Israeli officers haunted by atrocities committed in gaza -IDF officers get photo of dead child
Colonel (res.) Bentzi Gruber, a deputy commander of an Israel Defense Forces division, was at a training base in Tzeelim last week. His wife called to tell him that he had received a letter from Spain, which didnt particularly surprise him. But when she opened the envelope, she was shocked.
Unfortunately, Ive gotten used to curses and scathing words against me, but when such a thing arrives at your doorstep, its very unpleasant, he tells Ynet.
Gruber is just one of the officers who received a threatening poster from Spain, after his name appeared on a website referring to IDF soldiers involved in Operation Cast Lead as war criminals.
The poster includes a picture of a young child buried in the sand. His head is the only thing sticking out and he appears to be dead. Two hands in the background, apparently belonging to a soldier, are directed at him. The pictures caption reads, How will you explain this to God? The letter was sent in an envelope from Madrid to the homes of Colonel (res.) Gruber and several other IDF officers, including Central Command Chief Avi Mizrahi and outgoing Military Intelligence Director Amos Yadlin. Some of the posters include a picture of an injured or dead young woman being held by a soldier. The English sentence is similar.
[Editor's Comment:] This is neither a "curse", nor is it "such a thing". It's a simple, trenchant question from one human being to another. It is in fact a question of the utmost importance. By casting his response to it in this way, this war criminal gives proof of cowardice and dishonesty. (Goes without saying, it is not a "threat" either, like Hanan Greenberg at Ynet says.) The general mechanism is as follows: They have no conscience and thus these psychopaths feel free to go where no one else dares to set foot. Having no conscience may of course be a great plus for a soldier, but there still is a price to pay, even for people such as these: Like a shadow that is ever right behind them, they are hunted by deep fear. The fear is intolerable (for a soldier in particular), and consequently is repressed and then projected. They now see their own fear as a threat from the outside. This solves the problem in the short term and has the added boon of justifying even more aggression in order to deal with the perceived threat. But even here there is a price to pay. Having projected their own fear, they now are left with a sense of being vulnerable and therefore disquiet and a sense of foreboding never are far behind. This is why the simple question "How will you explain this to God?" causes twisted and dishonest reactions ("its very unpleasant") in people such as these. There is no solution to this problem other than to humbly and courageouly face the original crime and to deal honestly with the deep personal responsibility for it. PS: Hanan Greenberg: this child does not just "appear to be dead"; sadly, she is well and truly dead. -Irrevocably so.
