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Source: https://www.facebook.com/matti.friedman.1/posts/10155504193730416?pnref=story
Paid by Foreigners to Say Things about Israel that Foreigners Want to Hear
(Facebook) Matti Friedman - A report by "Breaking the Silence" is currently being played up by the international press, as is any report that fits the narrative of Israelis as war criminals. War is awful and people come back feeling upset about things they've seen and done. Infantrymen at the bottom of the hierarchy often don't understand what they're seeing, or the reasons for what they're doing. Drawing broad conclusions about Israeli military practice from "testimonies" of this kind is irresponsible. IDF open-fire regulations are lax - compared to what? Civilian casualty rates are high - compared to what? Compared to the U.S. in Fallujah? The British in Northern Ireland? The Canadians in Helmand Province? We need to know what the comparison is. Otherwise, the broad criticism is meaningless. Breaking the Silence today is a group funded in large part by European money which serves mainly to provide international reporters with the lurid examples of Israeli malfeasance that they crave. They are exploiting Israelis' uniquely talkative and transparent nature in order to defame them. The writer is a former Associated Press reporter.