[DEBATE] : Israel’s Toy Soldiers

[tony roshan samara]

Israel’s Toy Soldiers
     
     By Chris Hedges
     
     10/01/07 "ICH"      -- --     If you are a young Muslim American and head off to the Middle      East for a spell in a fundamentalist “madrassa,” or religious      school, Homeland Security will probably greet you at the airport      when you return. But if you are an American Jew and you join      hundreds of teenagers from Europe and Mexico for an eight-week      training course run by the Israel Defense Forces, you can post      your picture wearing an Israeli army uniform and holding an      automatic weapon on MySpace.  
     The Marva program, part summer camp part indoctrination, was      launched in Israel in 1981.  It allows participants, who must be      Jewish and between the ages of 18 and 28, to fire weapons, live      in military barracks in the Negev desert and saunter around in      an Israeli military uniform saluting and taking long hikes with      military packs.  The Youth and Education Corps of the Israel      Defense Forces run four 120-strong training sessions a year.           
     “Upon arrival, the participants experience an abrupt change      into army life: wearing uniforms, accepting army discipline, and      learning the programs and lessons integral to the program,” the      Let Israelis Show You Israel     Web site      reads.  “The program includes military content such as:      navigation, field training, weapons training, shooting ranges,      marches and more, as well as educational content such as:      Zionism, Jewish Identity, history and knowledge of the land of      Israel.  All of this is taught in Hebrew in an intensive eight      weeks.”  
     "The participants finish the program after completing a      short, intensive, exhilarating military experience that allows      them to taste Israel in a way that they never could before—as      part of the Israel Defense Forces,” the site reads.  “They leave      the program with a feeling of belonging and a strong connection      to Israel, and many return to Israel to continue the connection      that was created in the framework of the Marva course.”      
     There are, of course, gushing testimonials about the program.          
     "I spent the first few days of Marva doubting my decision,      wondering why I had come, wondering if there was any way out.       With all of the running, yelling orders, discipline and Hebrew,      I felt horribly out of place,” writes Canadian David Roth of his      summer.  “It was a completely different world from the one I was      used to.  All that changed, though, by the end of the first      week.  We had our first ‘Masa’ (Hike).  It was very hard, but at      the end, we all knew, our M16s were waiting for us at the      ‘tekes’ (Ceremony).  We got through the 8 kilometers and had our      ‘tekes’ and got our guns.  It felt amazing, and from that point      on Marva was incredible.”  
     How have we reacted when we discovered that American Muslims      were being taught in a foreign country to fire machine guns at      paper figures and simulate military maneuvers?  And what about      the summer schools in Gaza organized by Islamic Jihad designed      to train young Palestinians in the basics of military life?       These Gaza camps, uncovered in 2001, were widely denounced by      Israel as proof that the Palestinians were teaching their      children to hate and kill.  
     The argument in favor of camps in Israel, as opposed to camps      in Pakistan, is that these young men and women are not going to      come back and use what they have learned to harm Americans.       They are not terrorists.  Muslims, however, have not cornered      the market on terrorism and violence.  Radical Jews have also      been involved in terrorist attacks in Israel and the United      States.
     I discovered an American in Israel in 1989 named Robert      Manning.  A huge, burly man, Manning was living in the West Bank      Jewish settlement of Kiyrat Arba.  When I found him he was      carrying a pistol, a large knife strapped to his leg and an M-16      assault rifle.  He was part of a Jewish terrorist group called      Committee for Protection and Safety of the Highways that set up      ad hoc roadblocks and pulled Palestinians from cars to beat and      often shoot them.  He was a follower of          Meir Kahane, the leader of the Jewish Defense League, who      was implicated in terrorist attacks in the United States and      Israel.  Manning served as a reservist in the Israel Defense      Forces in the West Bank.   
     Manning was wanted in California for murder.  He had been      charged in a 1980 mail-bomb killing as part of his involvement      in the Jewish Defense League.  The bomb was intended for the      owner of a local computer firm, but the package holding the      device was opened by the firm’s secretary, Patricia Wilkerson,      who was killed instantly by the blast.   
     Manning, full of bluster and a bitter racism toward Arabs,      used as his pseudonym the name of the FBI agent in charge of his      case, a bit of humor that backfired on him by confirming my      suspicion of his identify.  I obtained the picture from his      California driver’s license and showed it to his neighbors at      Kiyrat Arba.  They identified him from the photo.  I wrote an      article affirming that Manning, heavily armed and an active      member of the Israeli army, was living in a Jewish settlement.       The Israeli government, until that moment, said it had no      information about his location.  He was extradited in 1993 and      sentenced the next year to life imprisonment without the      possibility of parole for 30 years.  He is in a maximum-security      prison in Florence, Colo.  
     Those who go through the Marva summer program are      indoctrinated as thoroughly as Muslims who go overseas and are      told they are part of a greater jihad for Islam.  The results,      given Israel’s close alliance with the United States, may not be      negative for those in power in the United States, but it may be      very negative for those Americans defined as the enemy,      especially Muslims, should we suffer another 9/11.  The program      inculcates hatred and a belief in the efficacy of violence to      solve the problems in the Middle East.  It identifies Israel      with militarism.  It feeds the idea that a Jew born in Brooklyn      has a birthright to settle in Israel that is denied to an      American of Palestinian descent.   
     Jerusalem, aside from being one of the most beautiful cities      in the world, is one of the most literate, creative and      intellectual.  Do these young men and women really know the best      of Israel by spending eight weeks playing soldier and glorifying      the military?  Is the cause of Israel advanced by mirroring the      twisted militarism of Islamic fundamentalists?   
     Terrorists arise in all cultures, all nations and all      religions.  We have produced more than our share.  Ask the      people of Vietnam or Iraq.  The danger of a military program      such as these is that it solidifies a mind-set of us and them.       It romanticizes violence.  It widens the divide that leads to      conflict.  It makes dialogue impossible.  There are great      Israeli institutions, from the newspaper Haaretz to the      courageous Israeli human rights organization
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