http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/middle-east/5611-israels-impunity-and-its-culture-of-torture
Israel's impunity and its culture of torture Ramona Wadi Thursday, 28 March 2013 11:00 The recognition of torture in Israeli prisons is subject to a host of narratives, entrenching it within a distinct, yet hidden realm. Since the start of Israel's illegal occupation, thousands of Palestinians have been tortured in a manner reminiscent of the macabre extravagance now associated with Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. The revelation that torture was taking place in Israel's prisons in 1977 was met with an incredulous reaction from Prime Minister Menachem Begin, who refused to acknowledge its existence. The Landau Commission in 1987 failed to ban torture in Israel. Instead of condemning the practice as a breach of international law, torture was deemed to be permissible in certain cases, governed by a set of secret rules which torturers adhered to. The foundation for impunity was given a solid structure; "lying to the court" about torture was "intolerable" but the practice itself was allowed. Thus was the relevance of the impact of torture upon Palestinian prisoners pushed to one side. In 1999, a Supreme Court ruling that torture was illegal became mired in ambiguity, owing to the same court's allowance of torture in situations of "necessity". Aided by experts in the medical and psychological fields, torturers would follow a set programme which stipulated the limits of physical resistance prior to the victim suffering irreparable damage. The vagueness of the term used resulted in an effective safeguard for torturers, who ensured the isolation of prisoners in order to fetter the emotional and physical scars of torture. The death of Arafat Jaradat at the hands of the Israeli internal security agency Shin Bet in February brought state-sanctioned torture onto the front pages. An autopsy revealed that Jaradat had been subjected to brutal torture; several bones in the neck, spine, arms and legs were broken, and blood clots, bruising and blisters were evident. As expected, Israel failed to acknowledge the veracity of the autopsy report, calling it inconclusive and clinging to a fabricated version of events which claimed that "cardiac arrest" was the cause of death. Apart from the physical isolation of tortured prisoners, the isolation of individual recollections of torture within the collective Palestinian memory contributes to its displacement by other narratives. The instant glorification of martyrdom is centred upon an individual living under decades of oppression, whereas if we focus on the decades of oppression the subject of torture can rise to the communal level. Maintaining a false dichotomy between individual and collective memory can prove counterproductive to Palestinian resistance, allowing sub-narratives to sink without trace. Shin Bet's reliance on medical practitioners to help with torture are documented in legal rights group Adalah's report "On Torture". Physicians have been known to disregard torture complaints, help to send prisoners back to their torturers, disclose medical conditions to make torture "more effective" and fail to report complaints about, or personal observation of, torture. While the elimination of socio-political processes plays a role in transforming the torture victim's identity into a stereotype, there is an inherent culture promoted by the Israeli state that Palestinians are a target the disposal of which is necessary in order to achieve the Zionist dream. In such a context, while medical practitioners' identification with the oppressor is an affirmation of allegiance to a "superior" state, the same state is responsible for the dissemination and application of apartheid practices. The protection of human rights cannot take place if the political views of the oppressor eliminate any possibility of such discourse by encouraging its citizens to become active participants in oppression. Israeli society is not oblivious to the torture of Palestinians, yet it has willingly conformed to the requirements of stereotyping and dehumanisation of the victims. Rhetoric abounds about the preservation of the Jewish state and references to Zionism, with these influences being articulated with venom on social media, advocating the use of further violence against Palestinians. It has become commonplace for Israelis sticking to the Zionist agenda to suggest "breaking the bones" of Palestinians or castration, shooting, death by nerve gas or burning of Palestinian children. The culture of violence has been embraced eagerly, with the Holocaust card trumping any outrage at torture taking place in the name of the state and creating irrational fears about "existential" threats. Sanctioned by almost every strata of society, Shin Bet's impunity with regard to torture has lasting consequences on Palestinian victims. An absence of criminal proceedings, despite over 600 complaints in recent years, has resulted in a series of myths regarding the practice. Claims that certain techniques are no longer used, such as prolonged beatings or hangings, thrive within the parameters of bureaucratic form-filling and secret proceedings. It is also implied that certain torture techniques veer towards the psychological, such as using Palestinians willing to collaborate with the Israeli secret service in exchange for material benefits, which help to weaken the defences of the prisoner under interrogation. However, the physical violence has not diminished, as demonstrated by the lacerations evident on Jaradat's body. What is remarkable, notoriously so, is Israel's absolute impunity which allows it to regard torture and murder as collateral damage in a "war against terror". Having broken a multitude of UN resolutions and regulations pertaining to international law and never been held accountable, it is apparent that the culture of impunity which normalises and sanctions violence in Israel has been ignored by the international community. Understandably, the US is incapable of condemning human rights violations and torture since it is an advocate of both; criticism of others would attract attention to its own illegal activities. Indeed, Israel and the US have sanctioned torture in