Humans are by nature peace loving, cooperative, and desire to produce goods and services for the well-being of their families and communities. Thus, in order to prepare its young people to serve as enforcers of a system of oppression and exploitation, a ruling class must carefully eliminate such impluses and cultivate fear of others through comprehensive campaigns of indoctrination in the family, in education, and the media. This article illustrates how such indoctrination functions in Israel to brutalize their young people who, in turn, brutalize and dehumanize Palestinians.
Through an organization called Breaking the Silence, former Israeli soldiers are attempting to recover their humanity by speaking out about their experiences.
Full of tales of abductions, humiliation within homes and the beating of children perpetrated by soldiers, the testimonies make for shocking and at times harrowing reading. In doing so they uncompromisingly reveal the day-to-day of life under occupation for Palestinians - subject to measures justified under the banner of 'security' - from the unusual perspective of those meting the treatment.
