Archiv: Breaking the Silence (Israeli veterans initiative)


19.08.2025 - 18:13 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Hostages Families Forum Announced a Nationwide “Israel Stops Again” Protest for Next Sunday

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum calls on Monday evening, August 18, for another nationwide strike to pressure the far-right government into ending the genocide war and for the release of hostages on next Sunday after a similar action on last Sunday.

(…)

On next Saturday, August 23, at 4:30 pm, will be held another Arab-Jewish rally, “The March for Peace and Life” from Dizengoff Square to Habima Square in Central Tel-Aviv, calling for a deal to end the war and occupation, a deal with Hamas for the return of hostages, as well as a lasting peace agreement with the Palestinians. The demonstration is an initiative of the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel, a leading umbrella organization among Arab-Palestinian national minority in Israel and sponsored by Hadash and several peace groups including Partnership for Peace, Standing Together, Women Wage Peace, Peace Now, and Breaking the Silence, among others.

30.06.2025 - 03:21 [ New Israel Fund ]

Standing Up for Arab Leader’s Free Speech in the Knesset

As former Executive Director of Breaking the Silence Avner Gvaryahu wrote, Ayman “proves that it is possible to be a proud Palestinian Arab and still work for a better Israeli society for everyone.”

He continued:

Jewish-Arab partnership is not just a matter of social justice or a historical correction. It is the basis of any genuine vision of change in the Middle East. As long as we continue to live in the reality of separation, suspicion and dominance of one group over another, we will continue to walk in the same circles of violence and oppression. Partnership offers another way—a way through, in which the national conflict does not have to define every relationship between Jews and Arabs.

Therefore repelling Ayman from the public sphere is not only an expulsion of an Arab citizen [from the Knesset], but also a continued expulsion of the ideas of the left. This is a clear message [from the government] that the politics of partnership is undesirable, that the public space is only for those willing to remain silent about the occupation and settle for crumbs. It’s part of a broader process of narrowing democratic space and revoking the legitimacy of critical votes.

07.04.2025 - 22:00 [ Associated Press ]

Israel controls 50% of Gaza after razing land to expand its buffer zone

When Israel resumed the war last month, it doubled the size of the buffer zone, pushing it as far as 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) into Gaza in some places, according to a map issued by the military.

The buffer zone and the Netzarim Corridor make up at least 50% of the strip, said Yaakov Garb, a professor of environmental studies at Ben Gurion University, who has been examining Israeli-Palestinian land use patterns for decades.

07.04.2025 - 21:57 [ Breaking the Silence ]

The Perimeter – Soldiers‘ testimonies from the Gaza Buffer Zone 2023-2024

The testimony collection that follows includes testimonies by soldiers and officers who took part in creating the perimeter and turning it into a zone of total destruction. (…)

The testimonies demonstrate that soldiers were given orders to deliberately, methodically, and systematically annihilate whatever was within the designated perimeter, including entire residential neighborhoods, public buildings, educational institutions, mosques, and cemeteries, with very few exceptions. Industrial zones and agricultural areas which served the entire population of Gaza were laid to waste, regardless of whether those areas had any connection whatsoever to the fighting. In their testimonies, soldiers
describe the systematic way in which the creation of the new buffer zone was planned and executed. One example of this was the way designated areas were divided into defined sections — „polygons“ — within which soldiers were ordered to destroy structures. The military dedicated enormous resources to this endeavor, including the extensive use of bulldozers (excavators, D9 bulldozers, and other heavy equipment), along with thousands of mines and explosives.

09.02.2024 - 21:50 [ Hamoked.org ]

Israel-based civil society and human rights organizations call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the immediate release of hostages

We, the undersigned Israel-based civil society and human rights organizations, call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and demand the immediate release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip. An immediate ceasefire will prevent further loss of civilian lives and facilitate access to vital aid for Gaza to address the unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe there.

