Lieutenant T
Lieutenant R
In the last couple of days, the Israeli army p.r. office published two stirring posters suitable to taped to your child’s wall– that is, if your child speaks English– of Israeli Air Force pilots.
But neither ace has a name. Just Lieutenant R and Lieutenant T.
Max Blumenthal suggested at Twitter that the IDF did not reveal full names for fear of prosecution or retribution. He points that the Israeli soldiers who come to US campuses on hasbara tours don’t fully identify. This pro-Israel presentation at San Jose State last year featured soldiers “Ran” and “Rania”– no last names.
And no last names this year for two soldiers who spoke at Cornell, hosted by StandWithUs, the rightwing lobby group, with predictable results:
Two experienced combat soldiers, Yishai and Sharon, spoke openly about their time serving in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)…
To Yishai’s dismay, the base told him not to shoot. They said it was too risky, for women and children were near the man. Protecting them was more important to the IDF at this moment of crises.
Blumenthal also points to Richard Silverstein’s post, “Dirty 200” on a list said to be soldiers who served in Cast Lead (since taken down).
Many of you have either already seen or heard of a list of 200 IDF officers who served in Operation Cast Lead. It is being circulated samizdat/Wikileaks-style around the internet as a starting point for criminal investigations of possible war crimes charges against those who served in the massacre. It appears the list was prepared by an Israeli Jew who served/s in the army. He or she explains his or her actions as follows:
“Underlining the following people is an act of retribution and affront. They are the direct perpetrators, agents for the state of Israel that in Dec.- Jan. 2008- 2009 attacked scores of people in the besieged Gaza. The people listed here held positions of command at the time of the attack therefore not only did they perform on behalf of a murderous state mechanism but actively encouraged other people to do the same. They bear a distinctive personal responsibility.”
(h/t Scott Roth on twitter)
