The "Good" Israeli Soldier Is Still a Soldier Of Occupation

By Samah Jabr

A while ago, people in my neighborhood were talking about one "good" Israeli soldier stationed at the Al-Ram checkpoint. For one full month, a neighbor would go to the checkpoint to determine if that soldier was on duty. If he was, our neighbor would circulate the "good news," and we would take the regular way through the checkpoint rather than the long, dirty, side routes to work.

Although I was irritated with the word "good" being used to describe an Israeli soldier standing in uniform and carrying his rifle at our doorsteps, I could not deny that this officer was trying to be better. In fact, the checkpoint became a different place in the presence of that older, less hostile, Israeli. Although people objected to his orders and his origin they agreed that the officer made the lines of cars and humans move faster through the checkpoint, sparing people the unpleasant consequences of getting to work late every morning. This officer did not shout at people before asking for their identity cards, and abstained from the usual harsh treatment Israeli soldiers ordinarily mete out at checkpoints.

Once when I was going with my mother through the checkpoint, after her papers were checked and handed back to her Mom said, "Thanks." It was an unconscious but undeserved courtesy, and I was quite unhappy with her response. Noticing my grumpiness, the officer asked to check my bag, and so I gave it to him. As he was searching in my bag he saw my white coat and stethoscope and, like a typical Middle Eastern man, asked, "Are you a nurse?"

"A doctor," I answered curtly.

"Where do you work?"

"On the Mount of Olives," I replied, my tone indicating my desire not to have a chat with the guardian of occupation.

"I'm a doctor, too—a psychiatrist," he said, to mydismayed surprise. Only then did our eyes meet—and, I have to add, they met in prejudice. Refraining from any comment or question, I closed my bag and went about my work.

This man could have been my teacher or colleague, and I could have acknowledged his good human qualities—had I met him without his gun and uniform and had the occupation not made most of its people partners in crime.

Except for the few exemptions for medical or religious reasons, at the age of 18 every Israeli Jew, man or woman, is supposed to join the army and serve for about three years. Until they are around 45, many Israeli citizens—mainly men—are required to serve annually in the reserves. This is in addition to the huge number of Israelis who are career soldiers. Thus, the famous quote: "Israel isn't a nation that has an army, it's an army that has a nation."

Not only is the Israeli army the iron fist of occupation, it also is the classic school for the imperialist/colonialist/exclusionist ideology upon which Israel is based. It is no surprise, then, that the position of most of the graduates of that school on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the Israeli famous slogan, "Let the army win."

Some Palestinians have used the fact that Israel's occupation has made warriors of the vast majority of its citizens to justify the bombings that also threaten Israeli civilians. "Israeli civilians are reserve soldiers and off-duty officers," they argue. Even those Palestinians like myself who might disagree with this rationale have experienced difficult interactions with Israeli civilians, due to the possibility that at any moment these same people might appear in our neighborhoods with their machines of death.

Most Palestinians view Israeli soldiersas young people blinded by bigotry and corrupted by absolute power. They represent a state that has no constitution, but a Supreme Court willing to legalize the illegal and issue the necessary rules and opinions that serve the interest of the occupying power. Recently, this Supreme Court has legalized two more arbitrary and internationally illegal punishments: the demolition of the family homes of suicide bombers and the deportation of their relatives. This, in addition to the "right" of "free-lance militarism" that its soldiers enjoy, has made the Israeli occupation army (IOA), which they call the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), capable of committing the most racist, fascist and inhumane actions against Palestinians.

In late October, settlers protesting the dismantling of the Gela'ad outpost clashed with Israeli soldiers, injuring 47 of them. Seventeen settlers were injured in the incident, and the settlement was not dismantled. When, on the other hand, in October 2000 "other citizens" of Israel—i.e., Arabs—protested Israeli atrocities in the West Bank and Gaza, Israeli soldiers killed 13 of them.

While the whole world hears about Palestinians blowing themselves up in the midst of Israeli civilians, few are aware of the regular duties carried out by Israeli soldiers: destroying the livelihood of Palestinians, demolishing their homes, vineyards and orchards, shooting at children with stones, strip-searching the older ones, and killing and beating civilians for the sake of exercise. We all were subjected to the pornographic materials broadcast by Israeli soldiers when they occupied Palestinian TV stations. Those soldiers were not above defecating and urinating all over Palestinian belongings in the offices and houses they occupied.

Some Israeli soldiers march in our towns and villages with "Born to Kill" stickers on their helmets and shoulders. Others pose euphorically for a picture documenting a Palestinian "hot hunt," the corpse eternalizing a moment of bloody triumph. A few Israeli soldiers admitted to robbing even the pocket changeand cigarette packs found while checking the belongings of Palestinian workers.

Ismail Haboush, a 63-year-old heart patient, was referred to Makassed Hospital in Jerusalem for a special procedure that cannot be performed elsewhere. Despite all his medical reports and supportive letters from international human rights organizations, Ismail and his wife, Nawal, 59, were kept at the Erez checkpoint for 10 hours. The soldiers finally decided to send Nawal back to Gaza and allow Ismail to walk the 600 meters to the other side of the checkpoint to reach the car that would take him to the hospital. Not long after Nawal had left, her husband came back to Gaza—as a corpse.

Just recently, a female Israeli soldier at the Taqoumya checkpoint confiscated the lunch bags of Palestinian laborers who were on their way to work and threw them to the wild dogs. When asked why she did it, she said she was following orders. Few Israelis realize that it is their actions that bring more bombers to the heart of Israeli-inhabited areas.

Despite the Israeli left's passivity and withdrawal, there are almost 600 Israeli refuseniks, people who refuse to serve in the army for reasons of conscience. Some believe that their army's actions violate human rights, others consider the occupation of the Palestinian territories illegal, while still others only have disturbing doubts and questions, and are refusing to serve for pragmatic reasons. No matter the motivation, I see a glimmer of hope in this phenomenon. It tells me that there might be someone to talk to on the Israeli side after all. They are probably behind bars or roaming the streets in protest—but they definitely are not at the checkpoints.

Samah Jabr is a medical resident in her native city of Jerusalem.