09.02.2024 - 21:14 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Civil Society and Human Rights Organizations in Israel Called for a Ceasefire

Among the civil society and human rights organizations who signed the statement: Akevot – Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research, Amnesty International Israel, Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights, Breaking the Silence, B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, Combatants for Peace, Emek Shaveh, Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, Green Olive Collective, HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual, Haqel – In Defense of Human Rights, Ir Amim, Isha L’isha Haifa Feminist Center, Jordan Valley Activists, Looking the Occupation in the Eye, Machsom Watch, Mothers Against Violence, New Profile – The Movement to Demilitarize Israeli Society, Parents Against Child Detention, Peace Now. Physicians for Human Rights PsychoActive – Mental Health Professionals for Human Rights, Rabbis for Human Rights, Rea’cha Kamocha, Social Workers for Peace and Welfare, Standing Together, This Is Not an Ulpan, Torat Tzedek, Yesh Din, Yesh Gvul and Zazim – Community Action.

15.12.2023 - 15:30 [ Zazim.org.il ]

Dear President Biden: The humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip

(12.12.2023)

Dear President Biden,

The war in the Gaza Strip has been underway for more than nine weeks, ever since Hamas carried out its horrific and criminal attack on Israeli civilians, which included killing more than 1,200 people and kidnapping some 250 to Gaza – among them Israeli civilians, foreign nationals and children. Immediately after the attack, and in a speech you later gave in Israel, you made it clear that Israel has the right to defend itself, while emphasizing it must do so only in accordance with the provisions of international law, and particularly the rules of war.

We, Israeli human rights organizations and civil society groups, must at this stage state with a heavy heart that our government has chosen to ignore your advice and similar statements by US officials. This letter does not address the grave suspicions of Israeli violations of international humanitarian law during the war, but centers on the extreme humanitarian crisis developing in Gaza and the urgent need to change Israel’s policy on this issue.

15.12.2023 - 15:24 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Israeli Human Rights Organizations to President Biden: Stop the Humanitarian Catastrophe

(13.12.2023)

Among the signatories: Academia for Equality, Akevot – Institute for Israeli Palestinian Conflict Research, B’Tselem, Bimkom, Breaking the Silence, Combatants for Peace, Gisha, HaMoked – Center for the Defense of the Individual, Jordan Valley Activists, Looking the Occupation in the Eye, Machsom Watch, Parents Against Child Detentions, Psychoative, Rabbis for Human Rights, Social Workers for Peace and Welfare, Yesh Din and Zazim -Community Action.

09.12.2023 - 21:03 [ Breaking the Silence, Israeli veterans' organization / Twitter ]

Those saying “there are no innocents in Gaza” are enabling, consciously or not, criminal plans of ethnic cleansing by way of forcible-transfer, as well as extensive killing of innocent civilians. Words that policy makers speak become policy. As Israelis, we must not stay silent.

17.10.2023 - 20:00 [ B’Tselem ]

Human Rights Organizations raise a loud and clear voice against the harming of all innocent civilians

12 October 2023

We, members of the undersigned human rights organizations in Israel, are shocked and horrified in these dreadful days.
Hamas’ horrific crimes against innocent civilians – including children, women, and the elderly – have shaken us all, and we are struggling to recover from the unbearable sights and sounds. Some of us were in the Israeli communities on the Gaza border during the assault; many of us have family, friends, and colleagues who endured and are still in the midst of the harrowing events; and we all know people who were murdered, injured, or abducted. It will take time to fully understand the implications and consequences of Hamas’ heinous attack, for which there can be no justification.

17.10.2023 - 19:50 [ Zazim.org ]

Statement by members of the human rights community in Israel

(13.10.2023)

We call for the immediate release of all hostages and an end to the bombardment of civilians in Israel and in Gaza. Humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach civilian populations, medical facilities and places of refuge must not be harmed, and vital resources such as water and electricity must not be cut off. The killing of additional civilians will not bring back those who were lost. Indiscriminate destruction and a siege harming innocents will not bring relief, justice, or calm.

17.10.2023 - 18:57 [ Hamoked.org ]

Announcement of human rights organizations in Israel, October 2023

(15.10.2023)

As individuals working to promote human rights and who believe in the sanctity of life, we urgently call for an end to all indiscriminate harming of civilian lives and infrastructure. We call for negotiations and all possible action to be taken to bring about the release of the hostages – while prioritizing the civilians held by Hamas. It is the only humane and rational thing to do, and it must be done now.

17.10.2023 - 18:50 [ Association for Civil Rights in Israel ]

We, Members of the Undersigned Human Rights Organizations in Israel, are Shocked and Horrified.

