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Last update - 09:06 31/07/2008
Neither an officer nor a gentleman
By Gideon Levy
Tags: IDF, Israel, War Crimes

Brigadier General Moshe "Chico" Tamir is a devoted and loving father who let his 14-year-old son drive a military all-terrain vehicle. Being the law-abiding organization that it is, the Israel Defense Forces probed the incident, calling it "serious." As a result, Tamir's promotion may be put on hold and he may be indicted. Certainly, a brigade commander who tried to cover up his son's accident by lying deserves to be punished. But the commander of the Gaza Brigade deserves much more for acts considerably more serious - acts that the world defines as war crimes and for which no one has been held accountable.

I would like Tamir, the dedicated father, to meet a girl the same age as his beloved son whose world fell apart when she was 14 years old. I saw her in mourning in November 2006, in the courtyard of her destroyed house in Beit Hanun. Islam Athamneh lost eight family members: Her mother, grandmother, grandfather, aunts, uncles and cousins. They fled their house when it was struck by a shell and were killed by another onslaught. The legs of Abdullah, her three-year-old brother, were blown off. Islam, whose father had died years earlier, became an orphan.

The soldiers who fired the 11 shells at houses in Beit Hanun were under the command of Tamir, the dedicated dad who let his son take a Tomcar for a joyride. Some 22 people were killed in the shelling and another 40 were hurt. Most lost limbs or sustained head wounds.
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It was the Gaza Brigade commander, Tamir, who was responsible for that atrocity, but the IDF quickly absolved him of blame. Instead, they placed it on a faulty electronic component in the gun barrel. It was the chip, not Chico, who was to blame. In the seven days before the heinous shelling, which violates international law, Tamir's troops managed to kill 80 Palestinians, 40 of whom were innocent civilians, as part of Operation Autumn Clouds. Their blood was let and their deaths pale in significance to the Tomcar affair as far as the army is concerned. After all, what's some unlawful killing en masse next to illegally driving an ATV?

If indicted, it won't be the first time Tamir has been tried in court. In the summer of 2002, when he was the commander of the Golani Brigade, his soldiers fired a tank shell at a grocers' market in Jenin. That, too, was a war crime, but not to Israel. A 53-year-old vendor and three other children - two of whom were brothers - died in the shelling. They also had fathers who loved their sons just as much as Tamir loves his. The Military Advocate General believed Tamir was guilty of negligence, but a court cleared him of all charges. A few weeks later, Tamir's tanks fired a shell at the same market. This time, they killed a vendor who was loading onions onto his Peugeot 504.

