Posts Tagged ‘Golani Brigade’
Stoned, naked, armed and dangerous: Disturbing images from Israeli soldier’s Instagram
Posted on: February 21, 2013
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Golani Brigade soldier Osher Maman, who came from a troubled youth in Florida, posts photos of himself breaking Israeli military law and playing with weapons in irresponsible ways. Source
Those who follow matters closely know that the photograph was an apt symbol for the Israeli army’s contempt for the lives of Palestinian children, as well as for the total impunity soldiers accused of crimes against Palestinian civilians enjoy. Even in terms of “misuse” of social media, it was no isolated incident.
From troubled Florida youth to the Israeli army
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Gun play Source
A case in point is Osher Maman, another 20-year-old Israeli soldier currently enlisted in the “elite” Golani Brigade.
Maman’s Instagram account currently includes 549 images which show, among other things, images of him mishandling weapons and breaking military laws.
The earliest date from April 2012 and the most recent from today. An illustrative selection – with tags where he included them – are used throughout this post. Maman also expresses deeply racist and even genocidal views towards Palestinians and Arabs.
Maman, who grew up in Naples, Florida after his family left Israel a decade ago, made the news in 2006 when as a 14-year-old he brought a BB gun given to him by his parents to school and used it to threaten two girls.
Maman also has an adult criminal history with records of arrests in February 2011 and inMay 2011 for “trespassing on school grounds.”
“Hitman”
Osher Maman’s Facebook page, which features many of the same images that can be seen on his Instagram account but also goes back earlier, identifies him as a former student of Barron Collier High School in Naples, Florida, and uses the nickname “Eazybaby” which resembles the name of his Instagram account eazybaby310.
An Osher Maman was a member of the graduating high school class of 2010 according to the Naples Daily News on 5 June 2010.
Maman’s Facebook bio says: “From Israel to Miami to the I.D.F Kik: eazybaby310 An active assassin/hitman” and he identifies himself as a member of Barak, the 12th Battalion of the supposedly “elite” Golani brigade. This is corroborated by many images he has posted of weapons, uniforms and other military paraphernalia bearing the insignia of this battalion.
Maman wrote a message on Facebook on 13 August 2011:
“I’m leaving to the israeli army this monday, just wanted to say.. fuck the police, fuck barron collier high school and all the staff, fuck all the judges, fuck all you little hater faggots that blow up my fb and phone talking shit, fuck the bitches that cheated on me, fuck the virus i just got on my computer and whoever created it, fuck you fuck you fuck you, whos next…”
One year later, Maman celebrated the anniversary of his move in another Facebook status:
So one year ago i moved here to join the army… Im not gonna make up some bullshit glorious story to break your heart… I just did it to beat up terrorists and shit… Happy one year anniversary Mmmmmffffffckasss!!!
Not exactly a boy scout
An image he posted of its insignia indicates that Maman was recruited directly from the United States via “Garin Tzabar” a program that recruits Jews and Israelis from overseas into the army. Maman identifies himself as a Garin Tzabar member on his Google Plus account.
A comment made on a website dedicated to Garin Tzabar, from the Facebook account of Maman’s mother, Batya Sabag, a social media consultant in Naples, Florida, also identifies her son as a graduate of the program.
One of the requirements of the Garin Tzabar program is a “Certificate of Good Conduct (proof of no prior criminal record).”
This military recruitment program for the Israeli occupation army is run by the Israel Scouts.
According to an image posted by Maman, on 5 April 2012 his military service had begun 138 days previously (which would be November 2011) and will end on 19 November 2014.
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A montage posted by Osher Mamam features a blindfolded and bound Palestinian prisoner, weapons, and tags that reveal fantasies of violence. Source
Misuse of weapons
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Obscene Source
When Maman was arrested and charged in the BB gun incident – classified by authorities as a weapon, not a toy, his father, Zion Maman, told media that “the culture in Israel has a more relaxed view about toy guns.”
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Basic rule of gun safety: don’t put your finger on the trigger unless you intend to shoot. Source
That relaxed view extends to real guns, mortars, grenades and all sorts of other heavy weapons that Osher Maman is seen handling, sometimes naked, and using as toys and props in disturbing images he posted online.
These images suggest that the Israeli army exercises little control or discipline over weapons.
