We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Israeli army's female recruits denounce treatment of Palestinians

by Harriet Sherwood from The Observer. Soldiers in the oppressive Israeli Army, like those in the US Army are courageously speaking out about their brutalizing experiences.
"For two years I saw people suffering and I didn't do anything – and that's really scary," said Michelzon. "At the end, it felt like the army betrayed me – they used me, I couldn't recognise myself. What we call protecting our country is destroying lives."
The working people that make up the armies of ruling classes are always being used by the latter to promote their interests which under capitalism consists of access to cheap raw materials, labor, and markets. Working people are fooled into thinking that they are serving and protecting their country. 

Israel as a country was largely brought into existence by Zionists and Anglo-American ruling classes whose main interest was to insure control of, and access to, the vast oil reserves in the Middle East.
 
See also this excellent article on the same subject entitled, "A case of decency deficit: Israel’s sickness goes beyond one soldier and her Facebook pictures"
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