most of the generals always do.
But the generals are also the ones that stay in command while the tiny soldiers go to battle.
And it's not a matter of "knowing more". I don't know the general, I am sure he knows much, and i respect each Israeli soldier in at least minimum amount of respect(result of being an army brat), it's a matter of opinion, and that kind of thing amuses me.
I can express it.
And saying the Palestinian "resistence" is not of violence is like saying cow crap doesn't stink.
and because I *AM* a southerner that I know that.
How many Palestinian terror attacks have you felt on your on flesh, Mr. loinboy?
Please answer my question honestly.
I'm not saying you're wrong. And I'm not trying to marginalize your personal experiences. But the whole point of the general and subsequently his son, was the fact that they started out believing everything you believe now about the Palestinian's. The general even killed many, many of them in support of Israel. But the more involved he got in this conflict, the more he saw problems with the Israeli position. And he went from full support of Israeli policies in the OPT, to completely against the occupation and Israels policy towards the Palestinain's.
Now, you have to make up your own mind, on your own terms. But does it registar at all with you, that someone that involved, can make such a drastic change in position, while not blindly accepting his comments as your truth, that maybe, just maybe, you need to do a little more research in this area, to find out for yourself?
BTW, how many times do I have to state I do not support acts of Palestinian terrorism, before you stop acting like I do? And when are you going to start dealing with Israeli acts of terrorism, honestly and responsibly?
Well, as for the general and his son, people change opinions and actions all the time. We have also many people who started on the left camp and became rightists.
One personal beliefs won't change only because others did.
I myself grew up to be a rightist. because of values from home, because of personal experiences. And personal experiences, are the ones that built knowledge. People can read, but that is not enough to build the knowledge as enough as 1 minutes experiencing it.
I said before, I was an army brat. My mother served in the army for 22 years, my father served about 23. He fought in many battles. He was in Sinai and Gaza and up in the north. He told me things he experienced that most people don't. He might have a strong negative opinion about the Palestinians; mostly it's against Islam than the Palestinians. but that has to do with education from home and the things he saw in battle. He lost one of his dearest soldiers in battle. he got injured from an Egyptian missile and was ones of the few to be able to tell the story after their post was destroyed. One of the things though, that shaped his harsh opinion about the enemy, was a case where they took in captivity few Egyptians who were armed, during being in Sinai. they kept them together but did not abuse them or harmed them in anyway, because they knew that by doing so they will have to answer to higher places.
One of my father's soldiers notices that one of the Egyptians looked bad. apperently he ran out of water few minutes earlier, so the soldier, taking pity on him, offered him his bottle. he pulled out his own bottle, and with the head nodded toward the Egyptian man, asking him with his eyes if he will allow him approach. Ones he did, the Egyptian man suddenly, without any way to stop him, pulled out a knife he kept hidden and stabbed the soldier in his chest.
The same one who wanted to help him. All of this infront of my father's eyes. Ever since I was a kid, he told me this story over and over, telling me all the time that one "cannot trust them". Telling you that this doesn't influence you? that will be bullshit, we all know it. It's all about the messages you get from home. I myself served in the army. Blessed be God, I never had to shoot anyone or kill anyone, I'm sure I would have had nightmares if I did. My dad says he still has them sometimes. As contrary to what people think, IDF soldiers Do feel blame and have nightmares when fighting the enemy.
I do not know the story of the general, but IDF soldiers do happen to have different reactions to different situation. My father still suffers, for what is known in Hebrew as "Helem Krav" ("Battle shock" or "battle trauma"). Now this situation can be expressed in many ways. To us its with the rockets and code red alarm. In Sinai they had those and everytime my father hears them it's like he blocks out everything and one cannot talk with him at all. But Battle shock can also be emotional physiological, my friends have them. It may have been that for what the general saw, or experienced, he took to a certain direction. another soldier in the same position could have taken it to a different direction.
I believe, personally, that all IDF battle soldiers suffer some kind of amount of "Helem Krav". no one is immune, we're all human beings. I would have asked the general what lead his to this point. Because this point if never good, and you don't recover from it. not really.