remarkably similar circumstances; ostensibly to provide security for their citizens at the expense of thousands of people whose existence amounts to nothing more than a name or number on a list. Imprisonment and torture as a means to safeguard Israeli security have distorted the identity of Palestinian prisoners. If the transformation and misrepresentation of torture into the lesser of many evils can be removed from the international consciousness, then there is a chance that Israel and other states could be called to account for their crimes. The alternative is that the Palestinian struggle will be bludgeoned into oblivion by Israel's torturers aided by the silence and complicity of its friends and allies. ----------------- Making the case for Israel Apartheid Week *For two student activists in Washington D.C., Israel Apartheid Week and using the term apartheid is an opportunity to alter perceptions and the discourse surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Whereas occupation defines Israel/Palestine as a military struggle with ambiguous moral implications, apartheid describes a civil rights struggle with a clear moral imperative.* By Joshua B. Michaels and Benjamin L. Mandel <http://972mag.com/making-the-case-for-israel-apartheid-week/68297/jvp-2/> Jewish Voice for Peace supporters in Washington D.C. January 19, 2013 (Photo: Joshua B. Michaels) This month, cities and campuses across the U.S. participated in the 9th Annual Israeli Apartheid Week. As the apartheid paradigm becomes more and more pervasive throughout American political discourse when discussing Israel, it is fair to ask: what is meant by apartheid? Here, clarifications are in order: We are not talking about a system of oppression identical to apartheid South Africa. What we are talking about is a system that is similar to the oppression of South Africa, but also unique. The occupation in Israel/Palestine is more extreme than the older apartheid, while the segregation inside Israel proper is somewhat milder. We believe that in law and in spirit, the term Israeli Apartheid is fair when describing the sum of that regime. Instead of presenting a technical argument about whether the term is appropriate (more qualified figures have already done so), we want to argue why applying this term, and supporting Israeli Apartheid Week, are so important. One of the biggest challenges to changing the status quo in the region is that the Israeli narrative dominates American media. Framing the discussion has been one of Israels strongest and most successful weapons against the Palestinians for the last 66 years. In the American media, Israel is almost always the protagonist. Even unflattering reports tend to elicit sympathy for the Israeli position. This is only just beginning to change, and slowly. The most prominent example is the widely accepted understanding of the occupation. While the occupation itself is not viewed positively, the American media portrays it on Israels terms. For viewers here in the U.S., the term occupation invokes a temporary situation (in reality it is endless) based on security needs, which paints Israel as the victim. Adopting the term apartheid will re-direct this discussion away from Israeli anxiety and toward the everyday suffering of Palestinians. The oppressed will become the new protagonists. Occupation defines Israel/ Palestine as a military struggle with ambiguous moral implications, whereas apartheid describes a civil rights struggle with a clear moral imperative. It is this redistribution of sympathy, which makes Israeli Apartheid Week so powerful, and it is especially valuable in reaching out to American Jews for whom civil rights is almost secular religion. Generally, apartheid week involves campuses and cities hosting talks relating to the nature of Israels apartheid system, and promotes the tactics laid out in the global BDS call <http://www.bdsmovement.net/call>. This is another important development because in our own history Americans have used similar tactics to right societal wrongs, from Montgomery to South Africa. Whether or not one supports such measures against Israel at large, or only against specific targets, we believe that Israel will not reform from within and international pressure is the only way to force a change. Such pressure will only follow widespread awareness and Apartheid Week has already grown rapidly over the last nine years. We believe that if the term is used by more and more actors; the more people read it in the paper, see it on the news, and hear it on the streets, the less it can be avoided. Apartheid Week is therefore a chance to influence communities who are not being taught the realities of the conflict or never took the time to question the accepted narrative. We hope that when these realities become obvious, the demand for change will mount. In our own experience on American campuses, we have already seen how effective the new Apartheid lexicon can be. After a recent screening of the film Roadmap to Apartheid at American University, a score of young student activists stayed after the film to discuss the validity and effectiveness of the apartheid claim. Certainly the discussion about how to best describe and combat Israels system of occupation and segregation should not end here, but there was a unanimous feeling that just four years ago, when many of us started out with Palestinian activism at American University, it was much more difficult to criticize Israel at all. We believe IAW has contributed to the growth of a community of impassioned activists who understand that there is a system in place, which makes Palestinians prisoners in their own homes and Israelis prisoners of their own fear. And among them are a growing coalition of American Jews, who are speaking out because they are Jewish, not in spite of it. *Joshua B. Michaels is a student at American University, and the founder and president of the universitys chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace. Benjamin L. Mandel is the Jewish Voice for Peace liaison to the chapter at American University, where he is an alumnus.* [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:la...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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