-Caveat Lector-
Everyone pretty much understands the word "chutzpah" which is a Yiddishism.
For the few who don't, the closest correct English translation is
"unmitigated gall". The best slang equivalent is "balls".
Uri Avnery:
18.8.01
A Slap in the Face
A middle-aged man approaches the army checkpoint. Three bored soldiers
look at him. One, probably the one in charge, who was standing two or three
meters away, comes up to him and slaps his face.
A few hours later this was shown on television in Israel and all the
Arab countries. It appears that the beaten man is an Egyptian television
reporter, who was on his way to a press conference.
The IDFL (Israel Defense Forces Liar, an anonymous officer in charge of
inventing pretexts for transgressions) provided the usual response: the man
had provoked and cursed the soldiers. The soldier got some suspended
penalty, probably for slapping people on camera. One may assume that he will
be promoted soon.
What is so special about this incident? Only the presence of a foreign
TV team, and the amazing chutzpah of the soldier who behaved like this
without first making sure that no camera was present. Apart from that, it
was a very normal incident. Things like that – and much worse – happen daily
at dozens of checkpoints all over the occupied territories. Routine
harassment, “in order to relieve the boredom,” as a soldier recently
explained concerning another incident.
Slaps in the face. Beatings. Compelling people to stand in line for
hours in the blazing sun. Compelling people to sit for hours in their cars
in the sun with the windows closed. Taking away car keys or identity cards.
Puncturing tires. Detaining women in labor on the way to the hospital.
Detaining children with cancer on the way to treatment. Detaining kidney
patients on the way to dialysis. Stealing money and valuables. So what’s so
special about slapping an Egyptian journalist? After all, an Arab is an
Arab.
Nevertheless, it is worthwhile examining this incident a little
further. The soldier (Sergeant? Lieutenant?) did what he did, as do
thousands of other soldiers at regular and sporadic checkpoints, because
they believe that it is permitted, perhaps even desirable.
It that is true, it shows that the situation is grave. If it is not
true, it shows that the situation is even worse.
When thousands of soldiers at the checkpoints behave like this for
years, it is clear that the commanders are turning a blind eye. The
immediate commander. The battalion commander. The brigade commander. The
front commander. The Chief-of-Staff. The Minister of Defense. The Prime
Minister. It would be enough for one of these people to issue an unequivocal
order to stop the practice. It would be enough for the Chief-of-Staff to
remove a brigade commander under whose command such an incident happened. Or
for a brigade commander to remove a battalion chief. Or for the battalion
commander to dismiss a company captain. Indeed, it would be enough to send
one soldier to prison for 28 days (the penalty usually imposed on soldiers
refusing to serve in the occupied territories) for the practice to stop at
once.
If this does not happen, one cannot but hold the whole chain of command
responsible – from the harassing soldier at the checkpoint up to the
Chief-of-Staff. This means that the harassment is a policy. A policy
designed to break the population, to turn their life into hell and induce
them to leave the country. And also to teach the soldiers to treat the
“locals” like dirt.
There is another interpretation, and it is no less grave: that there is
no such policy. This means that the discipline in the army has broken down,
that the command at all levels has lost control. Not an army any more, but a
lawless militia.
That would hardly be surprising, of course. One cannot employ an army
for dozens of years as an oppressive, colonial police force without causing
a breakdown of discipline. One cannot demand from a soldier to stick to the
truth in his reports when he hears every day the reports of the
above-mentioned IDFL (“killed while trying to escape”, “tried to run the
soldiers over”, “were compelled to shoot when their life was in danger”,
“cursed the soldiers”, “tried to wrest the gun from the hands of the
soldier” and similar routine untruths). One cannot expect a soldier, who
harasses venerable old men and respectable women in the occupied
territories, to behave like a quiet, courteous boy in a Haifa discotheque or
to treat his wife and children decently. One cannot expect a soldier, who
for years has been a hero confronting women and children, to be a hero
against tanks and artillery on a future battlefield.
Every year, when the generals want to extract several billions more
from the public treasury, they tell us that any moment now a major war may
break out. Syria, Iraq, Iran, jointly or separately, are going to throw
missiles at us full of bacteria or poison gas, and only a strong and
sophisticated Israeli army will save us. The same army that has trained for
years at the checkpoints.
There was another picture on TV the other day: Micky Levi, commander of
the Jerusalem police, was seen quarreling with an Arab woman. Suddenly he
struck out with his fist. It looked like a powerful blow. But the camera was
located behind him and could not see where the fist landed. On her belly?
Her breast? Or did he miss altogether and hit the air?
The IPL (Israel Police Liar, a younger brother of his army colleague)
gave some silly explanation. But there is no better witness than one’s own
eyes. The district police commander, an officer with the rank of general,
used his fist while arguing with a woman.
There was no public outcry. Neither in the media, nor in the Knesset,
nor in the cabinet. After all, who wants to quarrel with the police?
"If I lose the light of the sun, I will write by candelight,
moonlight, no light.
If I lose paper and ink, I will write in blood on forgotten walls
I will write always
I will capture nights all over the world and bring them to you."
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