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Last update - 14:57 31/12/2007 Giddy about killing By Ira Moskowitz Tags: Gaza, Israel, IDF "How are you?" Uri Orbach asked his co-host Irit Linor at the beginning of their public tete-a-tete on Army Radio's "The Last Word" program, one day last week. Linor, who supposedly fills the left-wing/secular slot opposite her right-wing/religious counterpart on this current events program, did not respond with a simple, "Fine, how are you?" Instead, she launched into a description of her upbeat and tranquil mood following reports that the Israel Defense Forces had killed some 10 Islamic Jihad fighters in Gaza the previous night. "When we liquidate all sorts of Jihadists and Hamasniks, I'm better," she explained. "And when we don't liquidate all sorts of Jihadists and Hamasniks, I'm not as well." After the liquidations of the previous day, she said: "My emotional state feels more in sync with the world. I feel more synergic." In short, she cheerfully suggested, the liquidations create "an excellent atmosphere." I don't want to pick on Linor (who publicly canceled her Haaretz subscription in 2002, claiming the paper had become anti-Zionist) or dwell on the fact that her rapture of synergy reminded me of the famous line from "Apocalypse Now": "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." Instead, I'd like to consider how we relate to killing. Advertisement On this page last week, Bradley Burston justified killing the Islamic Jihad men in Gaza: "They were war criminals. More to the point, they were soldiers. Soldiers in a war in which they are declared combatants ... It was our right to kill them. It was our responsibility." Okay, let's assume that Israeli citizens would be correct in feeling proud and grateful for such IDF operations. But should they rejoice over the killing of their enemy? There is a well-known Talmudic story suggesting that any celebration of victory should be tempered when it comes at the cost of human life. In this story, God scolds the angels for bursting into song after the Israelites' miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, which then crashed down upon the Egyptians: "The work of my hands is drowning in the sea and you want to chant a song before me?" The giggly banter on Army Radio about the killings in Gaza expresses the dehumanization of God's handiwork, a process that has fueled wars throughout human history. After all, it is easier to kill our enemies if we regard them as less human. In fact, most people must be trained to disregard the humanity of others in order to be capable of killing them, argues Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, a former U.S. Army paratrooper. In his book, "On Killing," Grossman cites studies indicating that only 15-20 percent of American riflemen in World War II actually fired at the enemy in combat situations. His conclusion: "There is within most men an intense resistance to killing their fellow man." According to Grossman, the U.S. military developed sophisticated methods of training soldiers to overcome this instinctive aversion, and firing rates reached 90-95 percent among American combat soldiers in Vietnam. Part of this process, which he calls "psychological warfare conducted upon one's own troops," involved dehumanizing the enemy. This included replacing bull's-eye targets in marksmanship training with man-shaped silhouettes, and screening films that desensitized recruits to violence and indoctrinated them with contempt for the enemy. Assuming Israel's soldiers must also dehumanize an enemy - much closer to home - in order to be effective in their role, we must also ask: Once this dehumanization process starts, where does it stop? Burston's op-ed argues that the IDF has a duty to kill those Palestinians who seek to kill Israelis at any cost. But reports in this newspaper and other media outlets suggest that the IDF frequently kills innocent Palestinians. Perhaps it is unreasonable and unfair to expect our young soldiers to maintain a perfect balance in the way they relate to the enemy - dehumanized enough to kill when necessary, but not enough to spill over into wanton killing. This is indeed the high standard set in the IDF code of ethics, which emphasizes that "every human being is of value, regardless of his or her origin, religion, nationality, gender, status or position," but also recognizes that "the complex nature of military activity in general, and combat in particular, may generate tensions with the values and basic principles" the code expresses. That is, our soldiers, some still teenagers, are expected to be both humane and to kill, and to know how to reconcile the tensions between these two missions in a complicated and imperfect world. It is much easier to sit in the broadcasting booth at Army Radio. Still, the hosts of "The Last Word" would do well to re-read the IDF code of ethics and swallow a dose of humility before again making giddy comments about the "excellent atmosphere" we create when killing. