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We Served on Israel's Sde Teiman Base. Here's What We Did to Gazans Detained There [View all]
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-08-16/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/we-served-on-israels-sde-teiman-base-heres-what-we-did-to-gazans-detainees/00000191-5591-d60d-a59b-ff994cb40000free link: https://archive.ph/WoS6k
Since the war broke out, thousands of Israeli soldiers in regular and reservist forces have served at Sde Teiman. Most were posted there within the framework of a mission with which their unit was tasked. Others volunteered to serve there for a variety of reasons. In recent months, a number of soldiers and medical professionals agreed to talk with Haaretz about their time there. Eight of the testimonies follow, anonymously and in chronological order, from the earliest stint to the most recent.
(snip)
"I came there with the mindset of a soldier. Let us do our time, without asking anything, and then go home. But two incidents happened in the wake of which I couldn't continue there any longer.
"The first was in one of the pens. Guys came from the escort force, who in my opinion were military police reservists. They came in like big shots, with ski masks, and led three or four detainees out. They made them walk bent over, handcuffed and with flannelette on their faces. Each of them held the shirt of the person in front of him. And then suddenly I saw one of the police officers, right at the entrance to the pen, take the head of the first detainee and 'boom,' smash him with force into some iron part of the door. And then he smashed him again and said 'Yalla.' The moment I saw that I went into total shock. It was simply right opposite me… suddenly I saw someone with the thought going through his head that, 'Fine, this is not a human being. I can simply bash his head against the door. Just because I feel like it.' The nonchalant way he did it stunned me. He didn't look angry or full of hatred, he even laughed at it."
(snip)
Who said things like that?
"The guys, the company commander, the officers, everyone. You know, there was a female officer who gave us a briefing on the day we arrived. She said, 'It will be hard for you. You'll want to pity them, but it's forbidden. Remember that they aren't people. From your point of view, they are not human beings. The best thing is to remember who they are and what they did in October.'
"Until then I'd seen [television] reports, things they said on the news about the place. I also saw videos of released Gazans who talk about what goes on there. But suddenly, when you're in it, they become real people. You notice how easy it is to lose your humanity in a second, how easy it is to come up with justifications for treating people as if they're not people. It's like in the movie 'The Wave' [a 1981 film about a high-school teacher who does a simulation experiment with his students how easily they can be made to lose their humanity]. Only in your face, and live. It was insane to see how that happens."
(snip)
"I came there with the mindset of a soldier. Let us do our time, without asking anything, and then go home. But two incidents happened in the wake of which I couldn't continue there any longer.
"The first was in one of the pens. Guys came from the escort force, who in my opinion were military police reservists. They came in like big shots, with ski masks, and led three or four detainees out. They made them walk bent over, handcuffed and with flannelette on their faces. Each of them held the shirt of the person in front of him. And then suddenly I saw one of the police officers, right at the entrance to the pen, take the head of the first detainee and 'boom,' smash him with force into some iron part of the door. And then he smashed him again and said 'Yalla.' The moment I saw that I went into total shock. It was simply right opposite me… suddenly I saw someone with the thought going through his head that, 'Fine, this is not a human being. I can simply bash his head against the door. Just because I feel like it.' The nonchalant way he did it stunned me. He didn't look angry or full of hatred, he even laughed at it."
(snip)
Who said things like that?
"The guys, the company commander, the officers, everyone. You know, there was a female officer who gave us a briefing on the day we arrived. She said, 'It will be hard for you. You'll want to pity them, but it's forbidden. Remember that they aren't people. From your point of view, they are not human beings. The best thing is to remember who they are and what they did in October.'
"Until then I'd seen [television] reports, things they said on the news about the place. I also saw videos of released Gazans who talk about what goes on there. But suddenly, when you're in it, they become real people. You notice how easy it is to lose your humanity in a second, how easy it is to come up with justifications for treating people as if they're not people. It's like in the movie 'The Wave' [a 1981 film about a high-school teacher who does a simulation experiment with his students how easily they can be made to lose their humanity]. Only in your face, and live. It was insane to see how that happens."
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