An Israeli Soldier's Opinion

This is a letter from a young Israeli soldier to his mother. I got a copy of it as a member of Naomi Ragen's e-mail list.

I strongly urge you to read the letter to get an understanding of the Israeli-Hezbollah-Hamas conflict. I was particularly impressed by the description of Israel's "don't shoot first" policy:

Do you know why so manysoldiers die in the West Bank, Gaza and  Lebanon? Not because the enemy's army is better, they are not even close  to the IDF. We have better equipment, more equipment, better training, so how is it that soldiers are kidnapped and killed? That's a good question. It is because the left and the international community is keeping such a close look, and bias toward Israel's defense tactics, that are (sic!) hands are tied in defending ourselves properly. We take so many dangerous steps in order to protect civilians, that in return, we are killed and kidnapped. Did you know that at the Lebanon Border for the last ten years, because of "International" pressure, that if you see 500 Hizbollah terrorists with AK47's and rocket  launchers and missiles coming up to the actual border fence, 50 feet from the Israel soldiers, 50 feet from Israel's soil, that the IDF cannot fire unless they fire first! They can aim, set up shop 50 feet from you, but until they fire and shoot at you, the Israeli soldiers cannot defend themselves. Is that logical? No, it is insane. The only reason why so many Israeli's both civilian and military are dying is explicitly the fault of the International Leftist agenda. The Left likes to see the minority win, even if it is Hamas and Hezbollah.

Again, you have to read the whole letter.

Notes from Zachary Taylor a  soldier in the Nachal Haredi Unit, sent to me (Naomi Ragen) by his mother.

People jump to conclusions about the Israeli leadership and their strategies concerning Gaza and Lebanon. First of all, do not believe anything you read in a foreign newspaper or even half of the Israeli ones about this current situation.

(Source: Cox & Forkum)

For example, just a few months ago an Arab Family in Gaza was killed on a beach. The Palestinians said the Israelis did the killing, as did international media. After research it was shown that in no way whatsovever was it an Israeli...

bomb that murdered that family, but a bomb that was left by HAMAS.  However, by then, we lost the sympathies of world media, and Olmert apologized prematurely for something that Israel did not even do.

In Lebanon, you must understand that Hizbollah is not a "faction" it is part of the government. As we have seen lately as the puppet Lebonese government has come out and declared itself as defenseless aganist Hizbollah. However, that is not the case. Civilians in Beirut are handing out cakes and cookies as a celebration of the 8 dead Israeli soldiers and the two kidnapped ones. What I have learned in three months of being at checkpoints is something I call the middle eastern personality which is common in both Arabs and middle easterners. People who visit Israel have experienced it here too. It is the attitude that "I gotta get for me what I can at the expense of almost everyone else." The expression in Hebrew is to "work" someone. At the checkpoints people come and cry or claim they are sick and need to go to the hospital, or have important meetings, all in an attempt to get us to let them pass quickly into Israel. Most of the cases are false, and just the way to "work" or "hustle" the soldiers at the checkpoint. Most of this is witnessed by the Women in Black, who for some reason, believe these stories and only take the position of the Arabs, never that the soldiers are trying to protect the citizens of Israel from potential terrorists. So, the Arab citizens play up these stories to "work" the hearts and minds of the "human rights" activists and the media. These people do not learn through discussion or compromise because of  Middle  Eastern culture. Look at the history now in every Arab country about their ability to compromise where it be honor killing, jihad terrorism, constant civil war, pillaging and rape and all the other cultural riches of the Arab world. It is not within their mentality which has been nurtured thought history to compromise civilly. (This does not in any way reflect on all Muslims or Arabs) However, it is the typical behavior you witness in the Arab marketplaces in Egypt and Israel If you have been to these marketplaces, then you will understand what I am talking about. 

Israel is a westernized and Jewish society which is all about discussion, analysis, and compromise Just look at the Talmud! What Israel is coming to realize now because of recent events and "compromises" such as leaving Gaza (while Israel reaps the rewards of daily punishment by missiles  hitting several major cities such as Ashkelon and Sderot).

Our Jewish naivete is that everyone is nice and perfect and can be dealt with through diplomacy. This is not true. Our enemies learn one way and the one and only way is through the language of war and the language of the sword. We did not set it up that way, they have. And now, going into Lebanon and destroying all of Hizbollah and their infrastructure and their supporters with a firm, unwavering hand is the only way. We were in Southern Lebanon for 20 years and there was "peace in the North" only when we "compromised" and pulled out. Our soldiers are getting kidnapped and missiles now fall on Haifa. 

Now you have to understand the Arab guerilla tactics, both Palestinian and Lebanese. They never fight in a battle field like a normal army. They retreat to civilian villages and cities and hide their until they poke their nose out of some window and shoot some anti tank  or aircraft missile. So for defense, and I say DEFENSE forces, to succeed they must battle them even if they are in civilian territory. Again, We did not decide that, they did. So when civilians are killed unintentionally it is because THEY decided that it should be that way.

