Breaking Silence: Former Sniper Exposes Israel's Brutal Crimes against Palestinians
Nadav Weiman is a veteran soldier who served as a sniper in the Israeli military. He is currently the executive director of the 'Breaking the Silence' organization. Breaking the Silence
Established in 2004, 'Breaking the Silence' is a non-governmental Israeli organization of veteran Israeli soldiers who served in the Occupied Territories since 2000.
The organization has faced harsh criticism from the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and other senior officials in his government, who repeatedly tried to lobby other governments against providing funding to it. Israeli Brutality Exposed
In a video footage that went viral on social media, Weiman exposed the brutality of the Israeli crimes against Palestinians. He recounted his time as a sniper in the Israeli military.
'Me and my team were snipers, and because of that we did lots of sniper ambushes from inside Palestinian homes. It is a protocol that is called Straw Widow,' he said.
'It basically means to take a private Palestinian house and turn it to a military post,' Weiman explained. 'The first time that we did it was in the refugee camp in Jenin in 2006. We were trained and full with adrenaline and energy,' he added. Destroying Palestinian Lives
'After we broke down the door and raided the house, I entered to the first room and I grabbed the person in his bed, because that is the tactic – to throw him to other room. But when he lifted from his bed, I realized it was 11-year-old kid, and I had camouflage on my face and it was at gunpoint. He looked at me with his eyes and was so afraid,' Weiman recalled.
'When adrenaline came down, I told myself 'what am I doing? Is this secure? Am I securing my family in Tel Aviv? No, I just ruined this Palestinian family's life. I don't know what would happen with them afterwards',' he said.
'But then quickly I said 'no, you don't understand something. There is a bigger picture'… something like that. But they did that two or three times a week until I finished my army service,' Weiman noted. Moment of Self-Reckoning
The former Israeli sniper reflected on his actions as a soldier, recognizing that his military's main goal was to seize Palestinian territories and build more settlements.
'I invaded into hundreds of homes, I dragged I don't know how many people from their beds. But then when I thought about it, I understood the occupation is not for security, it is for control. We want to control Palestinians because we want to build settlements, we want to take their land,' he said.
'So for me, it was just doing the mission that the (Israeli military) sent me to do. But thinking, and not just executing commands, that is what made me break my silence and understand what we are doing,' Weiman noted.
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