Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bacasper]

The Battle of Nabi Saleh: Soldiers vs. Kids

Max Blumenthal

July 4, 2010

When Israeli soldiers entered the embattled Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh on July 2, they were immediately confronted by over a dozen small children. While the IDF is accustomed to firing teargas canisters, percussion grenades, rubber bullets and even live .22 caliber ammunition at adolescent boys, members of the Nahal unit and Kfir border police brigade tasked with suppressing the weekly Nabi Saleh demonstration were frustrated by the children who surrounded and taunted them. At one point, the division commander became so upset he barked into his radio, "I need backup!"

The spectacle of seven-year-old children confronting heavily armed and visibly confused soldiers offers one of the clearest perspectives of the lopsided power dynamic that animates the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It also highlights the reality of life for children in the Occupied Territories. They play soccer and dodgeball between phalanxes of soldiers firing lethal projectiles at their neighbors just a few meters away � everyday life is an act of resistance.

Why are children participating in popular protests? Consider the case of Ni�ilin, a Palestinian village engaged in popular struggle against the construction of the separation wall across its privately owned land. The Israeli army is holding three members of its small popular committee � the political leadership of the village � in harsh conditions in Ofer prison. They were arrested without charges during a night raid, subjected to psychological torture by the Shabak (Israel�s General Security Service), and are being held indefinitely.

"Everyone is scared to protest now," Saeed Amireh, a Niilin resident in his early twenties, told me. "I can participate in the demonstrations because I am single. But for those of us who have wives and children, going to jail is the worst. How can we work for our families or know what is happening with our wife if we are taken away?" Amireh had just returned from a four month stint in Ofer prison which he described as "horrible." He is still not sure what crime he was accused of committing. "It�s bullshit," he said. "I�m not the one doing any violence."

video and more at link

[Mosley]

Uh... THIS Max Blumenthal?

http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/2010/06/max-blumenthal-swings-big-at-idf-misses.html

[bacasper]

^ What a shock! You went for the messenger instead of the message.
As Gopher would have said, how boring and predictable.

And from an IDF-sympathetic blog no less!

Uh...THIS IDF?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIehtCNgvrQ&feature=player_embedded

[Mosley]

"As Gopher 'would have said' "....

I thought it was just the usual appalling grammar on these forums, but when I did a search for Gopher, the indication was that he hadn't posted in 6 months. I enjoyed his posts-whatever became of him?

And is bacasper seriously suggesting that Gopher was some kind of ally of his?!

You see, folks, bacasper can always challenge your sources but God(or Marx) forbid you do the same. The site I cited offers Blumenthal's own website on video, so you can see for yourself-those who hang themselves with their own lengths of rope, as it were.

Now, bacasper's ''impartial'' source on the other hand....

Why didn't our passionate humanitarian provide a warning for the viewers?!! Honestly, I've never seen such militaristic cruelty & brutality!!

Riiiiiiiiight. I've seen much more cruelty meted out to public school students in Korea!

[TheUrbanMyth]

I would say that the real news here is the appalling lack of parenting skills shown by the Palestinian parents. And that's the best thing that can be said about people who send their children out to confront armed men.

[Fox]

[recessiontime]

[geldedgoat]

At the beginning of the video I saw a group of children and young adults being goaded by a few adults into heckling(?) some soldiers. Next I saw two of those adults arrested while doing something off-camera. And at the end I saw the children and young adults reverting to normal child-like behavior after having their negative stimuli removed. During the course of all of this, I saw and heard some unknown engagement in the immediate area.

So... what exactly is this supposed to convince me of? The article rambles on and on about other incidences, but it does nothing to provide context to the video that would persuade viewers that the soldiers were in the wrong. With some combat situation occurring nearby, I don't see a reason to condemn the soldiers for quickly (and relatively harmlessly) removing two agitators, thus allowing the situation to diffuse itself.

[The Happy Warrior]

[Fox]

[tomato]

I have read that the First Crusade, which began in 1095, was fought outside the city of Antioch.
The Christians, who were trying to take over the city from the Moslems, camped in tents outside the city wall.

In the evening, some of the Christian children came out of the tents and some of the Moslem children came outside the city wall to fight each other.
They threw rocks at each other and beat each other with sticks.
They appointed their own commanders from the group, and the adults had nothing to do with it.
Some of the children suffered permanent injuries as a result of these battles.

[bucheon bum]

[bacasper]

[mises]

[mises]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPXpL-Nydx4