From Uri Avnery at antiwar.com:
Editor’s Note: Reporting the identity of “Soldier A” is a violation of the Israeli military’s gag order and is a crime in Israel. The author would have faced prison for naming him. Most Western media outlets have complied with this gag order. However, a few outlets, including the Intercept (as well as some of the Soldier A’s supporters who have celebrated him) have named him as Cpl. Elor Azaria.
It seems that everything possible has already been said, written, proclaimed, asserted and denied about the incident that is rocking Israel.
Everything except the main point.
The incident revolves around “the Soldier of Hebron”. Military censorship does not allow him to be called by his name. He may be called “Soldier A”.
It happened in the Tel Rumaida neighborhood of the occupied South West Bank town of Hebron, where a group of super-extreme right-wing settlers live in the midst of some 160,000 Palestinians and are heavily protected by the Israeli army. Violent incidents abound.
On the day in question, two local Palestinians attacked some soldiers with knives. Both were shot on the spot. One of them was killed, the other was severely wounded and was lying on the ground.
The place was full of people. Medics were tending to the wounded soldier (but not the Palestinian), several officers and soldiers were standing around, together with some of the settlers.
After six minutes Soldier A appeared on the scene. He looked around for 4 minutes, then approached the wounded assailant and coolly shot him dead with a bullet to the head from close up. The autopsy showed that this was indeed the shot that killed the Palestinian.
As a finale, the camera clip shows Soldier A shaking hands with one of the settlers, the infamous Baruch Marzel, a leader of the outlawed party of the late Meir Kahane, who was designated by the Supreme Court as a fascist.
Up to this point, there is no discussion about the facts. For a simple reason: the whole incident was videoed by a local Palestinian man from close up. The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has provided many Palestinians with cameras for just such an eventuality.
(B’Tselem is a Biblical name and means “In (His) image”. According to Genesis 2, God created the human being “in His image”. This is one of the most humane verses of the Bible, since it means that all human beings, without distinction, are created in the image of God.)
The camera plays a central role in this incident. In the present intifada, many Arab assailants have been killed in such incidents. There is a strong suspicion that many of them were executed after they were already “neutralized” – army-speak for Arab assailants who cannot cause harm because they are dead, severely wounded or taken prisoner.
Under Israeli army orders, soldiers are not allowed to kill enemy attackers once they no longer constitute a danger. On the other hand, many politicians and army officers believe that “a terrorist should not be allowed to stay alive” after an attack. This was an informal order by the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir (himself an outstanding former terrorist).
To continue reading: The Case of ‘Soldier A’
“Morality,” rational when derived from its proper context, is the most powerful force known to man. It determines values, actions, and outcomes – though “outcome” must always be prefaced with “eventual.”
If one claims virtue in ones conduct, then conduct flying in the face of such claims, will (must!) eventually yield. It will yield in Israel, just as it has been doing in America since our inception.
The keystone in the arch of morality that stands protectively over us, and of course, upon which each of us must stand, is what constitutes virtue? Rand understood this as none before………..
Dave
What constitutes virtue? A question every well-lived life must consider extensively.