The world is full of naive bleeding hearts that will bash Israel for doing what it has been FORCED to do. They forget the fact that when soldier go into an Arab town for the sole purpose of finding a group of terrorists, the "civilians" are suddenly not so civil. They have guns, they throw Molotov cocktails, and rocks, big large cement blocks at soldiers. That is what we experience everyday in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. We are fighting a guerilla and civilian army at ALL times. Suicide bombers are not part of an army they are civilians. There has never been a war fought like this in the history of humankind. But the "lefties" and even some on the right and the people who are not even connected and oblivious, including the international community think they have the right to tell Israel how to act, how to respond! Do you know why so many soldiers die in the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon? Not because the enemy's army is better, they are not even close to the IDF. We have better equipment, more equipment, better training, so how is it that soldiers are kidnapped and killed? That's a good question. It is because the left and the international community is keeping such a close look, and bias toward Israel's defense tactics, that are hands are tied in defending ourselves properly. We take so many dangerous steps in order to protect civilians, that in return, we are killed and kidnapped. Did you know that at the Lebanon Border for the last ten years, because of "International" pressure, that if you see 500 Hizbollah terrorists with AK47's and rocket  launchers and missiles coming up to the actual border fence, 50 feet from the Israel soldiers, 50 feet from Israel's soil, that the IDF cannot fire unless they fire first! They can aim, set up shop 50 feet from you, but until they fire and shoot at you, the Israeli soldiers cannot defend themselves. Is that logical? No, it is insane. The only reason why so many Israeli's both civilian and military are dying is explicitly the fault of the International Leftist agenda. The Left likes to see the minority win, even if it is Hamas and Hezbollah. We can only defend ourselves the way of the sword. Do not let anyone tell you anything differently. As I and the other soldiers and Israeli citizens have personal stakes in the matter, and as a supporter of the Jewish homeland, you do too.

Am Yisrael Chai!

Zachary Rowen Taylor 20 years old.
(Zacharia Ben Abraham)
Nachal Haredi Unit, Beit Shean, July 16, 2006 (emphasis added)

BTW, this commentary by Romanus Otte in today's (July 23, 2006) WELT am SONNTAG criticizes in clear words the illusions and ignorance about Islamists harbored in some quarters of Germany's society.

Comments

[AmaPhil]

(Bin ich hier bei Davids "Medienkritik"? Egal.)

Ach ja, die armen Juden wollen immer nur das Beste. Und die ganze Welt, besonders die bösen Araber und die bösen Linken, lässt sie ständig im Stich. Das Übliche, halt.

Im Übrigen steht es Romanus Otte frei, seine Erkenntnisse über "unsere Feinde" den zuständigen Behörden (BKA, Verfassungsschutz, usw.) weiterzuleiten.

"Alle auf die Couch!" (Broder)

[Scout]

Naja, AmaPhil, jetzt wissen wir, wo du stehst -- wenn das überhaupt noch ein Frage war. Mir war es schon klar.
Wir können nur hoffen, dass die BKA und Verfassungsschutz Informationen über solche islamofascistische Elementen in unsere Gesellschaft erhalten. Leider gibt es unter uns viele Dhimmis und hirnlose Linken die derartige Elemente -- direkt oder indirekt -- unterstützen. Aber keine Sorge: Der Rechtstaat schutzt auch diejenigen, die uns am liebsten einfach töten wurden. Beispiele gibt es genug.

[Germanguy]

Yeah youre right.
We got the same policie here with our policemen. They say:"a policeman is only allowed to return fire after he has been shot down"

But i saw on TV the lebanese boarder some yoars ago.
There have been People protesting and insulting the Israeli soldiers, after hours or so the Israeli soldiers fired in the air and afterwards at some of the protesters until the protesters finally went away.

[Deepdiver]

Thanks for this interesting post.
It's important that we bloggers give a voice to Israelis since the international media is failing to do this.

You and your readers may be interested in this letter from a Maltese/Israeli woman who lives in Northern Israel and writes to tell the western world to put up or shut up:
http://www.gardjola.net/#A_Voice_From_The_War_Zone

Keep up the good work

Deepdiver

[Scout]

Und AmaPhil, du hast rein säuberlich ein Strawman Argument neben ein Andere aufgestellt... wenn es dir hilft, super!
Nirgendwo schlug ich vor, den Rechtstaat abzuschaffen. Und eine gesunde Mißtrauen gegenüber Islamofaschistmus hat mit Rassismus nichts zu tun.
Das Problem ist, wenn versucht wird, ein Krieg zu führen mit strafrechtliche Methoden, und ein gefährliche Feind einfach zu verkennen. Und wir befinden uns in Krieg. Auf welche Seite bist du?
Nein, antworte lieber nicht. Ich sehe schon welche Eindruck du hast von westliche Kultur, wenn dir nur solche Beispiele einfallen.

Notiz von David: Scout, ich dulde aus Qualitätsgründen in diesem Blog keine legasthenischen Teenie-Schwätzer wie AmaPhil. Bitte kommentiere seine Stellungnahmen nicht, wenn er es doch einmal in unsere Spalten schafft - seine Ausführungen werden bei nächster Gelegenheit wieder gelöscht.