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Star of David formed with guns. Source
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This gun appears to be loaded and it’s definitely not a toy. Source
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Does the Israeli army just leave mortar shells lying around for use as Instagram props? Source
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More weapons for Osher Maman to play with. Source
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Playing God? Note the caption Osher Maman has attached to this image of what might be the controller of remote weapon system. Source
Maman posts images of himself breaking military law
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A criminal offense under Israeli military law, Golani brigade soldier Osher Maman smokes marijuana in his uniform. Source
Images posted on Maman’s Instagram account show him smoking marijuana in uniform and on duty, in direct contravention of Israeli army order “33.011 – Use of Drugs – procedures for report, detention, and initiating a military police investigation.”
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Osher Maman with a joint while on duty. Source
Military order 33.011 states that the use of drugs, including hashish, “constitutes a criminal offense and harms the army, so this order does not leave room for the commanders’ discretion.” It adds that, “All soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces are prohibited from possessing drugs, taking them, or trading in them.”
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Osher Maman shows off his stash. Possession is a criminal offense under army law. Source
What does it mean that the Israeli army recruits a soldier, with a dubious history, who is stupid enough to post images of himself committing more criminal offenses?
Is this a man who should be handling – playing with – lethal weapons in any circumstances?
Or does it mean that this Most Moral Army so lacks discipline that soldiers like Maman can break the law without fear of consequences?
A lust for violence and genocidal hatred of Arabs
Osher Maman freely expresses his deep, even genocidal hatred of Palestinians and his desire to see them oppressed and killed. Responding to a comment on one of his images, for example, Maman told the commenter
“Lmao for all I care you can comment all my pictures, you’re still a fucking Arab pile of shit, you even smell like it. You’re never going to win over israel (the chosen people) bc you’re a bunch of slaves, shit I probably am the slave master of some Arab who’s related to you… An you all will stay trapped in gaza and every little shittt village that you Palestinians have inside of israel. And you will continue to go to our jails and to have your houses broken in to. Basically your life will be shit until you all die, so go ahead and have fun commenting on my pictures of that’s going to make your death a little better…
Taking over the command of army: The Israeli Orthodox Jews?
Since the invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the Ashkenazim Jews in Israel “blond, blue-eyed central European pseudo-Jews who mastered the German methods of humiliating and subjugating conquered people” have been shunning the military career: They have better opportunities making fortunes exporting military hardware to third world States and managing military industrial complexes and financial institutions.
Consequently, the orthodox Jews living in the colonies in the occupied West Bank and the poorer quarters in cities have filled the void in the infantry at command posts. From 2% in 1990, this percentage of orthodox jews in army command posts jumped to 30%.
So far, 6 out of 7 lieutenant colonels in the Golani Brigade, and 2 out of 6 colonels are orthodox; and by this summer of 2010, their top commander will be one of their own.
The orthodox Jews also form 3 out of 7 lieutenant colonels of the Kfir (anti-terrorist infantry stationed in the West Bank.
In many local infantry brigades over 50% of the commanders are Orthodox jews. Orthodox jews are 3 fold represented in the top commanding positions with respect to their proportion in the population
The Ashkenazim are still holding commands in the air-force and internal intelligence services.
The Mossad, or foreign intelligence services, is vastly discredited with multiple failures.
The infantry is no longer a viable force to rely on: it is mostly used to manning the hundreds of check points in the West Bank and protecting colonies.
In the 2006 war against Lebanon, Israel blamed the debacle on the chief of staff Halutz for relying almost completely on the air-force to defeating Hezbollah.
The fact is the infantry was out of shape and lacked training to face the resilient fighters of Hezbollah. At the end of the third day of the war, Israel was convinced that land incursion is tantamount to wasting thousands of soldiers, more than the 1973 war against Egypt and Syria combined forces.
Israeli soldiers of the Golani Brigade were weeping like kids and retreating faster than their shadows permitted.
It is estimated that within 5 years, the orthodox will be majority in army command posts. Then Israel will shamefully contend that it could no longer rely on its army to obey orders for vacating colonies.
This is a great opportunity for the US to speed up the peace process and pressure Israel to dismantle colonies in the occupied lands, the sooner the much better.
Note: Today, Israel killed 19 peace activists in a boat (in international water) heading to Gaza and injured dozens. Israel claims that its soldiers had to defend themselves against sticks raised by a few activists on the boat.
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