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The Magnes Zionist - Wednesday, October 20, 2010 Why “Breaking the Silence” is Short-Listed for the Sakharov Prize<http://www.jeremiahhaber.com/2010/10/why-breaking-silence-is-short-listed.html> There is a lot of pain and suffering in the world, and there are a lot of human rights violations. The European Parliament's Sakhorov Prize is "intended to honour exceptional individuals [and groups] who combat intolerance, fanaticism, and oppression. Like Andrei Sakharov himself all the winners of the prize have shown how much courage it takes to defend human rights and freedom of expression." To understand why "Breaking the Silence", an organization of IDF combat veterans, is short-listed for the prize, one only need read the Wall Street Journal's editorial attack<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304510704575561593663435672.html?mod=europe_opinion>on the group and the Europeans for short-listing them. The problem is not so much the organization's work, which makes sweeping accusations against Israeli soldiers…. False. The organization does not make accusations, much less sweeping ones. It collects testimonies from IDF soldiers, both veterans and those on active duty, that report human rights abuses that they witnessed or participated in. Hundreds of testimonies (some in English translation can be read here<http://www.shovrimshtika.org/testimonies_group_e.asp>) have been collected and subjected to a rigorous verification process. To date, not a single question mark or doubt has been raised about any of the testimonies. At the same time, the IDF Spokesperson's office, which has itself relied on the organization's testimonies in its investigations, has changed its story time and time again on incidents and policies, e.g., the use of white phosphorus<http://www.jeremiahhaber.com/2010/02/we-didnt-we-did-we-didnt-we-did-we.html>in the Gaza Operation or the bombing of the Gazan mosque<http://www.jeremiahhaber.com/2010/07/idfs-report-to-un-we-didnt-do-anything.html>during prayers. Full article --- http://www.jeremiahhaber.com/2010/10/why-breaking-silence-is-short-listed.html ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
