Israeli soldiers describe sanctioned abuses in Gaza (and am I anti-Semitic for saying so?)

One of the reasons why the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues is because each side blames the other, and each side refuses to admit to any wrongdoing.

Furthermore, any critiques of Israel's actions are usually met with cries of anti-Semitism -- as if any Israeli military action is justified, no matter what, and any complaints must therefore be racist.

Therefore, I was hesitant to write this. But the truth must be known.

You see, last week, the organization "Breaking the Silence" released a new booklet containing testimonies by about 30 Israeli soldiers describing the use of "accepted practices" during the Gaza invasion which included "the destruction of hundreds of houses and mosques for no military purpose, the firing of phosphorous gas in the direction of populated areas, the killing of innocent victims with small arms, the destruction of private property, and most of all, a permissive atmosphere in the command structure that enabled soldiers to act without moral restrictions."

There is no excuse for that. But I applaud the soldiers for speaking out.

Of course, I also condemn Hamas's rocket attacks on Israel, to which the Israeli invasion was a response. But the United Nations and several human rights organizations have described Israel's counterattacks as disproportionate, and therefore in violation of international law.

Indeed, back in March, CNN quoted a United Nations estimate that, of the 1,453 people estimated killed in the conflict, 1,440 were Palestinian, including 431 children and 114 women.

That's 1,440 Palestinian deaths to 13 Israeli deaths. Disproportionate indeed!

Still, I will probably be called anti-Semitic for saying so.

And that tells me that the apologists for the Israeli military have no other argument to stand on.

I am reminded of the wise words of a young (twenty-something) Jewish-American woman who shared with me her view that the Jewish people, for all their suffering through the millenia, should be especially sensitive to the suffering of others. Yes, one would think. But, instead, the oppressed have become the oppressors.

That is no way to find peace or closure.