Israel troops admit Gaza abuses

[Colston]

[faceless]

The worst thing about this is that the people who denied there were war crimes in the first place will now condemn these reports as biased.

Some people will only see what their desperately twisted mentalities allow

[faceless]

Israeli Army T-Shirts Mock Gaza Killings
March 20, 2009
Dominic Waghorn, Middle East correspondent
skynews.com

The Israeli army is at the centre of a second controversy over the moral conduct of its soldiers in as many days. The revelations centre on t-shirt designs made for soldiers that make light of shooting pregnant Palestinian mothers and children and include images of dead babies and destroyed mosques.

One, printed for a platoon of Israeli snipers depicts an armed Palestinian pregnant women caught in the crosshairs of a rifle, with the disturbing caption in English: "1 shot 2 kills". Another depicts a child carrying a gun also in the centre of a target. "The smaller, the harder," read the words on the t-shirt. According to a soldier interviewed by the newspaper, the message has a double meaning: "It's a kid, so you've got a little more of a problem, morally and also the target is smaller." Another shows an Israeli soldier blowing up a mosque and reads "Only God forgives". Above a ninja figure, yet another shirt bears the slogan "Won't chill until I confirm a kill". The revelations, coming so soon after Israel's offensive in Gaza in which hundreds of civilians were killed - many of them women and children - are causing outrage.

Perhaps the most shocking design shows a Palestinian mother weeping next to her dead baby's grave, also in the crosshairs of a rifle. It suggests it would have been better if the child had never been born, with the slogan "Better use Durex".

The controversy follows more revelations by other soldiers about abuses and the shooting of civilians during Israel's offensive during the Gaza offensive. Ex-soldier and campaigner with Breaking The Silence, Michael Maniken, told Sky News Online this week's revelations suggest a pattern of immoral conduct in the army. "The army keeps on saying we're talking about a few rotten apples but it seems the army doesn't understand there's a norm in this kind of action," he eplained. "We're hearing about this time and time again and the army seems disconnected from reality."

A spokesman for the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) told Sky News Online, the t-shirts were printed on the private initiative of the soldiers and their designs "are not in accordance with IDF values and are simply tasteless. This type of humour is unacceptable and should be condemned".

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If the troops are so undisciplined as to wear such shit then that reflects entirely on their chain of command - the IDF spokesman is spewing lies and bullshit as usual.

[major.tom]

If that's the sort of hatred they show for Palestinians when off the clock, how must they conduct themselves when geared up and among them?

It's a recipe for war crimes.

[VivaGalloway]

Israel will protect the war criminals or give them ultra-light sentences. The more I read about these people and their supporters, the more I agree with Hamas.

[Colston]

[Colston]

[faceless]

It's not the soldiers who should be investigated? Well who pressed the buttons and pulled the triggers? I hate these cowards and bastards who claim that they have no choice.

Thanks for posting it though colston, I'll watch it all later.

[VivaGalloway]

"I was only following orders"

Jews should know better than anybody the failings of that defence.