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‘I can’t justify this military operation any more’: the IDF reservists refusing to return to Gaza (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/news@lemmy.world
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For Israeli military paramedic Yuval Green, it was the command to burn down a house that made him decide to end his reserve duty.

Green had spent 50 days in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis earlier this year with his paratrooper unit, sleeping in a home lit only by battery-powered fairy lights among the rubble and devastation.

He had begun to have doubts about the unit’s purpose there months earlier when he heard about Israel’s refusal to agree to Hamas’s demands to end the war, along with freeing hostages.

Green is one of three Israeli reservists who told the Observer they will not return if called for military service in Gaza. All three previously undertook compulsory military service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which forms the backbone of society.

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[–] 48 points 2 years ago (1 child)

would be cool if this dissent grows through the ranks so that Benni can't continue this travesty.

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  • [–] 33 points 2 years ago

    The insidious thing is that refusing to serve does not grow dissent within the ranks. It takes those who are dissenting out of the ranks, which causes the army as a whole to be more extreme. And, given long standing compulsory service laws, such dissenters can be jailed, allowing the government to disrupt any potential domestic anti war movement.

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    • [–] 23 points 2 years ago

    …any more?

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    [+] -15 points 2 years ago (7 children)

    "After tens of thousands of murders, many of which were women, elder and children, I realized that maybe we weren't in Gaza to defend ourselves"

    No, fuck you.

    FUCK

    YOU

    You fucking deserve all the nightmares and all the PTSD you'll get from this. 1 day there should have been enough to realize you were being part of an ethnic cleanse. In fact, you should have ended your reserve duty before going there.

    You don't deserve my pity or my understanding, you deserve to live with your burden for being a fucking genocide helper.

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  • [–] 60 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    A door for redemption should always remain opened... at least this is how we used to do things in the west.

    Coming to a right conclussion should be praised, even with this context.

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  • [–] 33 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    If we close entirely the door to earning redemption, we only consign dissidents to the clutches of what they were trying to get away from in the first place.

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  • [+] 25 points 2 years ago (1 child)
    [removed by mod]
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  • [–] -4 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Yeah well look back at the Nuremberg trials. A lot of the Nazis that were convicted were "just doing their job". That didn't excuse anything.

    OP is right. He deserves to be accused of serving and participating in genocide, even if he regrets it.

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  • [–] 13 points 2 years ago

    Only leaders were tried at Nuremberg though, which is why that shit didn't fly. As reservists, these guys almost don't qualify as professional soldiers. Trying the few dissenters for genocide would ensure no one in the IDF questions their orders ever again

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  • [–] 25 points 2 years ago

    "ended your reserve duty right there".

    Spoken like a true keyboard warrior. He says he won't go back (probably at great personal risk to him and his family) to whistleblow what he's seen.

    If you think that's how things work, you might want to avoid reading into what the US military has been doing for the last hundred years or so.

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  • [–] 16 points 2 years ago

    As maddening as this is, imagine the ENORMOUS propaganda and social pressure that these soldiers are fighting against. They’ve been told countless times that they’re defending both their religion and their homeland (and, by extension, their friends and family). For most of us, those are some of our biggest drivers. Honestly, I’m not sure that I would have the strength to maintain free will under those circumstances. We all like to think we’re incorruptible, but we’re not.

    Judging from the outside is easy. Actually living through it is something else.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago*

    Just for a little perspective: people with your exact mindset exist in Israeli leadership who are responsible for Haniyeh getting murdered instead of continuing negotiations. Never forgive, never forget, an eye for an eye until everyone is blind.

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