posted 09-28-2003 10:02 PM               

and speaker at the Summer 2000 forum in Athens which resulted in the establishment of the Ama Lahi discussion forum.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ama_lahi

Akiva ORR Tel-Aviv 26.9.2003

ISRAELI PILOTS - AND SOCIETY

The recent publication in the Israeli Press and TV of a letter signed by 25 Air Force Pilots declaring their refusal to bomb non-
combatant civilians in occupied Palesine has surprised many in Israel, in Palestine, and abroad.

Nowhere has anything similar ever happened.

Many British and American pilots bombed German and Japanese civilians in World War II knowing they bomb non-combatants and not
military targets yet not one pilot protested. When the French fought
the FLN in Algeria they bombed Algerian civilians but not one pilot protested or refused to do it.

The 25 pilots not only refused to bomb non-combatants, they signed a letter against these bombings and publicized it in the Press and TV.

They knew this will terminate their career as pilots. They knew some of their friends and relatives, and many Israelis, will denounce them as traitors.

This pressure may cause some of them to recant. . ..They knew they will have to pay dearly for their act, they considered all this carefully, yet decided to do it. It was the most difficult decision of their lives, yet they preferred to lose their career rather than to lose their conscience.

Had only one or two pilots done this we could ascribe it to personal motives, but when 25 pilots act together it is impossible to ascribe the act to personal motives alone and one must look for social
reasons. We have to ask :

What kind of society, what kind of education, produced this
behaviour?

In other words what kind of society is the Israeli society?

The basic fact of Israeli society is that it is a DIVIDED society.
It is divided into religious and anti-religious, into immigrants
from Europe and immigrants from the Orient. Into Humanists and
Nationalists.

Into rich and poor. Each of these groups is itself further divided into opposing groups. All these groups hate each other. What holds them all together ? Outsiders who hate EVERY Jew.

Zionism needs people who hate EVERY Jew. This is its `raison d'etre'.

Some history.

In 1893 an anti-religious Jew in Vienna, Theodore Herzl, suggested that all Jews in Austria convert to Christianity in the cathedral of Vienna. Why ? to stop persecution of Jews by many christians. 4
year later in Paris he saw Alfred Dreyfus, a Jew who became a Christian and officer in the French Army, being accused of treason
and imprisoned, only because he was an EX-Jew. Herzl concluded that converting to Christianity will not stop persecution of Jews and only a State of their own will protect them.

He created a movement called "Zionism" ("Zion" is the Biblical name of Palestine) to build this State. But he was ANTI-religious and did not insist the Zionist State must be in Palestine. He wanted to
establish it in Uganda.

Between 1800 and 1900 some 80% of Europe's Jews ceased to be religious. They wanted to assimnilate, to become French, Germans,
British, Russians. Before Hitler came to power only 5% of Europe's Jews were Zionists.

Religious Jews (20%) OPPOSED Herzl's Zionism. They believe God exiled the Jews from Palestine (in 70 A.D) because they stopped obeying Him and only when they obey God will He bring them back to Palestine and resurrect Jewish independence. They asked : How can the anti-religious Herzl, who tried to convert Jews to Christianity,
resurrect Jewish independence ?

If he creates a State it will be a State of anti-religious people, not of Jews.

For this reaon most religious Jews opposed Herzl's secular Zionism.

Zionism was a movement of anti-religious European Jews who emigrated to Palestine and created the State of Israel in 1948.

Ben-Gurion, Levi Eshkol, Golda Meir, Rabin, were all anti-religious.

They created a State and an education system that was non-religious.

In Israel all schools are run by the State except religious schools which are run by religious groups. Many religious Jews refuse to serve in the Army. Much changed after 1967 but even today many religious Jews refuse to serve in the Army. Some refuse to participate in Israeli elections.

The non-religious education in Israel emphasized morality, not religion.

The 25 Pilots were educated in this system..

This education changed after 1977 when Begin's nationalistic Likud Party won the elections. Education became more nationalistic.

The 1967 war changed anti-Zionist attitudes of many religious Jews.

They interpret the conquest of Jerusalem and Palestine as God's will and many began to support Israel. Today there are 2 kinds
of religious Jews :

1.Those who wear a coloured, knitted, scullcap,
2.Those who wear a black silk scullcap.(scullcaps express deference
to God)
The colored scullcaps are worn by nationalists. They worship the
Jewish nation and the territory of Palestine. Their motto: "The Land
of Israel to the people of Israel according to the religion of
Israel".

Those who wear black scullcaps worship God, not the nation or the land.

The knitted scullcap wearers see their religious duty in settling the occupied territories of Palestine. They call
them "Liberated" "Judea, Samaria, Gaza".

However, black scullcap wearers see their duty in converting non-religious Jews back to the Jewish religion.

The 25 pilots, and many non-religious Israelis, consider all scullcap wearers as believers in superstitions who damage the
interests of Israel.

One event greatly influenced the morality of many non-religious Israelis the Kufer-Kasem massacre of 1956.

On 29.10.1956, in the afternoon, a few hours before Israel launched a war against Egypt, it imposed a curfew on all areas inhabited by Palestinians. The purpose was to prevent Palestinians from protesting against the war. The curfew was declared on the Israeli Radio at noon and became valid in the afternoon. Most Palestinians
listen to radio in the evening, after working hours. Palestinians returning from work in the Israeli town of Petah-Tikva to Kufer-Kasem (10 km east of Petah-Tikva) did not know about the curfew which was imposed while they were at work.

They were stopped by an Israeli army unit, and shot dead.

