No one is there to draw the line

8th September, 2004

The dates 14-21/09 have been authorized, but there are currently no tickets available for my flight back, on 21st. I've been added to the waiting list. For now I'm scheduled to fly back to Israel on 20th. I hope that the ticket becomes available though. An extra day with her sounds like a priceless treasure.

11th September, 2004

Angel e-mailed me a few times during the last few days. I also sent her SMS messages now that her phone's finally turned on. (Her mother's upset at the monthly bills of her daughter's cellphone. Angel likes to talk a lot with her friends over the phone...)

She said I could call her in the evenings, but I tried and her phone seems to be turned off all the time.

* * * * *

Me, Rami, Tzahi and Matan are in the 2nd pillbox since yesterday. It's the one that is overlooking the bridge between Hebron and Halhoul. Barbed wire is blocking the passage for cars and pedestrians alike. Nobody is allowed to pass, except for children. But the fact that nobody's allowed to pass doesn't mean that no one's trying to.































I've always wondered why soldiers keep shouting loudly and behaving aggressively whenever they want someone to obey them. Palestinians are people like all of us, they can understand you even if you use a lower tone of voice. Can't they?

During my shift there was a woman that tried to cross the bridge. It was my turn to turn people back. I took the megaphone and tried to attract her attention by calmly addressing her: "excuse me, lady, but you're not allowed to cross here. Please go back..... lady?" Matan started laughing at how pathetically it looked. She didn't bother listening to me and kept walking ahead towards Hebron. Matan took the megaphone and shouted at her to go back.

I guess sometimes you just don't have a choice. You have to use some sort of aggression to get people to listen to you. As a soldier, you can't always be nice. Some people might use it against you. It happens all the time.

But what if being nice is part of my character?

Tzahi seems to like yelling at Palestinians and give away orders. Never mind the fact that he's not even a commander, but a very young and inexperienced soldier who'd talked to a Palestinian for the first time in his life just less than a month ago.

Some people love being in command of others. It gives a boost to their self-confidence.

When a crowd of 20-25 year old women tried to cross the bridge despite Matan's repetitive calls to turn back, he and Rami ran out of the pillbox and on to the bridge. Rami took a magazine of blank bullets with him. Tzahi stayed at the top with me. "Now, watch and learn" he bragged. He took my M-16 ouf of the window and loaded it. A shot was heard! It was Matan. Women were running in panic in both directions. Schoolkids that were crossing the bridge started running as well.

Was it necessary to use violence? Wouldn't they have turned back anyway after seeing the soldiers blocking their way? I cannot say for sure. Yet I think all the peaceful methods should be attempted before turning to violence.

The bridge was closed and no one was allowed to cross, except children. But only 200 meters to the east, you could see Palestinians freely crossing the road . Sometimes the AV patrol would catch them, the soldiers would fire some rubber bullets for a while, then leave. A minute later, the traffic would resume.

Matan told us that one time, he and Yoav chased the Palestinians there, firing rubber bullets and hitting people while they were fleeing. He talked about it with such pride, as if it was one of the best things he had ever done.

After a while, Gil arrived in his jeep. While visiting the pillbox he gave us one romme. (romme is a metallic cylinder that you attach to the barrel of your rifle. It allows you to shoot rubber bullets. You put a small pack of three rubber cylinders inside, load your weapon with blanks and fire.)

Matan said that he'll fire one rubber bullet instead of three and that if anyone asks us, he fired a pack of three. (a pack of three bullets are used in order to lower its speed and therefore minimize the damage caused by the bullet. IDF forbids using a single bullet instead of a pack of three. These bullets must not be used within a close range as they are capable of killing.) Matan says that a pack of three barely hurts, while a single bullet is very painful and leaves a mark that will make sure they would no longer dare to cross the road during closure.

"Why 1? Why not 3?" I asked him.
"What a leftist!" he replied to me with a disrespectful smile.
"What would you do if people get hurt and need to get to a hospital? There's closure."
"Oh, don't be such a leftist! The bridge is closed, and so far there have been no emergencies."
If being humane is called being a leftist, then I'm proud to be one.

Gil gave Matan new orders - not to let anyone cross the bridge, not even schoolkids!

Tzahi is dying to shoot Palestinians with rubber bullets. He keeps asking Matan for permission to start shooting. ARGH!?!?!?!?! He's standing there, watching Palestinians with binoculars. He said: "I'm marking my target."

Why are they here, serving in the territories? Who gave them weapons and license to act on free will? Why do people enjoy shooting other people?! It's not a video game, but real people!!!!!

The same goes for Palestinians. If they'd been given weapons, I'm sure some of them would love to shoot Israelis.

Sigh... No respect for human life.