Finkelstein: Israel has become a nation of child killers

2:12

Palestinian children — violence and casualtiesIsraeli settler violenceIsraeli military conductUN documentation of violenceIsraeli society and dehumanisation

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This testimony presents documented incidents of violence against Palestinian children, citing a UN report on deliberate killings. The speaker describes specific cases: settlers urinating on a child, settlers kidnapping and tying young siblings to a tree, soldiers attacking a hearing-impaired teenager, and soldiers shooting a person on the ground while filming and preventing medical aid. The speaker contextualises these incidents within Israeli society by referencing characterisations of Palestinians by Israeli historians and public figures, and argues that because Israel operates as a citizen army, soldiers represent broader societal attitudes. The speaker concludes that Israel has become characterised as a nation engaged in killing children.

Key Points

A speaker documents violence against Palestinian children through UN reports and incidents involving Israeli settlers and soldiers, arguing that such conduct reflects broader currents in Israeli society.

Summary

This testimony presents documented incidents of violence against Palestinian children, citing a UN report on deliberate killings. The speaker describes specific cases: settlers urinating on a child, settlers kidnapping and tying young siblings to a tree, soldiers attacking a hearing-impaired teenager, and soldiers shooting a person on the ground while filming and preventing medical aid. The speaker contextualises these incidents within Israeli society by referencing characterisations of Palestinians by Israeli historians and public figures, and argues that because Israel operates as a citizen army, soldiers represent broader societal attitudes. The speaker concludes that Israel has become characterised as a nation engaged in killing children.

Key takeaways

A UN report documents deliberate killings of Palestinian children, including specific incidents involving settlers and soldiers.
Documented incidents include settlers urinating on a child and kidnapping and tying young siblings to a tree.
Israeli soldiers attacked a hearing-impaired teenager and shot a person on the ground while blocking medical aid and filming the scene.
The speaker characterises dehumanising language about Palestinians (described as a 'sick, psychotic people') as typical of Israeli society across the political spectrum.
The speaker argues that because Israel maintains a citizen army, soldiers represent broader societal attitudes and values.
The speaker concludes that documented violence against children reflects institutional patterns rather than isolated incidents.

Full article

Characterisations in Israeli society

Benny Morris, who was once Israel's leading historian, described the Palestinians as, quote, "a sick, psychotic people." The presumptions and assumptions of figures like Daniella Weiss may sound reasonable to an American viewer, but they are typical of Israeli society. From Daniella Weiss at one end of the spectrum to Benny Morris at the other, these views are representative of broader currents in Israeli thinking.

Documented incidents of violence against Palestinian children

According to a current UN report on the deliberate killing of Palestinian children, there are many documented scenes of violence. The report describes settlers urinating on a child, and a group of settlers kidnapping a four and five-year-old brother and sister and tying them to a tree. In another incident, Israeli soldiers—not settlers—attacked a sixteen-year-old who is hearing impaired, kicking him on the ground. In yet another case, soldiers shot a person who was on the ground pleading for help. The soldiers stood around laughing, filming the scene, and blocking any medical aid for him.

Soldiers as representatives of Israeli society

Israel is a citizen army, and the soldiers are representative of Israeli society, just as Daniella Weiss at one end of the spectrum and Benny Morris at the other are representative of that society. Unfortunately, it has become a nation of child killers.

Topics#Palestinian children — violence and casualties#Israeli settler violence#Israeli military conduct#UN documentation of violence#Israeli society and dehumanisation#Gaza and West Bank conflict

Transcript

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0:00 Benny Morris described the Palestinians as, quote, a sick, psychotic people quoting him.

0:08 So the presumptions, the assumptions of Daniella Weiss, they may sound right to an American viewer, but they are typical of Israeli society.

0:24 From Daniella Weiss at one end of the spectrum to Benny Morris, who was once Israel's leading historian.

0:33 At the other end of the spectrum.

0:35 Just one last word.

0:37 If you look at the current UN report on the deliberate killing of Palestinian children, they describe many scenes of the settlers a settler, a group of settlers urinating on a child, a group of settlers kidnapping, a four and five year old child, brother and sister, and tying them to a tree A bunch of Israeli soldiers, not settlers, soldiers attacking a 16 year old who is hearing impaired and kicking him on the ground, and then a group of soldiers attacking a fellow shooting him.

1:28 He's on the ground pleading for help.

1:31 The soldiers stand around laughing, filming the scene and blocking any medical aid for him.

1:41 The soldiers.

1:43 Remember, Israel is a citizen army.

1:47 The soldiers are representative of Israeli society, just like Daniella Weiss at one end of the spectrum.

1:57 And Benny Morris at the other end is representative of Israeli society.

2:03 It is.

2:04 Unfortunately, it has become a nation of child killers.

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