49 Palestinian men and women from Kufer-Kasem were executed that day.

The government tried to hide this.but when the Israeli Communist Party publicized it the government was forced to act. The officers and soldiers who killed Palestinians were tried in court. All
pleaded not guilty saying they only obeyed orders. But "I only obeyed orders" is what Nazis said when they were tried after World
War 2 for killing millions of Jews.

Most Israelis know this. So the judge in the Kufer-Kasem massacre trial did not accept this argument. He decreed : "Some orders carry the Black Flag of illegality and soldiers must disobey them. Not doing so is a crime."

Orders to kill non-combatant civilians are such orders. He sentenced the soldiers to prison. Ben-Gurion pardoned them before
the sentence was over. but the phrase "Some orders carry the Black Flag of illegality and must be disobeyed" became engraved in the consciousness of many Israelis.

After Begin's Likud won the 1977 elections the education system became much more nationalistic. It advocates loyalty to the nation, not to humanity or morality, but many Israelis and Israel's legal system cannot forget that "some orders carry the Black Flag of illegality and must be disobeyed ".

The pilots know this. When they dropped the one-Ton bomb on Hamas leader Shehada in Gaza they killed 14 civilians, 9 of them children. They knew a one-ton bomb dropped on a refugee camp will kill civilians. They asked Israeli air-force commander Dan Halutz what he would feel in such a case. He replied "Only a slight tilt when the
bomb leaves the plane. My conscience is clear." This convinced them he ignores "Black Flag orders".

So they decided to disobey his orders . He will act against them. So will those who hate EVERY Jew and assist Zionism.

posted 10-02-2003 01:43 PM            

http://www.rense.com/general42/isrr.htm

Israelis To Demolish
Rachel Corrie Home
By Lawrence Smallman
Al Jazeera.net
10-2-3

A Palestinian family home that was rebuilt and dedicated to the memory of Rachel Corrie has been hit with a new demolition order.


Rachel Corrie was the heroic Jewish volunteer who was crushed to death in Rafah, Gaza, in March 2003 as she tried to prevent a bulldozer from demolishing a Palestinian home.


Her death brought shame on Israel and international condemnation followed. Her violent end also put a spotlight on the large number of home demolitions carried out by Israeli soldiers.


Now a huge wave of outrage is expected to erupt after a demolition notice was slapped on the property of Bait Arabiya, dedicated to American-born Rachel's memory.


The property is home to Arabiya and Salim Shawamrah and their seven children who have watched Israelis demolish their house four times before.


Last Monday, Israel's military administration in the Occupied Palestinian Territories issued a summons to destroy their home - built on privately-owned land - for a fifth time.


Home surrounded


Israeli military vehicles have surrounded the property and are not allowing protesters to approach, according to information given to Aljazeera.net on Thursday.


But many are expected to turn up at 04:00am local time (01:00 GMT) to demonstrate against the demolition - as happened the last time the house was destroyed.


"There are probably only a few hours left, but it could be destroyed earlier as the Civil Administration tends to carry out these things very early in the morning."


The official reason for demolition is there was no building permit.


But when contacted by Aljazeera.net, the Israel Defence Force Civil Administration and Central Command refused to comment on why four applications for building permits were all turned down.


Israeli volunteers for rebuilding



Rachel Corrie's parents were

received by President Arafat



Rachel Corrie's parents have arrived from the US for a visit, and have alr eady visited Bait Arabiya, rebuilt by volunteers from the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD).


Craig and Cindy Corrie met Arabiya and Salim Shawamrah to give their sympathy and support.


The house has been built for the fifth time on the same scrap of land in Anata despite the fact that is was last destroyed as recently as August.


ICAHD Coordinator Jeff Halper said that after volunteers rebuilt the home, they dedicated it to the "memory of Rachel Corrie and Nuha Swaidan".


Nuha Swaidan was a pregnant Palestinian woman who was also killed by a bulldozer during a house demolition in Gaza at the same time as Rachel.


Resistance symbol



The occupants of this home were

given a five minute warning



Since it was first demolished by the Israeli authorities five years ago, Bait Arabiya has become a symbol or resistance not only to occupation but to Israeli's sustained campaign to displace Palestinians from their country altogether, said Halper.


Shawamrah applied for a building permit four times to build a home on land he had bought outright but each time he was refused for a different reason.


The Civil Administration ruled that Shawamrah had not filled in the right forms. Then he was told the area was listed as an "agricultural zone". Next the land was "too steep" and finally his plot was deemed "too near" an Israeli highway.


Speaking to Aljazeera.net, the home owner said he would not submit to occupation, violence, threats, intimidation or impoverishment.


"My family has withstood successive demolitions and severe trauma, but by putting home demolitions on the international agenda we are in fact celebrating the courage and solidarity of many thousands of ordinary Palestinians," said Shawamrah.


The Israeli demolition programme has caused such an international outrage that Shawamrah has been invited to tour America and highlight the plight of Palestinians.


There were mixed emotions as he headed for the airport and looked back on Bait Arabiya ... knowing it will probably be razed to the ground.

Details of his speaking tour can be found at: www.icahd.org

__________

"Many rabbis and professionals have told me recently that they fear for their jobs should they even begin to articulate their doubts about Israeli policy - much less give explicit support to calls for an end to the occupation."

-- Rabbi Michael Lerner Published on Sunday, April 28, 2002 in the Los Angeles Times
http://english.aljazeera.net/Articles/News/ArabWorld/
Palestinian+home+destroyed+five+times.htm