Thread by @MouinRabbani

THREAD: The following translation of a witness statement from the Gaza Strip was produced by a volunteer with the Palestinian Journalist Syndicate. It is provided here because it is an account that according to the translator “we find to be highly credible”.

I am not in a position to verify it, but would suggest that doing so is an urgent task for those who claim to oppose human shields and suicide bombings, and demonstrate they are acting in support of a principle rather than of a state.

Translation [Brackets indicate the translator’s clarifications, I have made no corrections]:

Prior to our apprehension within Majda Wasila School, located near Palestine Mosque in the western sector of Gaza City. [When this incident occurred, the civilian was in Majda Wasila School along with his family members and others,

near Palestine Mosque in the western part of Gaza City.] I was approached by an [Israeli] officer who asked my name, occupation, and age. He also sought information regarding my relatives and family.

He then directed me to accompany him. When I asked about our destination, he said: "I am going to present you to your Lord akin to a bride." Clarifying if he meant a groom, he elucidated, "a bride adorned in white attire and makeup."

[In this dialogue, the Israeli soldier is making light of the possibility of killing the civilian.] I was escorted to a location next to a tunnel that belongs to the resistance.

There, the Israeli officer outfitted me with a belt containing explosives and a GoPro camera affixed to my head. He secured a rope around my waist, with the directive, "When I tug the rope, you are to return to me."

I was held at gunpoint near the tunnel entrance and threatened with harm against my family. While I was resisting compliance with his commands, he suddenly thrust me into the tunnel opening, where I landed and remained for approximately 3 minutes.

Then he started yelling [at me to move] and fired shots to force me to move forward in the tunnel. I walked a distance of about 40 meters.

He then pulled me from the tunnel using the rope, and said: "your Lord still does not desire your presence." I was handed over to the soldiers, who received instructions to find another individual of younger age.

When I got back outside the tunnel, I discovered my family members still near the tunnel, and a child (15 years old) was taken from the group. Fortunately, he returned unharmed, and I saw him upon my release from detention.

The [Israeli military’s] objective underlying these actions is to avoid entering the tunnel. If the camera affixed to my head had detected the presence of resistance fighters within the tunnel,

[the Israeli officer] would have detonated [the explosives on my belt], killing me and others. Further details will come out in the coming days. End of Translation. An Israeli acquaintance adds:

What is described here is not "use of human shields", but rather a much more severe crime: forced conscription of a civilian to act as a suicide bomber on behalf of the IDF. That being said, there is ample evidence that the IDF is also using human shields in recent weeks,

both in Gaza and in the West Bank (including one instance in which after using a Palestinian as a human shield the IDF apparently attempted to execute him: at the time reports indicated he survived the shooting).

I would also note that in [Operation] Cast Lead [in 2008-2009] there was a somewhat similar case, which in Israel is dubbed the "Child Procedure" incident, in which a 9-year-old Palestinian child was forced to open bags which the IDF suspected were wired to explode.

"Child Procedure" is a paraphrase of "Neighbor Procedure", the IDF-speak for using Palestinians as human shields (a practice notably used by newly popular "leftist" Yair Golan, who called it "very humane".

It is widely assumed Golan will lead the leftist-Zionist camp in the upcoming elections). End of comment by acquaintance and END OF THREAD