Israeli Human Rights Group B'Tselem Urges Soldiers to Refuse Orders Demanding They Fire on Unarmed Palestinian Protesters

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In the wake of last Friday’s violent response to protests along the Gaza border, in which at least 17 Palestinians were killed by IDF snipers and hundreds more wounded, Israeli human rights NGO B’Tselem is urging soldiers to refuse “illegal orders” to fire upon unarmed protesters.
The campaign, which is called, “Sorry commander, I cannot shoot,” comes at a critical time. More protests are scheduled for this coming Friday, and many more will occur leading up to May 15, which is the 70th anniversary of Israel’s establishment, referred to as the Nakba (catastrophe) by Palestinians. May 15 is also the date the Trump administration hopes to move the United States embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move which promises to further intensify already growing tensions and frustrations.
B’Tselem’s campaign also comes on the heels of Israeli officials publicly reaffirming the military’s firing policies, further warning that any Palestinians who come within 100 meters of the Gaza fence will be risking their lives, even if they are unarmed.
A part of B’Tselem’s statement on its campaign, which will appear in newspapers across Israel, reads:

An order that permits live gunfire at unarmed civilians is blatantly unlawful. As Justice Benjamin Halevy ruled in the Kafr Qasem case back in the 1950s, the illegality of such orders “is not a question of form, nor is it imperceptible, or partially imperceptible.” On the contrary, it is a case of “unmistakable illegality patently evident in the order itself, it is a command that bears a clearly criminal nature or that the actions it orders are of a clearly criminal nature. It is an illegality that pains the eye and outrages the heart, if the eye be not blind and the heart be not callous or corrupt.”
The responsibility for issuing these unlawful orders and for their lethal consequences rests with the policy makers and – above all – with Israel’s prime minister, defense minister, and the chief of staff. They are also the ones who bear the obligation to change these regulations immediately, before this Friday’s planned protests, in order to forestall any further casualties.
That said, it is also a criminal offense to obey patently illegal orders. Therefore, as long as soldiers in the field continue to receive orders to use live fire against unarmed civilians, they are duty-bound to refuse to comply.

The courage of B’Tselem’s campaign should not be understated, for it comes at a time in which Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and many Israeli politicians, are waging an open war against left-leaning Israeli NGOs. Just this week, Netanyahu spread conspiracy theories about how the New Israel Fund undermined Israeli diplomacy, and human rights organizations have consistently been branded as treasonous, not to mention had their funding streams targeted, by right-wing politicians.
Regardless of whether or not the ad campaign will influence any soldiers, it promises to force Israelis to talk about what happened in Gaza, and how soldiers should engage with unarmed protesters in the future.
That future begins this Friday.

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What Do You Buy For the Children
David Harris-Gershon is author of the memoir What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife?, published by Oneworld Publications (London).
Follow him on Twitter @David_EHG.
 

7 thoughts on “Israeli Human Rights Group B'Tselem Urges Soldiers to Refuse Orders Demanding They Fire on Unarmed Palestinian Protesters

  1. B’Tselem would like people to think that the Gaza demonstrators are flower children quietly singing antiwar songs with a few oldtime spirituals thrown in as well, and people who have never seen an Arab mob in action but know that they hate the State of Israel are eager to buy into this idyllic fiction. The Gaza demonstrations were organized by Hamas with the declared aim of overrunning the security fence and marching on Jerusalem. Most of the demonstrators are Hamas activists. The demonstrations have been accompanied by rock throwing, Molotov cocktails, gunfire and attempts to lay explosive charges. 30-40,000 hysterical Arabs allowed to advance on soldiers or civilians is an immediate danger to life and limb and reason enough for Israeli soldiers to use live ammunition to stop them, because if they didn’t, anyone in their path would be torn to pieces. If Israel was firing indiscriminately, hundreds if not thousands would already be dead. The fire is directed at the Hamas ringleaders and other hotheads in the vanguard of the demonstrations. It is inevitable that “innocent” or unarmed individuals are going to be hit. The remedy is to keep their distance within the parameters laid down by Israel.

    • I like to think of this as right the ship of truth. Hamas has never been known to promote non violent activities. And both Simcha and David should realize that Hamas runs the Gaza prison under their own rules,. Any attempt to circumvent their rule meets with a severe penalty. Both should also know that Hamas is 100% responsible for the misery in Gaza. This “demonstration” is a mere diversion from the misery in Gaza.

  2. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5220575,00.html
    “”The Hamas terrorist organization, which controls the Gaza Strip, has issued an order to burn about 10,000 tires this Friday along the border with Israel,” he wrote. “The burning of tires in such a huge quantity will cause severe damage to the ecosystem in the area, will severely harm the life, the flora and health of the residents, and will add to the severe damage to the aquifer and lead to unprecedented air pollution. “

  3. Alleged chemical attack in Syria. Tikkun staff remin silent on these horrific war crimes
    https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/07/middleeast/syria-suspected-chemical-attack/index.html
    [quote]Several Syrian activist groups Saturday reported that a brutal attack on the remnants of the rebel-held city of Douma in Eastern Ghouta left dozens of civilians dead and scores wounded.
    The groups — including the White Helmets, the Douma Coordination Committee and the Ghouta Media Center — said toxic gas inside barrel bombs dropped by helicopters over Douma caused people to suffocate and choke.
    Syrian state news agency SANA cited an “official source” who denied the allegations, saying the reports were a “blatant attempt to hinder the army’s advance” into what the news agency described as a “collapsing terrorist” stronghold.
    Graphic images
    Graphic images showed people, including children, apparently dead and injured — some with some kind of spittle or foam in their mouths in makeshift medical centers.
    An official with the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM) told CNN that doctors in eastern Ghouta have told him they were seeing patients who were convulsing from side to side and some appeared to be paralyzed and unresponsive.”

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