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Pre-Iowa Israel Factor The panel is certain that Clinton is the better Democratic candidate for Israel. The Jewish connection Jeremy Goldberg works to connect Barack Obama with Jewish voters.   1.   Great article Ira. Sobering. When will these understand their 13:22  |  . 28/12/07   2.   TIME FOR TARGETED KILLING OF ALL IDF SOLDIERS IS THAT YOUR WISH? 15:53  |  JH 28/12/07   3.   Behold, the righteous one! 22:35  |  Sam 28/12/07   4.   Giddy about killing 23:09  |  Trudy and Norm 28/12/07   5.   Not surprised about being "giddy" about killing 16:09  |  Marlene N. 29/12/07   6.   Yawn. Give me another glass of Prosecco. 22:05  |  Andreas 29/12/07   7.   zion dehumanizes it own children to plunder palestine 22:26  |  muslim 29/12/07   8.   Giddy about killing 22:32  |  Israeli citizen 29/12/07   9.   Ira,you missed the boat,how`d you decry killing of SS-soldiers! 23:42  |  Absolute Sweden 29/12/07   10.   One rejoices at the others killing, the mirrored image (other) 00:07  |  Virginia 30/12/07   11.   linor not a good person 00:22  |  peter42y 30/12/07   12.   Happy to walk out alive is hardly a sin 00:42  |  dmgold 30/12/07   13.   Rejopicing and Giddy are different: Why do we Celebrate Purim? 00:54  |  Daniel 30/12/07   14.   #8 Israeli Citizen: you are SO RIGHT! 01:01  |  Robert 30/12/07   15.   #8 Israeli Citizen: you are SO RIGHT! 01:01  |  Robert 30/12/07   16.   #8 Israeli Citizen: you are SO RIGHT! 01:01  |  Robert 30/12/07   17.   to message 8 01:01  |  paulo2005 30/12/07   18.   Another Misquote (half quote) To Change the Meaning 01:28  |  Moshe 30/12/07   19.   More Leftist BS 01:42  |  Frank 30/12/07   20.   Golda was right 01:45  |  anon 30/12/07   21.   "Giggly Banter" or Demon Possessed? 01:51  |  Maureen Ann 30/12/07   22.   Bring me up to date 01:55  |  hollingsworth 30/12/07   23.   Resisting uninvited thieves is not terrorism 01:59  |  JOSEPH 30/12/07   24.   bring you up to date, hollingsworth 03:07  |  David 30/12/07   25.   logic not a issue 04:03  |  hollingsworth 30/12/07   26.   Re: Not Surprised 04:53  |  Norman F Birnberg 30/12/07   27.   Re: Zion Dehumanizes 04:55  |  Norman F Birnberg 30/12/07   28.   Re: Rejoicing And Being Giddy 04:59  |  Norman F Birnberg 30/12/07   29.   HAMAS CEASFIRE???????????????/ 05:09  |  Bob 30/12/07   30.   How would you have her be? 05:23  |  Denton 30/12/07   31.   logic and propoganda for hollinsworth 05:36  |  David 30/12/07   32.   "Giddy about killing" 05:41  |  Patrick 30/12/07   33.   "Unprovoked" # 4 06:38  |  Ben Othman 30/12/07   34.   Israeli citizen 07:09  |  Marilyn 30/12/07   35.   Response to Sam 07:14  |  CBR 30/12/07   36.   Ben -- "be ready to die for it" 07:39  |  idf_sergeant 30/12/07   37.   propoganda of Ben Othman 08:07  |  David 30/12/07   38.   To JH 08:17  |  Aby 30/12/07   39.   Merily propoganda 08:45  |  David 30/12/07   40.   Reply 08:54  |  Israeli Citizen 30/12/07   41.   Marilyn Are you happy about the killings of Israelis 09:06  |  Aby 30/12/07   42.   Killing those who would kill us 09:20  |  Richard 30/12/07   43.   Linor was right 09:31  |  Gili 30/12/07   44.   Marilyn Israelis killed continued 10:04  |  Aby 30/12/07   45.   Mourning their own Survival 10:34  |  Efox 30/12/07   46.   re: muslim 10:38  |  Efox 30/12/07   47.   Joseph in Ireland, a reasonable answer. 10:52  |  rich 30/12/07   48.   nonsense 10:59  |  rich 30/12/07   49.   CHEVRON MURDERS 18:57  |  Dr David I. Gross 30/12/07   50.   stop hating jews 19:52  |  hollingsworth 30/12/07   51.   David did not answer 20:01  |  hollingsworth 30/12/07   52.   Learn the lesson of being human first Aby 41 02:57  |  Marlene N. 31/12/07   53.   To Norman Birnberg............ 03:46  |  Marlene N. 31/12/07   54.   What is logical about anything you said Rich?? 12:49  |  Marlene N. 31/12/07   55.   Load of rubbish 15:27  |  Jon 31/12/07   56.   # 43 Gili, Linor `s behavior is atrocious 10:51  |  Dutch 01/01/08   57.   I love that Midrash... 12:41  |  Richard Silverstein 04/01/08

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