Thursday, July 13, 2006

Bloglines - Kinapping and war

CANNONFIRE
Joseph Cannon (cannonfiremail@yahoo.com)

Kinapping and war

By Joseph

Israel has, in essence, declared war on Lebanon and the Palestinians in Gaza after the kidnapping of a few soldiers. But the real kidnappers in the region are the Israelis themselves, who have kidnapped hundreds of Palestinian "suspects":
Some people will say: The IDF doesn't "just" kidnap. These people are "suspects." There is no more perverse lie than this. In all the years I served, I reached one simple conclusion: What makes a "suspect"? Who, exactly suspects him, and of what?

Who has the right to sentence a 17-year-old to kidnapping, torture and possible death? A 26-year-old Shin Bet interrogator? A 46-year-old one? Do these people have any higher education, apart from the ability to interrogate? What are his considerations? I all these "suspects" are so guilty, why not bring them to trial?

Anyone who believes that despite the lack of transparency, the IDF and Shin Bet to their best to minimize violations of human rights is naïve, if not brainwashed. One need only read the testimonies of soldiers who have carried out administrative detentions to be convinced of the depth of the immorality of our actions in the territories.

To this very day, there are hundreds of prisoners rotting in Shin Bet prisons and dungeons, people who have never been –and never will be – tried. And Israelis are silently resolved to this phenomenon.
To which I will add: Are not the detainees at Gitmo really kidnap victims? They've been there for years without charges or evidence.

Incidentally, former Mossad agent Victor Ostrovsky has made brief reference to medical experiments being conducted on "detained" Palestinians. Ostrovsky's books are banned in Israel.




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