Comments on: Israel’s Palestinian Soldiers

By: B99

B99 — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:52:25 +0000

Well, they ARE traitors. They do it for the money, they do it for the benefits, even though money and benefits are race-based. But ultimately, they are traitors.

By: sk

sk — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 22:43:49 +0000

It's a sordid fact that's always hushed up, but such cases are not at all uncommon in most wars. By the end of WWII, a significant part of the Wehrmacht was comprised of Romanians, Belgians, Dutchmen, Ukrainians, and others from all parts of Europe. The fiercest last-ditch defense of the Government district in Berlin in '45 was carried out by Frenchmen. Hard as it is to believe, but 150,000 persons of Jewish origin also bore arms in the name of the Führer (full account here).

By: deceschi

deceschi — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:15:20 +0000

“Dr Kanaaneh, who was raised in the Palestinian village of Arrabeh in northern Israel before her move to the US, said none of the soldiers was prepared to go into detail about what they did during their service. She suspects that this reflects in large part feelings of shame associated with their role enforcing the occupation.”

Dr. Kanaaneh is – considering the global socio-cultural and psycological Palestinian context – probably right with her suspects. The majority of the Palestinians in Israel consider Israel a occupying country, not only in the West Bank but even in Israel itself. Yet, she doesn’t draw the right conclusions on the personal level of these Arab Israeli soldiers. It is probably not their own shame (fight terrorism is not a shame, it’s a necessity) that prevents young Palestinians serving in the IDF to speak openly – they are rather scared of being treated like traitors by their own brethrens and fear therefore for their very lifes because of that.
The same pattern of thought can probably be applied to the Palestinians and Arabs outside the State of Israel and prevents them to be proactive for peace.
As a kind of gloomy conspiracy of silence, this shame of admitting to have or even be able to have friendly relations with the ‘hated enemy” appears to be the true cause of the absence of peace in Middle East. Is it not a form of tacit racist ostracism against themselves, not to mention towards the Jewish state.

By: b99

b99 — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:18:04 +0000

Dr. Kannaneh’s name indicates the historic connection of the Palestinians to the Canaanites of old.

The person who operated the bulldozer that killed Rachel Corrie was a Palestinian (Druze or Bedouin) under Jewish command.

It should also be noted that non-Jews who serve in the Israeli army are not permitted to settle in the West Bank – even though they are citizens and have done their ‘duty’. The West Bank is reserved for Jews only – even if they come from Vancouver or Tashkent. No Arabs need apply.

By: Ismail Zayid

Ismail Zayid — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:54:05 +0000

Israeli laws do not allow Muslim and Christian [Palestinian] citizens of Israel to serve in the military. Few Bedouins and Druze citizens do serve in the Israeli miltary, but even those, like Dr Kannaneh confirms, are not allowed the full benefits that Jewish Israeli citizens secure as a result of their military service. In essence, Israeli discriminatory and racist policies do not fully spare those Palestinians who serve in the military.