“If you ask me, we need to level their entire area over there”
testimony catalog number: 625937
area: Gaza strip
period: 2014
Emotionally,area: Gaza strip
period: 2014
it was a very difficult period for me. I had a very hard time with the
atmosphere going on, and I had a very hard time with the things being
said by the people serving with me in my unit. It was very hard for me
mostly because I felt like I totally didn’t understand what was going
on, and that lots of us were just acting on ‘automatic’ mode, like we
just didn’t get it. I felt like I had no idea what… Whether the targets I
was analyzing – and I decide if they should be hit again or not –
whether it’s really imperative we hit them, or if it’s just something we
do ‘casually,’ because there’s already an attack underway, there’s
already a war underway, so you can hit lots of stuff as part of the
fighting. There’s like, ‘an opportunity.’ And I felt that the atmosphere
was hyper militaristic. There were things said by commanders that… That
is, things like, “If you ask me, we need to level their entire area
over there. If you ask me, that’s where stuff is coming out of.” Or
saying things like, “I don’t understand this regulation and that
regulation, and I don’t get why there’s hesitation over attacking again,
why not throw more bombs in there?” Stuff like that, very, very
militaristic and totally out of line. The atmosphere was very difficult,
and every so often we would be updated about what was going on with the
fighters who were inside – which is something that’s not supposed to be
done, it influences our work.
