The long-term impact of war -Nov 5, 2006

By Jan Benvie

I have grown sad here in Hebron. As the 1960s poster put it, "War is Not Healthy for Children and Other Living Things." And on the ground it does not take you long to realize why and how.

Many Israeli soldiers are young men and women undertaking mandatory military service. The Israeli government sends them to the Occupied Palestinian Territories, gives them a gun, and puts them in positions of authority.

A soldier from "Breaking the Silence'" (a group of discharged soldiers) has testified: "In Hebron, I was disturbed and frightened most of all by the unregulated and uncontrolled power, and the things it made people do." You can read the complete testimony of this anonymous soldier online.

I witnessed just this unregulated power last month (October 2006) when soldiers entered a Palestinian home. From an open window, we heard the cries of women, the voices of men and the shouting of soldiers. They kept the family prisoners in their home for almost two hours. The commander of the soldiers, angry at our presence, threatened to arrest us. When I questioned the legality of what he was doing, he simply said: "I am the law."

Then again, three Israeli settler boys attacked another member of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) and me as we walked past an Israeli settlement enclave. They threw stones at us, hit us, and kicked us. Nothing surprising in this context, you may think.

Perhaps not, but what amazed me was the total lack of response from the many adult settlers witnessing this attack. I later saw a young four or five-year-old settler boy sitting alone at a military checkpoint. He looked at the young Palestinian men soldiers were detaining, and drew his finger across his throat several times, to signify cutting their throats.

Again in October, a young Palestinian boy, pretending to be a reporter, came up to me with his plastic juice bottle microphone. He aggressively thrust his "microphone" towards me and barked out his question. Female CPTers, especially younger ones, face sexual harassment from other young Palestinian men in the street.

Israeli peace activists speak of their concern about the effect of the occupation on their young people who serve in the army. Palestinian friends are concerned that their boys and young men are becoming more aggressive and sexually harassing Palestinian girls and women, as well as internationals.

War is not healthy. A short time here in Hebron with the Israeli soldiers, settlers and Palestinians has confirmed that for me.

However, amid the sadness, Israelis and Palestinians who are concerned about the effects of occupation on their young people give me hope. I am happy to stand side by side with Israelis working to end the occupation and happy to support Palestinian groups working with young people here in Hebron. That is why I am in Christian Peacemaker Teams.

Christian Peacemaker Teams is an initiative of the historic peace churches (Mennonites, Church of the Brethren, and Quakers) with support and membership from a range of Catholic and Protestant denominations. Supporting violence-reduction efforts around the world is its mandate.

Article reproduced with the kind permission of Christian Peacemaker Teams