Israeli Critic of Gaza War Describes Firing and Detention

Here in Israel, for generations,

we kill the Palestinians. We injure the Palestinians.

We have more than 1,500

Palestinians in administrative detention.

We demolish their houses here in Jerusalem.

We cut down their olive trees.

We confiscate their property, their waters.

And most Israelis expect them

to accept it.

And when they

don't accept it, they react in violent way.

They blame them, the Palestinians.

For most Israelis, I mean, we hold millions of

Palestinians under occupation

for generations. They are deprived their basic

rights. And for most Israelis,

it can go on forever.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not justifying the violence.

But this is,

I think, the

realistic conclusion.

How can we expect the Palestinians to live under occupation forever?

Every Israeli citizen knows clearly

that

if you dare to show the slightest sentiment

towards the people of Gaza,

if you criticize killing of innocent

civilians,

including women and children in Gaza, you will be

politically persecuted. You will go through public

shaming.

You will lose your job.

And in my case, be put in jail.

I wanted as many Israelis to know what is

done on their behalf. Most Israelis don't know

because the mainstream media doesn't show

what really goes on in Gaza, what we are doing in

Gaza. They

wished me to die. They wished my children to die.

They threatened to rape my daughter.

That was the kind of reactions that were

against.

I was called for a hearing on October 18th, and the next

day I was fired. The police

asked me to come over

for an interrogation.

The minute I walked into the police station,

they cuffed my hands and legs

and confiscated my phone.

Then

five detectives escorted me to my apartment

and ransacked the place upside down.

They put me in solitary confinement in a cell with no

windows.

They took away my watch.

I didn't know when it was daytime, when it was nighttime.

For them, I'm Hamas supporter.

They refused to enter

the class.

And they began a very, very violent

demonstration.

I was literally under siege inside the

teacher's room.

Dozens of students were

on the windows, knocking the windows, cursing me.