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News :: Israel / Palestine |
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Valuing Arab Lives |
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by haaretz via gehrig
(No verified email address) |
06 Dec 2004
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General: 1 in 5 troops from sector that values Arab lives less
By Gideon Alon, Haaretz Correspondent
The head of the Israel Defense Forces personnel branch, Major General Elazar Stern, said Monday that 20 percent of IDF soldiers come from a social class that does not view Arab lives as equal to those of Jews.
Stern was speaking at a meeting of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee that convened to discuss human rights and the just use of force in the war on terror.
He said he believed 20 percent of IDF soldiers displayed problematic behavior at checkpoints in the territories, and that "every generation needs to see itself as if it had come out of Auschwitz."
Stern said that it is impossible to wage war against terror wearing white gloves, and that it is impossible to speak about purity of arms without taking human life into account.
"One must be strict about the value of human dignity," Stern noted, "but human life is a value that is not less important, and perhaps more so.
"When I say to take an action that may harm an innocent man, I know how many lives I can save on the home front as a result."
Professor Mordechai Kremnitzer of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem also took part in the discussion, attacking the policy of demolishing the houses of Palestinians whose family members are involved in acts of terror.
"The destruction of houses is a callous violation of international law. It is impossible to defend [it] under principled examination," Prof. Kremnitzer said. "I am sure that in another 20 years, there will not be a single person left in Israeli society who does not say these home demolitions are barbaric and feel ashamed that people in a democratic society could allow it to happen."
Kremnitzer also criticized the High Court of Justice for permitting the policy of destroying Palestinian houses.
"The High Court, to our shame, lends a hand to the destruction of homes. Its decision in this matter is a grave mistake, a cause for generations to cry," he added.
The discussion was then interrupted by panel chairman Michael Eitan (Likud), who said that the decease in terror attacks is proof that such security policies are appropriate.
Kremnitzer responded that he was "not talking about home demolitions during military actions, but rather home demolitions as deterrence."
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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=510815
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