[News] Israeli government, army commanders are 'war criminals': Former Israeli army pilot

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israeli-government-army-commanders-are-war-criminals-former-israeli-army-pilot/2243651
Israeli
government, army commanders are 'war criminals': Former Israeli army pilot
Turgut Alp Boyraz   | 16.05.2021
------------------------------

*JERUSALEM*

The Israeli government and army commanders are "war criminals," a former
Israeli Air Force pilot, who was discharged from the army in 2003, told
Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview.

In Israel and the army, there are some people who are against the
occupation and repression policies of the Tel Aviv administration against
the Palestinians, and Yonatan Shapira is one of them.

Shapira also launched a campaign that encouraged other military members not
to obey orders of attacking Palestinians, which led to their discharge or
dismissal from the army considering the situation the Palestinians were in.

As a result of the campaign that he conducted with his friends, 27 more
army pilots have been discharged from their posts at the Israeli Air Force
since 2003.

Following his dismissal, Shapira was fired from all the jobs he took as he
participated in demonstrations to support the rights of Palestinians and
drew attention to the "war crimes" committed by the Israeli army by holding
international conferences. So he had to move to Norway and continues his
life there.

During his interview with Anadolu Agency, Shapira explained why he joined
the Israeli army and how he realized that he was "part of a terrorist
organization" in his own words.

"I realized during the second Intifada what Israeli Air Force and Israeli
military doing is war crime, terrorizing population of millions of
Palestinians and when I realized that, I decided to not just leave but to
organize other pilots that will publicly refuse to take part in this
crime," he stated.

*Zionist militaristic education in Israel*

"As a child in Israel, you are being brought up in very strong Zionist
militaristic education. You don’t know almost anything about Palestine, you
don’t know about the Nakba 1948, you don’t know about ongoing oppression,"
Shapira asserted.

"They were sent to throw missiles and bombs in centers of Palestinian
towns. At some point, I realized that this is an act of terrorism," he
said, referring to pilots in other squadrons who were engaging in the mass
killing of civilians.

Reiterating “war crimes” by Israeli policies against Palestinians, Shapira
mentioned that this is the message that he, along with his friends who
resigned from the military, wants to tell the Israeli people, the
government, the prime minister, and the rest of the world.

"… this occupation is an ongoing criminal act and a war crime, and we are
not willing to continue to take part in this war crime," he added.

Emphasizing that his aim was to protect people while joining the army, the
former Israeli soldier said that if he wanted to protect people, he should
be on the other side, next to the Palestinians, instead of being a part of
the Israeli army.

"It was a psychological and very difficult process but once you realized
that you are part of a terrorist organization, you understand that you have
to say no, you have to take consequences," Shapira stressed.

"I was fired from all companies I work for in Israel, because I support the
Palestinian struggle and because I give lectures all around the world
because I am part of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement
because I say that Israel is an apartheid state because I say that my
government and my commanders are war criminals," he underlined.

*Recent Israeli attacks on Palestine*

A total of 192 Palestinians, including 58 children and 34 women, have been
killed and 1,235 more injured since Israel started airstrikes on Gaza on
May 10.

On Saturday night, another crime was committed by the Israeli warplanes
when they struck a home in the al-Shati refugees camp, northwest Gaza. The
air raid left two mothers and eight children dead while they were sleeping
at home.

The recent tensions that started in East Jerusalem in the Muslim holy month
of Ramadan spread to Gaza after Palestinian resistance groups there vowed
to retaliate against Israeli assaults on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Sheikh
Jarrah if they were not halted.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967
Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never
recognized by the international community.
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