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)
Heroic Lt R & Lt T get some help on the ground, like discussed here: http://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/testimonies/videos/74845
“Light onto the world.”
Your US tax money at work.
The only place an Israeli living in Israel can go to “carve up the slopes” as a snowboarder is in the occupied Golan. Should definitely be noted.
Richard Silverstein had a had excellent article(s) on the colonel charged w/ war crimes, promptly cleared by an idf investigation and then promptly promoted to general — check out
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/2012/11/13/idf-general-accused-of-war-crimes-promoted/
“The IDF likes to reverse the old saying: “Let no good deed go unpunished.” It likes to ensure that no war crime goes unrewarded. Col. Ilan Malka, who was named by the Goldstone Report as possibly responsible for two sets of war crimes during Operation Cast Lead (one of them was the murder of the al-Samouni family, resulting in the deaths of 20 civilians including women and children), just received a promotion from the IDF chief of staff. He will be the new chief of staff of the Central Command, assigned to protect settlements and provide the security necessary for expanding the settler enterprise in the West Bank. He will rise in rank from Colonel to Brigadier General.
Malka was one of only two officers who were ever investigated for their murder of civilians during the war. The worst punishment he received was to have further promotions put on hold since 2010. Now, Brig. Gen. Gantz has freed him from this military Purgatory and he can continue to work his way up the ranks to his own level of incompetence. Or should I say “competence,” since the IDF appears to view soldiers who kill civilians as being supremely competent. How else to explain this promotion?”
got to also say that what can be seen of these very covered faces (some religious thing?) look exactly alike — don’t suppose it’s a model?
/Max Blumenthal suggested at Twitter that the IDF did not reveal full names for fear of prosecution or retribution./
Max and you Phil once again show complete ignorance.
Israeli pilots identities (faces and names) are considered state secret and are always hidden.
The reasoning is that pilots being elite force are considered prime targets
both by terrorist organizations and foreign intelligence services.