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Something bad is happening to us

As "history" has shown over the last years, any criticism of Israel - in particular in relation to the occupation, with all that entails - is an almost inevitable invitation to be labelled anti-Israel, anti-Zionist or even anti-semitic.

So, what to make of an editorial in Haaretz "Something bad is happening to us"

"Perfectly ordinary people, as the American psychologist said of the Abu Ghraib abusers, are capable of behaving like monsters when they receive a message from the top that it is permissible to abuse, beat, choke, burn, make people miserable and generally do anything that man's evil genius is capable of inventing to others who are under their control. Something bad is happening to us, they are saying in the Kfir Brigade. That "something" is the occupation."

Meanwhile, coincidentally, Haaretz also reports on this:

"A prominent Israeli human rights group on Wednesday criticized an Israel Defense Forces probe that decided not to press charges in an errant artillery attack that killed 21 Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip in November 2006.

The Military Advocate General announced late Tuesday that it was closing the case after its investigation determined the deaths were the result of a "rare and severe" technical malfunction.

In a statement, the human rights group B'Tselem questioned whether the inquiry met proper legal standards: an investigation which is independent, effective, open to review and timely.

The group also called on the IDF to take measures that would prevent similar incidents in the future, and urged it to compensate relatives of the dead."

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