(15.10.2023)

Most of our teams include Israelis and Palestinians; therefore, some of us have relatives and colleagues in Gaza currently living under the ongoing assault of the Israeli military. Children, women, and the elderly are being indiscriminately attacked with nowhere to hide.

Even now – especially now – we must maintain our moral and humane position and refuse to give in to despair or the urge for vengeance. Keeping our faith in the human spirit and its inherent goodness is more vital than ever. One thing is clear: We will never surrender our belief in humanity – even now, when doing so is more challenging than ever.

17.10.2023 - 18:35 [ Breaking The Silence ]

Breaking the Silence: Text testimonies

“We want to make a big boom before the ceasefire”
Rank: First Sergeant
Unit: Engineering Corps
Area: Northern Gaza strip
period: 2014

(…)

“Anything that could shatter had been shattered”
Rank: First Sergeant
Unit: Engineering Corps
Area: Northern Gaza strip
period: 2014

(…)

“It was obvious that if it wasn’t our forces there, we needed to shoot”
Rank: Captain
Area: Gaza strip
period: 2014

17.10.2023 - 01:00 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Human Rights Organizations, MK Cassif Raise a Clear Voice Against the Harming of Civilians

Among the signatories to the declaration: Mothers Against Violence, Itach Ma’aki – Women Lawyers for Social Justice, Academy for Equality, Amnesty International Israel, BIMKOM – Planners for Planning Rights, B’Tselem, Gisha, The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Parents Against Child Detention, Hamoked – Center for the Defence of the Individual, Zazim – Community Action, Haqel – In Defense of Human Rights, Yesh Din, Yesh Gvul, Combatants for Peace, Mehazkim, Machsom Watch, Women Wage Peace , Akevot Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research, Standing Together, Ir Amim, Emek Shaveh, The Parents Circle-Families Forum, Rabbis for Human Rights, Physicians for Human Rights–Israel, Breaking the Silence and Torat Tzedek.

19.08.2023 - 20:06 [ Haaretz ]

Israeli Activist Detained for Placing Art Installation Near Far-right Party Headquarters

The organizations involved include Standing Together, Peace Now, Breaking the Silence, and Combatants for Peace. The activists also placed stickers reading, „Caution! Terror supporters and architects of the [judicial] coup work in this building.“

Speaking to Haaretz, the activist who was detained – Nadav Weiman – said that a day before he was brought in for questioning, a person who took over his apartment lease in Tel Aviv called him and told him that three police officers knocked on his door looking for him. According to Weiman, police called him and asked him to come in for questioning only after they didn‘t find him in his apartment.

04.02.2022 - 09:21 [ Gisha.org/ ]

Human rights organizations in Israel condemn vicious attacks on Amnesty International

Signed,

Adalah, Breaking the Silence, B’Tselem, Combatants for Peace, Gisha, HaMoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual, Haqel: In Defence of Human Rights, Human Rights Defenders Fund, Ofek: The Israeli Center for Public Affairs, Parents Against Child Detention, Physicians for Human Rights Israel, The Public Committee Against Torture In
Israel, and Yesh Din

06.02.2021 - 19:53 [ BreakingTheSilence.org.il ]

About Breaking the Silence

Breaking the Silence is an organization of veteran soldiers who have served in the Israeli military since the start of the Second Intifada and have taken it upon themselves to expose the Israeli public to the reality of everyday life in the Occupied Territories. We endeavor to stimulate public debate about the price paid for a reality in which young soldiers face a civilian population on a daily basis, and are engaged in the control of that population’s everyday life. Our work aims to bring an end to the occupation.

06.02.2021 - 19:31 [ Breaking the Silence / Twitter ]

Last October, Israelis were rightly horrified to hear that ~400 acres of forest burned down as a direct result of an IDF training exercise carried out in a nature reserve,despite warnings. Now look at what happened when the IDF insisted on training in a Palestinian village today:

(03.02.2021)

06.02.2021 - 19:27 [ Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg / Twitter ]

.@BtSIsrael is the org of IDF veterans telling the horrific truth abt what really happens under Occupation. Their work is critical. They are under attack by an extreme right-wing group now & need support.

(04.02.2021)