The wages of sin may be death in the New Testament. But in the IDF the wages of terror appear to be sodomy.
I don’t know why it is that the IDF finds it especially appropriate to mete our the punishments of sodomy for suspected terrorists in its hands. We know, for example, that IDF military torturer Doron Zahavi (aka Captain George) supervised the sodomy and torture of Lebanese prisoner Mustafa Dirani because it was suspected that he was an Amal terrorist who knew something about the kidnapping of Ron Arad.
Similarly, an Israeli rapist admitted his crime in this post from Yulie Cohen’s Blog Ishi (Hebrew) in which he described his rape of a fellow soldier at age 19, while they served in the IDF. He was attempting to exorcise his demons and expiate his sin, and also to make a statement about how common such acts and the thought processes that lead to them are among Israeli men.
Now, Erez Efrati, a former bodyguard for IDF chief of staff Gaby Ashkenazi is falling on the mercy of an Israeli court in the appeal of his conviction for raping and attempted sodomy of a woman after a stag party. He got eight years for the crime. And the grounds of his appeal? He mistook her for a terrorist. Keep in mind that he’s outside a Tel Aviv club when this happens, not guarding the Gaza border. Anyway, he sees this dark shadowy figure and his military training immediately kicks in and he…rapes her. Does this tell us something about how the IDF trains its finest young men, the ones selected for coveted assignments like guarding the chief of staff? Or does it tell us the guy is full of s(^t?
At yesterday’s hearing, Efrati claimed he had thought the complainant was a terrorist and acted in accordance with his professional training.
“I passed a shadowy figure and I felt my pulse in my throat as the figure moved to my side,” he said. “The figure entered the car and I flew at this figure, pulling the keys out of the ignition as in my military training, fearfully. I behaved as if she were a terrorist.”
That’s an interesting mental calculation on the part of some Israeli men: woman=terrorist.
At any rate, if you consider the guy claims he’s taking responsibility for his crime, why does he attempt such a ludicrous excuse for an argument?
“I take responsibility for the damage and pain I have caused,” he said. “I think about this every day, I know she experienced something terrible. Four or five months ago, I began psychological treatment as part of taking responsibility, in order to understand how I reached this state. My life was completely overturned. Her pain is what is most important, and I am trying to comprehend.”
What part of his psychological treatment included coming up with this bone-headed piece of junk defense theory?
On a related front, Dena Shunra even wonders whether Yoav Even may’ve learned his penchant for sodomy through his IDF service. Perhaps he took one look at P’s dark form in his apartment that fateful night, mistook her for a terrorist, and the gut instincts instilled in him by his IDF training took over and he…sodomized her.
This may be a new tactic the Israeli army is developing. In addition to F-16s and Apaches, it’s adding sodomy to its arsenal.
Some Zahalnik psychologist came up with this, I would bet; something about reverse-racism, “Bedouin aversion to homosexuality (!)”, “to make them pliant, anal penetration is advised*”, that sort of BS. If this is official policy, whomever came up with it needs to be deported to a Russian prison.
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* I can’t speak in ultra-burecratese….my understanding of Bedouin homosexuality is informed (and colored) by T. E. Lawrence’s memoirs, which are flakey as all hell. Rape is a crime, and this policy is criminal.
I didn’t mean the post literally. Sodomy is NOT IDF official policy. But it seems so at times.
to think that Strelnikov thought it was official policy..looooool
The IDF morality propoganda is always lauding “we never rape Arab women” when the truth is that the women don’t file comlaints. How can there be official cases if there are no official complaints. There are plenty of under the radar cases that you hear about, but which the victims don’t want made public, hence they can afford the propoganda knowing that women won’t complain.
The sodomy cases only come to light because men probably have no such qualms or shame about bringing it out into the open.
Neither sodomy or rape is official policy, but individual rogue members of the IDF indulge in both.
Listen, bucko, this is the same army that has bulldozed people in their houses, slowly strangulates villages with that 24 foot tall security “fence” and generally acts like a goon squad around Palestineans. If it were within my power, I would cut off all aid to Israel immediately and send that used car salesman Oren packing….I admit I screwed up in making my post (late night, insomnia) but anyone with a historical memory could see WHY I could make the leap.
are you ex IDF?
No, I’m just angry.
Chayma: “Neither sodomy or rape is official policy, but individual rogue members of the IDF indulge in both”.
I’ll add afew more banal and unsubstantiated statements:
Neither sodomy or rape is official policy, but individual rogue members of the Palestinian Authority indulge in both.
Neither sodomy or rape is official policy, but individual rogue members of the Hamas indulge in both.
Neither sodomy or rape is official policy, but individual rogue members of the Iranian SS indulge in both.
Neither sodomy or rape is official policy, but individual rogue members of the US Army indulge in both.
Neither sodomy or rape is official policy, but individual rogue members of the commentators on this blog indulge in both.
Of course I can’t prove or substantiate any of this, but neither can Chayma.
As far as I am aware there have only been two proven cases of rape by IDF soldiers of females belonging to “the enemy” since 1948. Not a bad record as opposed to other armies, but also nothing to be proud of.
Shmuel,
errrrrrrr, the subject here was IDF only, not the Palestinian, Iranian, Hamas or USA armies. The proven cases, is what is officially recorded. The point being, Palestinian women don’t complain, so there are plenty of other cases you hear about, from aid workers, or people you know or from womens rights groups.
So you’re right, legally it is unsubstantiated, but the victims don’t lie. Why would they, when they insist on secrecy when they confide. This is not like they have anything to gain by way of sueing.
I guess that leaves out the sodomizing of Mustafa Dirani as he was raped by an IDF officer, but he’s a male. You’ve also conveniently omitted the archival evidence of multiple acts of rape committed by Israeli forces during the ’48 war & confirmed by Benny Morris and the New Historians. You appear only to have learned facts of Israeli history that were convenient to you.
