Adonis Diaries

Breaking the Silence, Straw Widow invasion of homes…

From Naomi Wolf on FB

From the Waldman article.

“My guides were a couple of Jewish Israelis, raised in religious homes, who had served as soldiers in the West Bank.

As a result of what they saw and what they did, they now devote their lives to raising awareness about the injustices of the Occupation.

My guides described in painful detail the structural inequality of a land where one ethnic group lives under oppressive military rule, and another under democratic, civilian authority.

They described receiving explicit instruction to make Palestinians feel as if they were constantly under surveillance, constantly pursued, constantly harassed.

They said their role, as described by Moshe Ya’alon, the current defense minister and former army chief of staff, was to “sear the hearts and minds of the Palestinians.”

My guides told me of instances in which they were involved in “Straw Widow” actions, where they invaded a Palestinian home, shut the family into a single room, and then made free use of the house.

Ostensibly these home invasions were conducted for security reasons, but just as often they were simple training exercises.

Sometimes the homes were chosen because they had a satellite dish, and an important soccer match was on TV.

“What hope is there?” I asked them, in response.

They replied that they named their organization Breaking the Silence because they fervently believe that once people know what is happening in Hebron and the rest of the Palestinian territories, change is inevitable.”