What Breaking the Silence does is break down this barrier of denial and they began with stories from Hebron, the most painful place I have ever been and one time through Hebron will last me my lifetime...
Ever since my first journey to Israel Palestine in June 2005, I have tried to break the silence about the undemocratic state of Israel on the world wide web. My target audience has always been uninformed and apathetic Christians, for as Mikhael said, we must preach to our own, even when our own will not listen.
The former Israeli soldiers in solidarity with Breaking the Silence who are trying to wake up their fellow citizens wrote:
"Since our discharge from the army, we all feel that we have become different. We feel that service in the occupied territories and the incidents we faced have distorted and harmed the moral values on which we grew up.
"We all agree that as long as Israeli society keeps sending its best people to military combat service in the occupied territories, it is extremely important that all of us, Israeli citizens, know the price which the generation who is fighting in the territories is paying, the impossible situations it is facing, the insanity it is confronting everyday, and the heavy burden it bears after being discharged from the IDF à ‚¬" a heavy burden that hasn't left us.
"That's why we decided to break the silence, because it's time to tell. Time to tell about everything that goes on there each and every day.
"We all served in the territories. Some served in Gaza, some in Hebron, some in Bethlehem and the rest served in other places. We all manned checkpoints, participated in patrols and arrests and took part in the war against terror. We all realized that the daily struggle against terror and the daily interaction with the civilian population has left us helpless. Our sense of justice was distorted, and so were our morality and emotions.
"The reality we experienced was made of: Innocent civilians being hurt, Kids not going to school because of the curfew, and parents who can't bring food home because they can't go to work.
"This reality has stayed us and will not go away. After discharge from the army, we decided that we shouldn't go on. We shouldn't forget what we ourselves did and what we witnessed. We decided to break the silence."
One of those who has testified also said, "There's a very clear and powerful connection between how much time you serve in the territories and how fucked in the head you get."
http://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/about_e.asp
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