Onslaught on Breaking the Silence
In this posting, Haaretz editorial 1), IMEMC report 2}, Barak Ravid 3).
One of the most distressing things shown in photos taken by BTS supporters of their fellow soldiers is the pleasure in their power over Palestinians they portray. Here an Israeli soldier poses with Palestinian detainees in an undated photo taken by a fellow soldier and made available by the campaign group Breaking the Silence. Courtesy Breaking the Silence
Israel Needs Breaking the Silence
Instead of finding real solutions to terror attacks, Israel’s government has embraced a nasty strategy of wild incitement against a human rights organization.
Haaretz Editorial
March 20, 2016
Breaking the Silence has become the biggest threat to Israel’s security, at least according to a Channel 2 investigative report last week. The report presented alleged “evidence” showing the NGO’s activists trying to obtain sensitive military information from a right-wing activist posing as a former soldier.
The “exposé” – which, it transpired, was made by the rightist NGO Ad Kan – made it to Immigrant Absorption Minister Zeev Elkin, who said he was “seriously concerned that Breaking the Silence is being used for espionage.” Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon hastened to order a probe into the incident and, on his Facebook page, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Breaking the Silence “crossed another red line” and “security officials were looking into the matter.”
Of course, Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) took advantage of the opportunity to portray himself as a rightist, body and soul. “The NGO is undermining the State of Israel and causing it great damage internally and externally,” he announced. “While Israel is struggling against a wave of terror, Breaking the Silence is taking information and using it against the state. Israel must do everything to protect its soldiers – this organization has no right to exist in a state that is fighting terror daily for its people’s safety,” he said.
All that remains, it seems, is to demand that the cabinet declare Breaking the Silence a terror organization, arrest its members and put on trial the treacherous soldiers who passed on information about the Israel Defence Forces’ crimes in the territories. Then we will have to congratulate Channel 2 for its journalistic achievement, saving Israel from its destroyers, as it previously did with the program “Uvda,” which exposed another “enemy of the state,” left-wing activist Ezra Nawi.
This will apparently solve all the security problems that Israelis are suffering from, and for which the government has yet to devise a solution – the recent terror wave, the intifadas, military operations and other ills deriving from the prolonged occupation.
It is regrettable that instead of leading and finding real solutions to terror, the government is applying a nasty strategy of wild incitement against a human rights organization. All this is taking place in a state that boasts of its democracy and compares itself favourably to the region’s other nations.
Breaking the Silence is a vital, critical organization, whose goal is to cleanse the IDF of its soldiers’ illegal acts – abusing and harassing Palestinians, and interpreting orders in a violent way. The NGO’s objective and insistent activity against the occupation are not acts of treason. In fact, a democracy should be proud of this organization’s existence, give it full backing and stop the populist witch hunt carried out against it.
The government and right-wingers must stop their violent attempts to silence Breaking the Silence, and their repeated use of the NGO as a political scapegoat.
Netanyahu: Breaking the Silence Crossed a Red Line
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said rights group Breaking the Silence had “crossed a red line”, following allegations that the group collected classified information from members of the Israeli military.
By IMEMC News & Agencies
March 18, 2016
The PM launched the allegation shortly after Israel’s Channel 2 aired an investigative report based on video footage obtained by undercover members of right-wing NGO “Ad-Khan” that reportedly documented Breaking the Silence questioning members of the military on operational activities. Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, meanwhile, called for a criminal investigation against Breaking the Silence on accusations that the group collected sensitive classified information.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely, on social media, accused Breaking the Silence of “blackening the face of Israel to the world” and potentially damaging state security.
Breaking the Silence told Channel 2, in response to the allegations, that the organization works “carefully to publish only materials approved by the military censor.”
According to Ma’an, the group charged the right-wing government of attempting to silence Israeli citizens and members of the military who opposed the ongoing military occupation, pointing to the PM’s response as a cause for concern regarding the future of “democracy in Israel”.
The incident marks ongoing targeting, by right-wingers, of Breaking the Silence, which collects testimonies from Israeli veterans, in an effort to document every day life in occupied Palestinian territory and expose Israeli war crimes.
Ad-Kan, the group that collected the video footage in question, is a far-right Israeli group which “exposes” leftists and human rights activists in a self-described effort to protect “legitimization” of Israel as a state.
The group has placed moles in Breaking the Silence before to gather information on its activities. Ad-Kan in January attempted to vilify former Israeli Foreign Ministry director-general Alon Liel through video footage showing him voicing support of the group’s efforts to increase international pressure on Israel.
The ex-diplomat also praised members of Breaking the Silence as ”the most moral, wisest people who… were not brainwashed by right-wing messianic propaganda.” The footage eventually led to many Israeli officials to call for his dismissal last month.
Israel’s right-wing government in recent months has upped pressure on NGOs that aim to protect the human rights of Palestinians. The Knesset last month approved the first reading of the “NGO transparency bill,” denounced by critics as a move to delegitimize and weaken human rights organizations in Israel.
Israeli watchdog Peace Now responding to the passing of the first reading by saying the bill was “a violent and discriminatory act of public shaming against those criticizing the government.”
Voicing concern regarding freedom of speech, the group said in a statement: “Coercing specific civil society organizations to mention their funding sources in every possible occasion is no different in principle than the wearing of special badges.”
It continued: “To improve Israel’s image in the world, what’s needed is a change in policy rather than a crackdown on dissent.”
Netanyahu: Breaking the Silence’s Attempt to Gather Intel on IDF Soldiers Is Intolerable
Prime minister tells cabinet meeting that relevant parties are involved after last week’s report on the left-wing NGO, says whoever doesn’t condemn terror worldwide supports terror.
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz
March 20, 2016
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked the Breaking the Silence NGO during Sunday morning’s cabinet meeting, saying that it works against Israel Defence Forces soldiers fighting terrorism.
“The attempt to discredit the soldiers of the IDF is wrong, but the attempt to gather intelligence on them is intolerable and is being taken care of by the relevant parties,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu made his remarks against the backdrop of Saturday’s bombing in Turkey and linked it to Breaking the Silence. He said that Israel is at the forefront of the battle against global terror.
“This battle is first and foremost military, but also moral,” Netanyahu said. “The key point in this battle is to clarify that there is no justification for terror anywhere – not in Istanbul, not in the Ivory Coast and not in Jerusalem. Whoever doesn’t condemn terror supports terror.”
Last week, Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon ordered the IDF to investigate whether classified material has been passed on to Breaking the Silence. The nongovernmental organization responded that all the soldiers’ testimonies it publishes are cleared by the military censor.
Ya’alon’s order followed a Channel 2 report on Thursday that claimed the NGO gathers information about military operations while collecting testimonies from former soldiers who served in the occupied territories.
Netanyahu blasted Breaking the Silence after the report was aired and said an investigation had been launched into the allegations. He added that the group has “crossed yet another red line.”