Fifty Israeli soldiers staged a mutiny disobeying the order to shoot-to-kill the Palestinian civilians, Madrid-based daily, ABC said on Tuesday.
ABC daily was quoted by the Iranian official news agency (IRNA) as saying that they distributed leaflets calling on their colleagues to stop massacring the Palestinians. The independent daily in Madrid quoted a statement from 50 Israeli soldiers who initiated the campaign as saying,
"We are conscripts and reserve soldiers of the Israeli army. We have been trained to dedicate our lives to defend the Israeli people and government. We have been on the vanguard of service to the Israeli people. But, we have understood that the humanitarian values are being victimized for occupation of the Palestinian territories.
"Corruption is prevailing over the Israeli community. We know that the territories do not belong to Israel. We have witnessed how the p! rice of occupation is being paid by blood and fire." the statement further said.
"We know that Jewish settlements are doomed to destruction. We hereby declare that we will no longer fight to provide security for residents of the Jewish settlements. We will no longer cross the Green Line (the line between the Palestinian lands and Israel) to go on occupation, destruction, lay siege on the Palestinians, massacre them and expose them to starvation. We will no longer humiliate a nation," independent Madrid daily, ABC quoted them as saying.
"We are Israeli soldiers responsible to defend the Israeli government, but, we will no longer take part in occupation of Palestinian territories and suppressing the Palestinian nation," the mutinous soldiers said in their statement.
ABC said that two army officers, Captain David Zonshein, 28 and reserve officer (computer engineer) Yanir Itzkovich along with 48 colleagues have staged the mutiny in the Israeli army.
They said that they have witnessed the bitter extent to which human rights have been violated in the past several years in Lebanon and the Palestinian occupied territories.
The daily said that the campaign called "Choose us or the Jewish settlements" is underway in the Israeli army and it is expected that the activists will collect 500 signatures to support the campaign in the weeks to come.
The activists said, "We are not cowards. We have been on mission in Lebanon and the occupied territories. We have been trained as brave paratroopers. We have sense of responsibility. But, they want us to become war criminals, to forget humanitarian values and accept being war criminals." (albawaba.com)
