, you will find ways of
sending these questions, and others you might have, to the Israeli
government through it's ambassadors, to the Israeli army, who, we are sure,
will not tolerate it's fine tools being used in such a brutal and unlawful
manner.
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