Israeli Army Mutiny

An Israeli Army mutiny… It’s encouraging to see that after a slow start, more Israeli army guys are refusing to expel, destroy, blockade, assassinate, starve and humiliate an entire people, standard human rights abuses in that part of the world, it seems. This incitement to rebellion did not go down well with the army’s chief of staff, of course. But it seems to be gathering momentum.

The price of occupation is the loss of the Israel Defense Forces’ semblance of humanity and the corruption of all of Israeli society

When the former head of Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency tells people it’s acceptable for a soldier to refuse a “blatantly illegal” order, there’s some hope:
As far as I’m concerned, too few soldiers are refusing such orders. To shoot an unarmed youth is a blatantly illegal order. I am very worried by the number of Palestinian children shot in the last year.

Ariel Shatil, 32, said that in the Gaza Strip last September, his squad was supposed to fire heavy machine guns at a Palestinian town in response to mortar fire. “The gunfire penetrates thin walls and windows, and that kills people, and you don’t know who you’re killing,” he said. Mr. Zonshein said that in an area where he served, houses and orchards were bulldozed in response to Palestinian gunfire.

Of course, with all this turmoil and their political leader exposed as a murdering gangster with no respect for due process, Sharon’s approval rating has dropped from 53% to 48%. Ordinarily this would cause me great despair, but then I remembered that Hitler enjoyed stellar approval ratings right up until it looked like Germany was definitely going down for the count. Mind you, this mutiny and weakening public support seems to have forced his hand: Sharon’s met with the PLO for talks for the first time since he seized power.

Meanwhile, the canny Spanish have recently rotated into the EU Presidency and are challenging the US/Israeli strategy of sidelining or assassinating Arafat. Lucky for them the White House has already explicitly ruled out invading or bombing Spain.

Earlier here.