Former IDF chief Moshe Yaalon once said about this officer and gentleman that he needs "reeducating" because of endemic disciplinary problems in his brigade. The person who bragged that his brigade behaved like Rottweilers; who thought more violence should be used against Palestinians; who said that the destruction his soldiers caused in a Jenin refugee camp did not "cause him any moral dilemmas," may now finally be punished. And for what? A Tomcar. And what might just spare him? For all his misdoings, this man may be cleared of blame because he is considered a "well-respected and important" officer in the IDF.
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  1.   The International War Crimes Tribunal awaits this thug 09:52  |  Clickfool 31/07/08
  2.   "war crimes" - Oh, how scared we are ! 10:13  |  Vitaly 31/07/08
  3.   The Hague 10:41  |  Mike Katz 31/07/08
  4.   Justice has ingenious ways of prevailing... 10:47  |  Esther 31/07/08
  5.   Statistical Quandry 10:51  |  Stuart Stein 31/07/08
  6.   KARADZIC WAS ALSO A DEVOTED FATHER 11:00  |  Indrajaya 31/07/08
  7.   And Al Capone was indicted on tax evasion 11:01  |  Danny 31/07/08
  8.   Will any Palestinian-or other Arab Muslim-leader be indicted? 11:02  |  Hastaroth 31/07/08
  9.   Clickfool # 1. 11:08  |  David Nigel Braham 31/07/08
  10.   May Tamir suffer nightmares for the rest of his miserable days 11:13  |  Palestinian in UK 31/07/08
  11.   Would someone 11:15  |  Victoria 31/07/08
  12.   Accidentaly stumbled upon this one, Gideon 11:21  |  TonyL 31/07/08
  13.   Racism 101 11:33  |  Sylvie 31/07/08
  14.   God save us from bleeding heart liberals like Sylvie 12:01  |  Victoria 31/07/08
  15.   war crimes, and thought crimes 12:18  |  eddie 31/07/08
  16.   and while youre at it... 12:51  |  ravi 31/07/08
  17.   Shame on you Gideon Levy 13:00  |  Proud Israeli 31/07/08
  18.   LEVY YOU SHOULD BE CHARGED WITH COLABERATING WITH THE ENEMY 13:09  |  PalestniansAreA Myth 31/07/08
  19.   Živeli! Am Israel Chai! 13:12  |  Andreas 31/07/08
  20.   Is Mr. Levy an Officer and a Gentleman? 13:13  |  Arthur 31/07/08
  21.   Civilian casualties in Iraq - also war crime? 13:23  |  Free Gilad Shalit 31/07/08
  22.   U.S. forces killing civilians Part 2 - war crimes? 13:27  |  Free Gilad Shalit 31/07/08
  23.   Coalition forces killing civilians Part 3 - war crimes? 13:29  |  Free Gilad Shalit 31/07/08
  24.   Victoria 13:32  |  Natallie Durson 31/07/08
  25.   Gideon Levy 13:36  |  Al 31/07/08
  26.   Thought Levy had been put out to grass with Amira 13:42  |  x-ray 31/07/08
  27.   Levy should be sued for libel 14:01  |  Free Gilad Shalit 31/07/08
  28.   Victoria 14:15  |  Sylvie 31/07/08
  29.   Rock versus a speck of dust 14:35  |  CM 31/07/08
  30.   Tell the truth then what 14:39  |  Baz Mann 31/07/08
  31.   Hi, Gideon, nice to see you 14:42  |  Edith 31/07/08
  32.   Victoria: You need to be hoping God will save you from yourselves 14:52  |  Guy From NYC 31/07/08
  33.   Free gilad Shalit-you should be sued #27 15:05  |  Roo 31/07/08
  34.   Coalition forces killing civilians Part 3 - war crimes??? YES! 15:17  |  John Mackie 31/07/08
  35.   Hypocrites ignoring coalition`s civilian casualties 15:42  |  Free Gilad Shalit 31/07/08
  36.   Coalition forces killing civilians Part 4 - war crimes? 15:52  |  Free Gilad Shalit 31/07/08
  37.   To the "Guy" from NYC,part 1 16:01  |  Hastaroth 31/07/08
  38.   #21,21,35 Free Shalit 16:04  |  THK 31/07/08
  39.   To the "Guy" from NYC,part 2 16:04  |  Hastaroth 31/07/08
  40.   Roo - go jump! 16:06  |  Free Gilad Shalit 31/07/08
  41.   #1 - Clickfool 16:06  |  THK 31/07/08
  42.   John Mackie 34# 16:08  |  Free Gilad Shalit 31/07/08
  43.   Bravo, Gideon, Continue On Telling the Truth! 16:11  |  Yaakov Sullivan 31/07/08
  44.   Levy, are you really Jewish? 16:11  |  John Allen 31/07/08
  45.   I would go for trying Landau first for "rape Israel" remark 16:14  |  Genuine Tosefta 31/07/08
  46.   Mr. Levy. 16:19  |  John Allen 31/07/08
  47.   Gideon fans the hate flame. 16:21  |  Gilad 31/07/08
  48.   I reported that it was Hamas that blew up this family in Beit Han 16:23  |  Ali-AP Gaza Reporter 31/07/08
  49.   Gideon Levy never bothers to ask Arabs to have "moral dillemas" 16:29  |  Genuine Tosefta 31/07/08
  50.   Gideon Levy, Let me assure you 16:32  |  Dutch 31/07/08
  51.   The Australian connection 16:48  |  Marilyn 31/07/08
  52.   Right after you prosecute Abbas and the rest of Fatah, right? 16:49  |  Levy the fool 31/07/08
  53.   Suhaarto also killed 17:01  |  utagawa 31/07/08
  54.   Want some cheese with that whine Levy? 17:10  |  Jane 31/07/08
  55.   It is the Muslim World that calls it a War Crime 17:26  |  Meir Weinstein 31/07/08
  56.   Sylvie - 28 Holon 17:38  |  Free Gilad Shalit 31/07/08
  57.   Ah, how the mighty fall... 17:48  |  Esther 31/07/08
  58.   "Free Gilad Shalit" 17:49  |  Sylvie 31/07/08
  59.   Just more proof why sreen names match 17:50  |  Arie 31/07/08
  60.   # 53, UTAGAWA 17:53  |  indrajaya 31/07/08
  61.   Levy Proves Again That IDF Most Evil Army In History 18:16  |  Anti-Zionist 31/07/08
  62.   To Proud Israeli 18:32  |  noor 31/07/08
  63.   Free Gilad Shalit #40 18:45  |  Roo 31/07/08
  64.   Sylvie 18:46  |  Victoria