IDF; Shoot to Kill - letter Derek A Summerfield

IDF; Shoot to Kill - letter Derek A Summerfield

Articles - British Medical Journal

BMJ 2005;331:699 (24 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7518.699

Letter

Israeli army's shoot to kill policy; Israeli soldiers confirm the policy documented in journal

EDITOR  My personal view last October on the Israeli army operations in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel, attracted support as well as vilification on bmj.com.1

I noted that two thirds of all Palestinian child fatalities had been caused by small arms fire (from relatively close range), in fully half of the cases to the head or upper torso—the sniper's wound. My statement that "clearly, soldiers are routinely authorised to shoot to kill children in situations of minimal or no threat" has now been confirmed in emphatic fashion—the authority being Israeli soldiers who have committed these acts themselves.2-4 They refer to one of the cases I described.

Several dozen former soldiers calling themselves "Breaking the Silence" are exposing the cynicism of the Israeli defence forces' mantra that everything possible is done to minimise the risk to Palestinian civilians. These soldiers testify that they were ordered in briefings to shoot to kill unarmed civilians, including children, even when there was no threat and in periods of calm. They were ordered to "fire at anything that moved" and were told "every person you see on the street, `kill him.' And we would just do it."4 The attitude was "so kids got killed. For a soldier it means nothing."4

The desire to avenge Israeli casualties and inflict collective punishment was an important factor. In Gaza in May 2004, "the commanders said kill as many people as possible,"4 and there were standing orders to shoot anyone on a roof or balcony, whoever they were. One former soldier said this was why the Moghayyer children (aged 16 and 13), collecting washing and feeding pigeons on the roof of their home, were shot. Israel's defence forces claimed that they had been blown up by a roadside bomb, until journalists were shown the bodies in the morgue, each with a single bullet wound to the head. I mentioned this case in my BMJ article.

Can those who saw my paper as antisemitic lies face "Breaking the Silence"? Will the Jewish organisations that made hostile statements about the BMJ, amid calls for the acting editor to be censured or removed, apologise? And who will challenge the Israeli Medical Association for its silence at the ongoing violations of the Geneva Convention I documented?5 w1

Derek A Summerfield, honorary senior lecturer
Institute of Psychiatry, Maudsley Hospital, London SE5 8AP This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Competing interests: None declared.
Reference w1 is on bmj.com
References
1.Summerfield D. Palestine: the assault on health and other war crimes BMJ 2004;329: 924.[Free Full Text]
2.Amnesty International. Israel/occupied territories: killing of children must be investigated. http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGMDE150552004?open (accessed 16 Sep 2005).
3.Urquhart C. Israeli troops say they were given shoot-to-kill order. Guardian 2005 Sep 6:1 www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1563476,00.html (accessed 15 Sep 2005).
4.Urquhart C. Israeli soldiers tell of discriminate killings by army and a culture of impunity. Guardian 2005 Sep 6:13. www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1563255,00.html (accessed 15 Sep 2005).
5.Barghouti M, ed. Health and segregation. The impact of the Israeli separation wall on access to health services. Ramallah: Health, Development, Information, and Policy Institute, 2004.