Occupation Duty-a special report with permission [View All]

[pelsar]

time in the westbank.....as a reserve solider in the IDF

i just came back from my reserve duty...this time it was in the northern westbank. I go for a variety of reasons (all reservists are "volunteers" as its easy to get out if one so desires-and many do.) One of the more interesting things i discover is what is really happening. This i learn via military briefings, either the general ones when we first arrive or the more specific ones before any mission. These are devoid of politics and are designed to tell us what to expect, the character of the settlements and arab villages in our area, the people etc.

So what did i see?...i saw how the settlements have grown, how they and the arab villages are getting closer together (at one point only 300 meters separated two). But there was something else that made a bigger impression on me...the gobs of money spent by the army to insure the occupation. Army bases are everywhere, small, large all over. Its not so much that they arent removable, they are, but to plan, develop put in the infrastructure costs a fortune. Not to mention the materials required to "feed the army." (and in fact the food has improved). I saw how the army as an occupation army is literally bleeding the country. More so, its not good for the army, the occupation takes away from its main purpose....fighting in a war.

and the Palestinians?....actually it was quite quiet where i was, nor were there any real incidents in the past years. surreal as always....Though i will leave out the details we did participate in chasing down what appeared to be 4 Palestinians that came to rob a certain building in an industrial park serving Palestenians...it appeared that we were in fact deceived by the security personal in a nearby settlement, who it seems was working together with the Palestinians.....

Another day we watched over a valley where both Palestinians and Jews spent a day having picnics and enjoying the outdoors. Always interesting to see how both groups can intermingle without anything happening. The atmosphere was a lot different from intifada I, when we couldnt stay in one place for the stones that were thrown, intifada II which was far more violent, to now, where i saw only in the reports of rocks being thrown every so often.

Which brings me to another impression......the lack of danger...the lack of motivation for an "uprising". There was no general uprising , no general resistance from the Palestinians.....to a certain degree I was disappointed, how can they be so complacent given the "evils" that israel and the IDF daily put on the Palestinians?....one answer is that on a daily basis for many the only time they meet the IDF is in passing a jeep (this was in the area I was stationed). Economically however there was a change: One of the arab villages used to have a major open market, that survived intifada I where israelis came from all over to buy...this was no more. A few violent incidents and the cliental dried up. In other places one can still see the mixing of the populations for commerce but it was only local, the settlers buying from the Palestinians.

a footnote: we were not involved in checkpoints, of which in this area there werent any.


Pelsar