Breaking the Silence
@BtSIsrael • 118,050 subscribers
Breaking the Silence is an Israeli veterans' organization aimed at raising awareness to the dire consequences of prolonged military occupation.
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It’s the fifth day of the siege of Palestinian homes in Qusra, in the West Bank. Now, the IDF claims it is launching an operation in the village to “protect the residents.” We have a couple of questions: Dozens of settlers have besieged the homes for five days. Why didn’t the army stop them right away and instead chose to pray with them and stop journalists, activists, and ambulances trying to reach the family? The settler outpost from which the perpetrators came was established in January and has been involved in dozens of terror attacks. Why isn’t this outpost evacuated? The IDF has the capacity to impose a lockdown on entire Palestinian villages or even cities, demolish dozens of homes, uproot hundreds of olive trees, and forcibly displace tens of thousands of people. How come stopping a few dozen settlers from besieging a Palestinian family in a village where Israelis aren’t even allowed to be is such an impossible task for the army? There is only one answer: backing ethnic cleansing is the IDF’s policy. The army had all the tools to prevent the siege from happening in the first place or to break it from day one. Instead, it took an active part in maintaining it, both in Qusra and in Jalud, where a family was expelled after a two-week siege in July. And now, under tremendous international pressure, the IDF is still failing to even pretend that it is trying to confront violent settlers.
Breaking the Silence26,321 görüntüleme • 8 gün önce
Establishing settler outposts in the West Bank is part of the IDF’s doctrine. That's what Maj. Gen. Bluth, the highest ranking officer in the West Bank, declared. Along with the IDF, these outposts are the leading edge of Israel’s project of ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and are directly responsible for the forcible displacement of more than 4,328 Palestinians, including 2,061 children, since October 2023. Neither terror nor ethnic cleansing in the West Bank makes anyone safer. They only perpetuate violence. The real political purpose of these outposts is annexation and forcing Palestinians into ever-shrinking enclaves.
Breaking the Silence38,518 görüntüleme • 1 ay önce
This is what the IDF's ongoing operation, dubbed “Iron Wall, across refugee camps looks like: "Jenin is one of three refugee camps in the northern West Bank that the IDF has heavily damaged and whose residents have been displaced. 55 percent of structures in Nur Shams refugee camp were destroyed or damaged, and so were 37 percent of structures in Tulkarm camp." The operation’s declared goal, as usual, is “strengthening security.” Yet against this backdrop, the Israeli government approved the establishment of new settlements in the Jenin area, some of them planned just a few kilometres from the refugee camp. Settling civilians near what the IDF considers a terror stronghold while conducting a military operation there is hardly a recipe for their safety.
Breaking the Silence32,748 görüntüleme • 1 ay önce
Turning Palestinian homes into a military base is a known IDF practice and it even has a name; “Straw Widow”. 14 years ago, our former executive director, Avner Gvaryahu, spoke about his experience carrying out this disturbing practice as an IDF soldier 🧵
Breaking the Silence14,729 görüntüleme • 24 gün önce
The IDF gave weapons and unchecked authority to violent settlers, including those under international sanctions, by drafting them into "regional defence units." Here's one of many examples uncovered by the investigative journalism program "Zman Emet" on Kan 11. After October 2023, thousands of settlers enlisted in these units. Formally, they are subordinate to the IDF, but in practice operate as independent settler militias.
Breaking the Silence32,310 görüntüleme • 2 ay önce
Netanyahu’s claim that settler violence is “150 juvenile delinquents” is bullshit. This is not juvenile delinquency. Settler terror has existed since the beginning of the occupation, and many Palestinians have been murdered. Our Executive Director, נדב וימן Nadav Weiman Taken from Substack "Ro Khanna’s West Bank Detention: An Eyewitness Account"
Breaking the Silence14,842 görüntüleme • 1 ay önce
This is one of the land-grab strategies used by settlers in the West Bank. According to land law in the West Bank, if an agricultural plot has not been cultivated for 3 years, it becomes “state land.” From there, Israel may allocate it to settlers. With or without official authorisation, if settlers move onto this now “public land” and work it for 10 years, it may be allocated to them. For this reason, settlers work hard to prevent Palestinians from accessing their agricultural lands. And “luckily” for them, the IDF is always there to help. Another land-grab strategy, used alongside the first, involves extending settlements’ “security zones” onto Palestinian agricultural lands. As settlements pop up or expand, so do their “security buffer zones.” These zones, referred to as “sterile” in IDF jargon, are areas near settlements that Palestinians are barred from entering without the IDF’s permission, even when they privately own the land in question. Working together, settlers and the IDF deprive Palestinians of access to their land, creating the conditions for its eventual takeover. Explained by Amir Ziv, our Pedagogy Coordinator, on a tour of Masafer Yatta in the West Bank organized by Combatants for Peace.
Breaking the Silence27,150 görüntüleme • 2 ay önce
"Antisemitic". That's how Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם’s speech at the @berlinale was labeled by Israeli media and even German politicians. The reason: he sees the apartheid reality in the WB for what it is. This is the latest example of weaponizing antisemitism as a tool to silence critics 🧵
Breaking the Silence128,404 görüntüleme • 2 yıl önce
Now in Tel Aviv, hundreds of Israelis demanding justice for Awdah Hathaleen, shot dead outside his home in Umm al-Khair by settler terrorists. The shooter on house arrest while village members are still detained. His body is withheld. Release the body. Arrest the real criminals.
Breaking the Silence52,801 görüntüleme • 1 yıl önce
Contrary to the impression Israel seeks to create, its campaign of ethnic cleansing and forced displacement in the West Bank is not merely the result of sporadic settler violence. The violence is anything but sporadic, and settlers, in fact, play only a secondary role in it. As with nearly everything in the West Bank, the main driving force is the IDF. Bar Yakoby, our Director of Media and Communications, made this point before a special Knesset committee chaired by MKs Ofer Cassif and Aida Touma-Suleiman of Hadash.
Breaking the Silence14,255 görüntüleme • 2 ay önce
Even in the face of arrests and attempts to silence us, we returned, Israelis and Palestinians, to the Gaza border. Nearly 1,000 infants under the age of one have been killed in Gaza. Tens of thousands more have lost their lives. We are here to raise our voices with theirs. We are here to resist the atrocities inflicted on innocent people for the past 20 months — and to demand the return of the hostages. Now. @JoelCarmel_
Breaking the Silence51,409 görüntüleme • 1 yıl önce
We cannot claim to do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties while simultaneously demolish an entire seven-storey building to destroy a single militant's apartment. Yehuda Shaul, our co-founder spoke to ABC Australia about Israeli military strategy in Gaza Yehuda Shaul
Breaking the Silence34,778 görüntüleme • 10 ay önce