A Letter from an Israeli to the International Solidarity Movement
Wednesday, April 23 2003 @ 05:04 AM GMT
By Danny Dworsky

Hi,

My name is Danny Dworsky.  I volunteered to the IDF August 1976 and served my full tour until my honorable discharge in July of 1979. Since 1992 I have served as an army reservist agent for the Military Justice Department (METZACH) since 1992. I am a first Sergeant and my military ID is DN BDRK 2297771.

If the ISM is Guilty of anything, they are guilty of making things not as bad as they could be. They teach nonviolent means for Palestinians  to further their cause and they more often  than not slow the progress of  the gigantic hole we in Israeli establishment are digging for ourselves.

In bringing Israelis and Palestinians together  in a common goal of achieving peace and justice, ISM often provides that little bit of sanity and hope that so often deter us from acts of desperation, rage, and revenge.

Although I am not a pacifist or worse a left winger, I have spent enough  time with these ISM  people to determine that they are not only harmless to the state of Israel, but may  very well be all that we have between who we claim to be and that of finding ourselves becoming something far beyond our own worst nightmares of persecution and extinction as a people. That being quite simply put, "The bad guys".

Last October I investigated  armed paramilitary settler gangs that had  been "allegedly" assaulting, looting and terrorizing  Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest in the village of Yousouf.  These attacks were carried out often in broad daylight in full veiw of Israeli  Police and IDF armored and infantry patrols.

Palestinian families picking olives were cursed and shot at. Their  tools and donkeys were confiscated by settlers pointing and poking  unlockede and loaded automatic weapons.  "White people" and War tourists  were beaten. Those with cameras had them ripped out of their hands or  struck away from thier faces with  rifle butts or 1.0 m x 1/2" steel  construstion bars.

I reported all of these offences to my superiors in Haifa. Much of  these scenes have been captured on  film and Digital video.

Because of the weird confidence of the settlers and the absolute bizarre behavior of law enforcement people on the scene. I also kept copies of these materials for myself. These in turn were copied and handed off to an ABC News correspondent at the town of Yannoun a few days later.

I managed to capture the faces of local police and soldiers as well as the numbers on the vehicles that brought them to the scene. All police deny having seen, heard or even having found the place. This is a lie.

At the first sign of trouble I had called in the Ariel police department and they were on the scene in less that 20 minutes. The soldiers were less than three feet away from the police. The two policemen, who claimed over the phone that they couldn't find the place, were leaning against their patrol car between me and the Settlers when I was told that if I pursued the matter further and didn't mind my own business, I could expect to have a bullet fired "accidently" into the back of my head.

ISMers, keep  Sharon and Mofaz's IDF and lunatic Settlers from carrying out ethnic cleansing. These ISM kids are my hero's. They save lives. They are practicing the purest form of what the great Rabbi's called  "Tikun Olam" (*Tikun* - Repair) (*Olam* - World). "It is upon all Jews to repair the world". As a jew I owe a terrible debt to the humanity of these volunteer peace makers who are paying my tab with their own blood.

My family is available and our home is open to everyone of these kids. They know that they have a hot meal and a bed waiting for them anytime they need it. I've been to funerals and  hospitals for realatives and dear friends student and young children lost to suicide bombers.  If I thought for a second that the ISM had anything to do with enabling terrorism by dilution of security measures, I would not be so accomodating.

Danny Dworsky

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