The IDF's sociopathic mentality towards Palestinians: a reflection of
the Israeli "state of mind"
In a news item reminiscent of the shocking and disturbing photos that
came out of Iraq's notorious Abu-Ghraib prison a few years ago, now ex-
IDF soldier Eden Aberjil has posted images of herself on Facebook in
which she is seen posing in front of bound and blindfolded Palestinian
detainees. There has been widespread condemnation of this in the media
and even Israeli military sources have called the pictures "shameful,
base and crude". Miss Aberjil herself thinks that the matter has "been
blown out of proportion" and called the army's response "ungrateful".
These are photographs but it does not take a huge stretch of the
imagination to imagine that while these pictures were being taken
things were being said to, or about, the men in custody which would
not have been anything less than humiliating. The head of the Israeli
Committee Against Torture, Yishai Menuchim, has criticised the images,
saying that this incident "reflects an attitude which has become the
norm and consists of treating Palestinians like objects, not like
human beings".
The IDF's sociopathic mentality towards Palestinians: a reflection the
Israeli "state of mind"The response from Eden Aberjil's Facebook
friends is equally worrying. One comment posted on her page said,
"That looks very sexy for you", to which Aberjil responded, "I wonder
if he is on Facebook too – I'll have to tag him in the photo, ha ha".
While there is no overt act of abuse taking place here, as there was
in the Abu Ghraib photos, it nevertheless begs the question, why do
things like this? What makes a young soldier choose to humiliate
elderly Palestinians in this way? What motivated this soldier, not
only to take these photos, but then to post them online, for all to
see, with the caption "IDF – the best time of my life"?
While it certainly says a lot about the sick mentality of the woman in
question it is also indicative of a wider callous mentality towards
Palestinians which has been displayed by the Israeli Occupation Forces
time and time again. A culture of sociopathic behaviour directed
towards Palestinians has been allowed to fester and grow in Israeli
society over the years, especially within the IDF. Even a layman can
recognise some of the standard traits which are used to profile
sociopaths and which can apply here including: callousness and lack of
empathy (check); lack of remorse, shame or guilt (check);
authoritarianism (check); the goal to enslave their victims (check); a
grandiose sense of self (check); exercises despotic control over every
aspect of the victim's life (check); the list goes on.
The IDF's sociopathic mentality towards Palestinians: a reflection the
Israeli "state of mind"These characteristics are made manifest on a
daily basis in a seemingly never-ending string of humiliations that
the IDF have been inflicting systematically on the Palestinian people
for years now. The incident in question is most certainly not a one-
off occurrence. Children (often as young as 12, if not younger) are
humiliated frequently when arrested by the IDF (usually for nothing
more than throwing stones). They are often so terrified by IDF dawn
raids and the treatment they get when arrested that they defecate or
urinate on themselves before being paraded down the street to an IDF
army jeep. All too often such young people report instances of
torture, including severe physical, verbal, emotional and sexual abuse
(to which some Israeli officers have admitted). Earlier this year it
was reported by the Prisoners' Study Centre that nearly 400 children
are being subjected to extreme levels of abuse in Israeli prisons.
The IDF's sociopathic mentality towards Palestinians: a reflection the
Israeli "state of mind"One set of photographs circulated on the
internet showed some IDF soldiers standing proudly behind their
"trophy kill", a dead Palestinian man.
Other standard opportunities for the soldiers to humiliate Palestinian
men and women occur at military checkpoints where they wield ultimate
authority over who passes through and who does not; a power that the
often young Israeli men and women revel in. Every single day
Palestinians are forced to walk, like cattle, through fences and
barbed wire lanes before being corralled into a waiting area where
they can wait for hours on end in the heat of the Middle Eastern sun
or in the bitter cold of the night until a soldier is bothered enough
to let them through so that they can reach the other side of the
road.
It is also common for Israeli soldiers to stand by and encourage
Jewish settlers to spit at, swear at and throw things at Palestinians
who are going about their daily business.
Such acts directed, as they so often are, against children, women and
the elderly people of Palestine raise serious questions about the
training and mentality of IDF soldiers and personnel. To do the things
that an Israeli soldier is required to do every day undoubtedly
requires a system of indoctrination to be put into place which makes
them see Palestinians as less than human. It is the only way that they
can do their job "successfully". IDF soldiers are most often recruited
straight out of high school. Much of the time they are in their teens
and early twenties but by the time they are on active duty they have
already been trained to see Palestinians as not worthy of respect,
dignity or compassion. From the earliest age Israeli children are
taught that Palestinians are the enemy, and of less intrinsic value
than Israelis. This is something that is drilled into them time and
time again by their government; the policies of the state of Israel;
the words of their ministers and the acts of their leaders.
The IDF's sociopathic mentality towards Palestinians: a reflection the
Israeli "state of mind"It is the duty of the Israeli government and
the IDF to ensure that their soldiers act with decency towards those
living under the Israeli occupation of which they are integral. Even
in times of war there are certain universally accepted norms of
behaviour that must apply. These norms are governed by international
laws and treaties such as the Geneva Convention on Human Rights.
However, officially, Israel is not at war with the Palestinians, or so
we are told. If that is really the case, then how much more should
standards of decency, humanity and dignity apply towards Palestinian
civilians and prisoners during times of relative calm?
In this particular case it seems that the woman in question may very
well get away with acting unprofessionally and insensitively. While
the IDF has issued a statement saying: "These actions are ugly and
callous; details of the incident have been forwarded up the chain of
command", it is also acknowledged that, as she was discharged from the
IDF over a year ago, there is not necessarily much that can be done to
discipline her.
It is essential that the Israeli authorities begin to take this and
all of the other acts of IDF mistreatment of Palestinians as
symptomatic of a larger problem and start to ensure that dignity and
respect is shown towards the Palestinian people, something admittedly
hard to achieve as long as the illegal occupation of Palestinian land
continues. However, raising generation after generation of Israelis to
believe that they are superior to the people whose land they are
occupying will implode at some stage at the cost of the humanity of
every Israeli citizen who stands by, sees such actions as those in the
photographs and does nothing.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/1430-the-idfs-sociopathic-mentality-towards-palestinians-a-reflection-the-israeli-qstate-of-mindq