And btw, when a prisoner is sodomized during an IDF interrogation as happened to Dirani that makes it official Israeli policy at least as far as that unit is concerned. BTW, the unit is notorious for the brutality inflicted on its prisoner/victims. And after being disbanded, Israel recently reactivated it. Though Doron Zahavi appears not to be available to lead it as he’s abusing East Jerusalem Palestinians on behalf of the Israeli police.
When Doron Zahavi commanded his subordinate to rape Mustafa Diran it became something more than “individual rogue members of the IDF.”
For what it’s worth, his appeal was rejected.
From Ynet:
The Supreme Court rejected the appeal of Erez Efrati, the former IDF chief of staff’s bodyguard convicted of attempted sodomy and sentenced to eight years in prison and two years probation.
The complainant said following the ruling: “This is a huge relief. The court let true justice prevail. I am happy to leave the trial behind me.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4086523,00.html
Thank God.
IDF: WAGES OF TERROR ARE SODOMY
As you know, one sentence taken out of context is enough to use as propaganda by others who might hate Israel more than you do.
Using one idiot, who the whole Israeli media and public denounced, as an example and representative of the IDF is wrong and unfair. As in every army, made up of hundreds of thousands of soldiers, there are some criminals, be it rapists, murderers or thieves. However, it is definitely not IDF policy to rape or sodomize and it is ludicrous to even hint to that possibility. As an ex-IDF soldier, whenever we entered homes of Palestinians to search for ammunition we were ordered to treat the family with respect, and CLEAN UP after we were finished. How many armies are ordered to wash the floor after using a house as a strategic post?
Sex crimes are quite common in the IDF. And let’s not forget the Border Police where such aberrant behavior is even more encouraged, esp. against Palestinians–like the case where they forced a shepherd to have sex with his donkey (no, this isn’t a letter from Penthouse Magazine). Don’t know if such abuse is more or less common than in other armies of the world. But I’ve written about a number of such nasty incidents here. You should do a Google search before you claim that these are rare occurrences.
Are you claiming that it is standard practice for IDF units to treat Palestinian families with respect when they enter their homes? Tell it to the W. Bank widow whose husband was murdered as he slept by some of yr respectful colleagues. Or the scores of Gaza homes filled, during Cast Lead, with human excrement and racist slogans scrawled on their walls. Haven’t seen the pictures?
I’d say your treatment was the exception far more than the rule. You may have a CO whose mother taught him to treat all human beings w. respect including Palestinians. Most Israeli officers didn’t have such upbringings.
You are a liar!
“J’Accuse” would’ve been so much more bold & imaginative…sorry, but you bore me.
Well, after all, Sodom and Gomorrah were somewhere in the area, weren’t they ? It’s maybe part of some ‘back-to-the-roots’-ideology….
Deir Yassin
This problem isn’t limited to the IDF,
There was a man in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia who irritated a group so much that they set up a meeting, and sodomized him in the desert,
For some reason this is seen as a fitting punishment for certain crimes, between men,
It’s disgusting.
I never stated it is limited to the IDF. I was trying some humour….in vain, apparently.
Your story on ‘there was a man ….” is a short news item. I’ve also heard that …. and my neightbour told me …
Sodomizing prisoners is a universal strategy. It was widely practised during ‘la guerra sucia’ in Argentina, Moustafa Khalifé speaks about it metaphorically in his ‘The Shell: Political Prisoner in Syria’ (original in Arabic) and so do Raouf Oufkir who grew up in prison in Morocco, after his father attemted a coup d’état against Hassan II.
But then these aren’t ‘The-Villa-In-The-Jungle’.
OFF-TOPIC. Please stay on topic in yr comments.
I think the real mental calculation on the part of the Israeli rapist is this:
Palestinian = terrorist
Palestinian woman = terrorist worthy of rape
I would *guess* that his rape victim was probably Jewish Israeli (as opposed to Arab Israeli) so therefore he expresses regret for his actual victim (“I take responsibility for the damage and pain I have caused…”) while simultaneously trying to rationalise his crime/reduce his sentence by explaining it as a case of mistaken ethnicity (Palestinian woman = terrorist = worthy of rape).
Luckily another reader reports here his appeal was denied, a decision which the victim greeted with relief.
the link to the soldier rape story does not describe such a story at all. it’s the thoughts of a woman that reflects on her past sexual relation with men and how disgusted she was by some of those one night stands. almost any woman on earth could relate to what she wrote and it has nothing to do with what you made it to be.
Efrati’s excuse is ludicrous but i think that people will claim anything if they think it could get them out of jail.
Even’s case has nothing to do with the IDF but still you dragged him into this and you just determined in one of your comments that sex crimes in the IDF are common. the bottom line of your post is that maybe sodomy is a new IDF tactics??
This whole post was uncalled for and you know it.
I’ll have to check on the link I provided. It may’ve been the wrong one. But rest assured there is such a post & I read it.
Here’s the correct link from Julie Cohen’s Blog Ishi. Sorry for the confusion. And the now grown man admits he raped a fellow IDF female soldier at the age of 19.
I found the right link in one of your other posts and it is a shocking story that came to light (my opinion) only because there is a growing awareness to the subject of sexual harassment,date rapes etc and it is a good thing. but i think that a story about a guy who won’t take no for an answer is no more common in the IDF than in any other place on the globe. that particular story could have easily happen after that guy was released from the army.
At least we agree that it is a shocking story. And of course rapes during military service are not an Israeli monopoly. But sexual violence is all too prevalent inside Israel, including in the IDF. It’s vastly underreported & vastly underprosecuted as the Even case points out, among others.