Breaking the Silence Exhibit: The Combatant’s Story

This student of the Kennedy School of Government really refutes the concerns that people will walk away from this exhibit with a distorted view of Israelis. To the contrary, they learn something very commendable about Israel, despite the somber topics:

“I think what I come away with most is to see the nuance and opinion amongst Israeli soldiers. It’s not a group that you hear a lot about because you’re so busy talking about policy and who’s doing what’s right and what’s wrong and you don’t really hear what Israeli soldiers that are actually doing this feel.”

Listen to his full testimonial below:

Disclaimer: The opinions shown here do not represent the views of Shovrim Shtika/Breaking the Silence or that of its speakers. The opinions here belong to the individuals who voluntarily contributed these video clips.

Nadav is an Israeli American who served in the IDF from 2003-2006 and is now student at Harvard. Just a quick excerpt about his support for the exhibit is below:
“What’s put on in this exhibit is an integral part of the experience of being in the territories and what goes on there…This is a very important part of the story and shows the price we pay for being in the territories…Anybody who’s making a decision about the territories should have these facts and these testimonies and these stories in mind. Knowing what it means for the Israeli army to be in the West Bank and Gaza.”

Listen to his full participant testimonial here:

Disclaimer: The opinions shown here do not represent the views of Shovrim Shtika/Breaking the Silence or that of its speakers. The opinions here belong to the individuals who voluntarily contributed these video clips.

Yehuda Shaul two years ago in an interview for TogetherTV:

The exhibit will be closed tomorrow, Monday, March 10, since both Oded and Dotan will be speaking at outside events. But please join us for the exhibit for slightly abbreviated hours on Tuesday and a superb duo of panels:

Psychology, War, and Human Rights:
Panel Discussion with Psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton and Professor Henry Steiner
Tuesday, March 11 at 7:30pm
Smith Hall (upstairs) at Harvard Hillel
Sponsored by the Harvard College Progressive Jewish Alliance

Dotan Greenvald will share a collection of photographs, interviews by Israeli soldiers and share his story of the daily reality as a soldier in the occupied territories.
Tuesday, March 11 at 7:00 pm
Workmen’s Circle, 1762 Beacon St., Brookline, MA

Many thanks for your understanding.

Sherry is a longtime peace activist and an American Jew committed to a just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Her sense of upset here really reflects an interesting American point of view: it is very easy for us in the States to question why soldiers would even participate in these actions if, as reflected in the testimonies, the soldiers recognize the questionable character of the orders they receive.

Sherry asks why they continue serving. Breaking the Silence doesn’t condone or condemn refusers (conscientious objectors) in the IDF. At the very least, the members of Breaking the Silence consider heavily why they continue to serve, or whether to go back on reserve duty, and certainly some decide both ways.
Here are Sherry’s concerns:

Disclaimer: The opinions shown here do not represent the views of Shovrim Shtika/Breaking the Silence or that of its speakers. The opinions here belong to the individuals who voluntarily contributed these video clips.

Jim is a Christian, highly interested and involved in the Middle East conflict. I love this testimonial because he dispels so much of the concerns that this exhibit “encourages Israel’s destroyers” and is impossible to appreciate without a Jewish background.

Listen to his impression of Israelis and the dynamics of the conflict and decide for yourself:

Michael is 15 years old — he gets it. He hears loudly and clearly all our key messages: this information condemns no one but is raising alarms that should be heard by all who have a stake in Israel’s future.

Listen to this inspirational young man here:

Disclaimer: The opinions shown here do not represent the views of Shovrim Shtika/Breaking the Silence or that of its speakers. The opinions here belong to the individuals who voluntarily contributed these video clips.

Here, Oded Naaman, IDF veteran and former artillery corps commander, leads tours at the exhibit in Harvard Hillel and begins with this introduction of the organization’s first exhibit in Tel Aviv (more history available here).

One of the most powerful stations in the exhibit is a collection of car keys (real keys) confiscated from Palestinians in the course of enforcing checkpoints. Arnon Degani, IDF veteran, relates the story all soldiers felt when they heard the stunning the news that an IDF spokesman denied that soldiers confiscate keys, “I heard it on the radio, and opened the drawer next to me, full of keys, just to me sure I was living in the same Israel!”

Oded explains the keys here:

Videos courtesy of Nina Smolyar.

Adam says he’s not a pacifist and that he believes many things can be justified for security, that many terrible things done throughout history were done in pursuit of a greater cause. That being said, Adam was troubled by a lot of the information given in the exhibit and says here that he doesn’t believe these things are justified.

Listen to his full testimony here:

Disclaimer: The opinions shown here do not represent the views of Shovrim Shtika/Breaking the Silence or that of its speakers. The opinions here belong to the individuals who voluntarily contributed these video clips.

Aliza, a congregant of a synagogue tour to our Philly exhibit, was deeply moved by the exhibit. She’s no stranger to the debate around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and much of the information here she’s seen before in one way or another.

But asked “Why an exhibit?” and “Why bring it to the States?” the answer is people like Aliza. They are committed already to being judicious and nuanced in their understanding of both sides, they support the security and well-being of all parties, and in this case come from a securely Jewish concern for Israel. When they encounter Breaking the Silence’s exhibit, the response is not disbelief. They understanding that the conflict is complicated. And that is also one of the biggest points of our exhibit.