While I don't profess to hold an educated opinion on the legitimacy of targeting soldiers instead of civilians etc... Perhaps these soldiers should be considered "victims" for different reasons."Myself and my government would like to move forward toward peace, but it depends on one thing, that it should be quiet and I'm really sorry to say that by now we don't see any changes," he added.
But it's not really clear whether Sharon was talking about the Gaza bombing. I wouldn't be surprised if he was, because Israel tends to label all Palestinian attacks as terror. But don't soldiers deserve a bit more credit? Calling the attack an act of terror turns them into victims. As someone who served in the army here and does reserve duty, I understand I'm a legitimate target when I'm wearing my uniform. Armies use force to impose a particular policy, and sometimes those who disagree with the policy fight back.
Ha'aretz have an interesting, if not thought-provoking, editorial today about the maltreatment of Israel's non-Jewish soldiers.
The Desert Reconnaissance Battalion, for example, which is mostly comprised of Bedouin, has spent the last four years in the line of fire in Rafah, while other soldiers serving on the front lines are in rotation, not permanently positioned there. The Desert Reconnaissance Battalion accepts into its ranks Bedouin, Arabs and Muslims who are not obliged to enlist. Service in the unit is a way for young people to escape the economic crisis in which they live at home. Sometimes it is the only way they can get a steady job. The need to risk their lives just to earn a livelihood is also discomforting, especially considering just how much the Bedouin suffer from discrimination against them in budgets and infrastructure for their communities.
Israeli society's ability to only remember the Bedouin when one of them is killed during IDF service is regrettable. The basic civil rights of a citizen in his state should not have to depend on anything other than the fact of his citizenship. Various organizations have warned over the years about the crisis in Bedouin society, and just recently there was a detailed report from Physicians for Human Rights on the shameful state of the health of Bedouin in the unrecognized villages. But even though this is all well-known, no Israeli government has ever made time to conduct the revolution needed in the state's attitude toward the Bedouin.
No soldiers' life is more precious than another's, especially not because of religious or cultural differences. But the treatment of these volunteer soldiers does seem to me, until someone can prove otherwise, a trifle unfair.
I do think it is about time we stopped treating our Israeli citizens, whether Jewish, Christian, Armenian, Bedhouin or Arab with disrespect. Reverse anti-semitism is rife in this country and it is unfair. (I intend to write, as soon as I have her permission, about the battle an Armenian friend of mine had changing her address and getting her Teudat Zehut transferred to the West Jerusalem branch of the interior Ministry - stay tuned)
