At UN,
With Former
Israeli
Soldier
"Breaking the
Silence,"
Accusations of
Lies
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 21 --
While at the
UN the
Security
Council for
example
confines most
of its
disagreements
to behind
closed door
consultations,
the Committee
on the
Exercise of
the
Inalienable
Rights of the
Palestinian
People has a
working group
which Monday
let
it all hang
out.
They
invited as a
speaker a
former Israeli
paratrooper
Avner
Gvaryahu, now
of the group "Breaking the Silence" to
discuss the
book
"Our Harsh
Logic: Israeli
soldiers’
testimonies
from the
Occupied
Territories,
2000-2010."
Gvaryahu
described
senseless
searches of
Palestinian
homes, in one
case simply
to commandeer
the family's
television set
to watch
sports. He
spoke
of looting and
confiscating
kitchen knives
as weapons.
Then
as the first
and third
questions in
the Q&A
session,
Gvaryahu was
accused of
telling "ugly
lies" and of
slandering the
Israeli
defense
forces.
Gvaryahu
shot
back that
these critics
don't live in
Israel and are
clinging to
the past. The
deputy
representative
of the State
of Palestine
urged
Gvaryahu to do
more speaking
engagements,
particularly
in the United
States.
Namibia
congratulated
him too.
Gvaryahu
made
a point of
saying that
his group, of
1000 soldiers,
declined to
speak with the
Goldstone
Commission,
but that
testimonies it
collected were
used. He said
the group
would prefer
an Israeli
inquiry -- not
an army
inquiry, but
not
necessarily an
independent
inquiry. This
did not seem
to convince
the first and
third
questioners.
The
third
questioner
said,
broadcast on
the UN's EZTV,
that "people
in Gaza are
not innocent."
The
chair of the
session, from
Malta, handled
it with
aplomb. He
asked
speakers to
identify
themselves,
but didn't
push when the
last
questioners
declined to.
He said this
reflected
transparency,
and
the diversity
of views.
Malta
is a small
state, but
this is one of
its gigs in
the UN.
Meanwhile in
front of the
Security
Council
earlier on
Monday, when Israel's
jovial
Permanent
Representative
Prosor came to
take cell
phone photos
with
three guests,
only
half-hearted
attempts
to say that
the UNTV
"camera
is live, don't
stand there"
were made.
The
UN is, it is
often pointed
out, owned by
its member
states. But
smaller or
less high
profile states
are often made
not to take
photos
at the
stakeout. If
that's being
waived, so
much the
better - but
let
it be for all,
and not like
when the UN
let France
"reserve" many
seats in the
"UN" Press
Briefing Room
during the
controlled
Q&A with
President
Francois
Hollande.
Similarly, a
double
standard has
developed as
to which
media are
banned from
speaking with
diplomats,
even when
invited to,
in the
so-called
Turkish Lounge,
challenged by
the Free
UN Coalition
for Access
@FUNCA_info.
This is the
microcosm that
reflects
wider
problems.
Watch this
site.
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