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<font size="1"><a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israeli-government-army-commanders-are-war-criminals-former-israeli-army-pilot/2243651">https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israeli-government-army-commanders-are-war-criminals-former-israeli-army-pilot/2243651</a>
</font><h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Israeli government, army commanders are 'war criminals': Former Israeli army pilot</h1>
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<span style="float:left;padding-right:15px">Turgut Alp Boyraz |</span>
<span style="padding-left:0px" class="gmail-tarih">16.05.2021</span>
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<p><strong>JERUSALEM</strong></p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>"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.</p><p><strong>Zionist militaristic education in Israel</strong></p><p>"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.</p><p>"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.</p><p>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.</p><p>"… 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.</p><p>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.</p><p>"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.</p><p>"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.</p><p><strong>Recent Israeli attacks on Palestine</strong></p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><br></div></div></div>
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