| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"2bor02b" |
| Date: |
07 May 2004 07:29:37 AM |
| Object: |
ISRAELI ARMY=U.S. ARMY=SAME THING |
Israeli lessons for the US in Iraq
By Khalid Amayreh in the West Bank
Friday 07 May 2004, 2:48 Makka Time, 23:48 GMT
The torturing of Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghuraib prison by US occupying
forces has shocked the world - but for most Palestinians they come as no
surprise.
In fact, tens of thousands of Palestinians who have served time in Israeli
prisons and detention centres see striking similarities between Israeli
treatment of Palestinian prisoners and American treatment of Iraqi
detainees.
In some cases, the torture technique or form of mistreatment is almost
identical, some former Palestinian prisoners told Aljazeera.net.
Hisham Abd al-Razzaq is a Palestinian Authority minister in charge of
overseeing and catering for more than 7000 Palestinian prisoners in Israel,
many of them interned without charge or trial.
He believes that what the Americans are doing to the Iraqis amounts to a
"carbon copy" of what the Israelis have been doing to the Palestinians.
"I am inclined to think that the Americans copied the Israeli techniques. I
can't prove it in an objective manner, but the striking similarities are
overwhelming."
Abd al-Razzaq, who himself experienced many forms of torture during his
lengthy imprisonment in an Israeli jail prior to the Oslo Accords in 1993,
described physical and psychological torture as the "modus operandi" of
Israeli treatment of Palestinian detainees.
Torture techniques
He said that the so-called hooding technique - whereby the detainee's head
is covered with a rancid-smelling sack for weeks or months - was always "the
first order of business" in Israeli interrogation centres.
"The hooding itself is not an interrogation method. Its purpose is not to
extract confessions from the suspect, but rather to demoralise him and
destroy his mental balance."
Abd al-Razzaq said that the filthy sack that he too was forced to wear was
made up of three or four layers to make sure that the suspect "breathes the
least possible amount of oxygen, enough to keep him or her alive".
In addition to the hooding, Israel, according to consistent reports by
international human rights groups as well as testimonies by Palestinian
detainees, continues to use harsh means of torture, both for extracting
confessions and as a punishment for opposing the Israeli occupation.
These include, inter alia, brutal beating, (taltul) or violent shaking,
forced-stripping, sleep deprivation (by playing extremely loud music inside
a detainee's cell), cold baths in winter, actual or threatened sexual abuse,
as well as the notorious shabh technique whereby a suspect is tied tightly
tied to a small chair, with his hands tied to his back, for weeks.
Similarity denied
Ofer Yisler, spokesman for the Israeli Prison Authority, vehemently denies
any "similarity between our treatment of the Palestinians and what we have
seen in Iraq".
"There is no comparison whatsoever, what the Americans did in Iraq is
something entirely different."
But Yisler refused to comment on accusations that the hooding technique, the
shabh, sleep deprivation and forced stripping were still being used by
Israel. Yisler ended the interview and refused to answer further questions,
insisting that written questions be submitted to his office.
Yisler's reluctance to speak, however, seems to underscore Israel's desire
to stay away from the international outcry over what happened in Iraq.
But Israeli-Arab Knesset member Talab al-Sanai says Israel is indirectly but
heavily involved in "the systematic mistreatment of Iraqi people at the
hands of the American occupation troops".
Israeli experts
"It is not secret at all, there are many Israeli experts on torture in Iraq
who are transferring to the Americans their accumulative experience of
thirty seven years of torturing and mistreating Palestinians," al-Sanai told
Aljazeera.net.
He said that American officers joined Israeli army units in Jenin several
months ago for the purpose of learning Israeli methods and techniques of
repressing civilians, which the Americans, he said, later applied in Iraq.
"It took Israel 37 years to develop and perfect these barbaric methods of
repression and humiliation. Surprisingly, the Americans surpassed and
outmatched the Israelis in their savagery in less than two years."
Al-Sanai condemned American behaviour in Iraq as "manifestly criminal",
dismissing claims by the Bush administration that the torture incidents were
isolated.
"Here in Israel, it is an ugly occupation, and Israel doesn't make any
pretensions about it. But in Iraq, the United States is murdering,
humiliating, torturing and raping the Iraqis under the rubric of freedom and
democracy.
"Perhaps this is what they really mean when they talk about freedom and
democracy . namely, liberating the Iraqis from their dignity."
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| User: "hu-mi yu" |
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| Title: Re: ISRAELI ARMY=U.S. ARMY=SAME THING |
07 May 2004 04:00:52 PM |
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On Fri, 07 May 2004 08:29:37 -0400, 2bor02b wrote:
He said that the so-called hooding technique - whereby the
detainee's head is covered with a rancid-smelling sack for
weeks or months - was always "the first order of business"
in Israeli interrogation centres.
"The hooding itself is not an interrogation method. Its
purpose is not to extract confessions from the suspect,
but rather to demoralise him and destroy his mental
balance."
I am sure it has that effect, but the purpose of the
hood is somewhat more sinister.
Abd al-Razzaq said that the filthy sack that he too was
forced to wear was made up of three or four layers to
make sure that the suspect "breathes the least possible
amount of oxygen, enough to keep him or her alive".
The US began pioneering nonlethal warfare in the 1930s.
One of the earliest and most effective techniques was hypoxia.
There are many ways of inducing it: burying alive (as
my grandfather was), bad anesthesia (as my mother had),
carbon monoxide poisoning, and drowning for example. But
these often have the undesirable side effect of killing
the victim.
The sack technique causes brain damage slowly, and rarely
do the prisoners die outright. They adjust the sack
so that there is barely enough oxygen.
Then they torture victims:
brutal beating, (taltul) or violent shaking, forced-stripping,
sleep deprivation (by playing extremely loud music
inside a detainee's cell), cold baths in winter, actual
or threatened sexual abuse,
The above are all ways to raise the metabolic rate. Every time
they torture a prisoner more brain cells die.
The goal is to release the prisoner with enough left that
his familly will recognize him, but he will never be useful
again. People with hypoxia become burdens on everyone
they know.
The following is taken from
http://health.allrefer.com/health/cerebral-hypoxia-symptoms.html
Cerebral Hypoxia Symptoms & Signs
In mild cases, hypoxia causes only inattentiveness,
poor judgment, and motor in-coordination. Severe cases
result in a state of complete unawareness and
unresponsiveness where brain stem reflexes, including
pupillary response to light and breathing reflex, stop.
Of course this can all be done more quickly and inexpensively
with drugs: for example to induce a stroke. But the hood
technique has the advantage that soldiers love to do this
kind of thing; it keeps them busy so they don't plot against
their officers. If you already have a bunch of thugs working
for you, then it is free.
Some of the things I noticed about my mother were loss
new long term memory similar to azenheimers. She
could never remember the Earl Warren was no longer governor.
There was also a kind of nerve blindness where the eyes
focus OK, but she still didn't see things. She wore colors
that were too bright, often bumped into things when she
was driving, and she had trouble finding things that were
right in front of her.
There is a drug that can treat hypoxia, and it is available
in most countries, but it is not allowed for sale here in the
United States. It would be interesting to know whether
Pircetam (generic, Nootropil Glaxo trade name) is sold
in Israel or other countries in the middle east.
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