Newspaper articles and videos are beginning to expose the war crimes committed by Israel in the recent attacks on Gaza

1. A Guardian article by Rory McCarthy about the real attitudes of Israeli soldiers towards Palestinians in the recent Gaza attacks.

2. See also this article which first broke the story in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

3. And an absolute must is another Haaretz article about IDF soldiers wearing custom made tea shirts with slogans printed on them glorifying war crimes against Palestinian civilians.

Examples:

• a tea shirt shows a pregnant Palestinian woman with a bull's-eye superimposed on her belly, with the slogan, in English, "1 shot, 2 kills
• "Better use Durex," next to a picture of a dead Palestinian baby, with his weeping mother and a teddy bear beside him.
• a drawing of a soldier next to a young woman with bruises, and the slogan, "Bet you got raped!"
• Images about confirming the kill--shooting a bullet into a Palestinian's head from close range to ensure he/she is dead.
• Images that show harm to religious sites.
• Images showing harm done to female or child non-combatants.

 Colonial racism is alive and well.

Update 22nd March 2009: A further article in the Observer sheds more light on this issue.

See also the Israeli Breaking the Silence website. It describes its purpose as follows: 

"Breaking the Silence is an organization of veteran Israeli soldiers that collects testi

monies of soldiers who served in the Occupied Territories during the Second Intifadah. Soldiers who serve in the Territories are witness to, and participate in military actions which change them immensely. Cases of abuse towards Palestinians, looting, and destruction of property have been the norm for years, but are still excused as military necessities, or explained as extreme and unique cases. Our testimonies portray a different and grim picture of questionable orders in many areas regardind Palestinian civilians. These demonstrate the depth of corruption which is spreading in the Israeli military. While this reality which is known to Israeli soldiers and commanders exists in Israel's back yard, Israeli society continues to turn a blind eye, and to deny that which happens in its name. Discharged soldiers who return to civilian life discover the gap between the reality which they encountered in the Territories , and the silence which they encounter at home. In order to become a civilian again, soldiers are forced to ignore their past experiences. Breaking the Silence voices the experiences of those soldiers, in order to force Israeli society to address the reality which it created.

Until today, Breaking the Silence interviewed hundreds of soldiers who served in the territories, and continues interviewing soldiers daily. These interviews are published on this website, in testimonial booklets, through different media outlets, and also through lectures and tours to Hebron. The testimonies are published with minimal editing and with complete confidentiality, in order to protect the soldiers and to encourage them to speak.

We demand accountability regarding Israel's military actions in the Occupied territories perpetrated by us and in our name."

Update 24th March 2009.  See also today's Guardian  reports and videos on war crimes in Gaza. The newspaper has completed a  three week investigation into these crimes.

The films focus on three separate cases of alleged war crimes:

• The use of Palestinian children as human shields.

• The systematic targeting of medics and hospitals by the Israeli Army.

• The use of state of the art precision weapons such as UAV aircraft to fire on groups of unarmed civilians.