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“So we got hold of just some [10 year-old] Palestinian kid nearby, we knew that he knew who it had been. Let’s say we beat him a little, to put it mildly, until he told us. You know, the way it goes when your mind’s already screwed up, and you have no more patience for Hebron and Arabs and Jews there.
“The kid was really scared, realising we were on to him. We had a commander with us who was a bit of a fanatic. We gave the boy over to this commander, and he really beat the shit out of him … He showed him all kinds of holes in the ground along the way, asking him: `Is it here you want to die? Or here?’ The kid goes, `No, no!’
“Anyway, the kid was stood up, and couldn’t stay standing on his own two feet. He was already crying … And the commander continues, `Don’t pretend’ and kicks him some more. And then [name withheld], who always had a hard time with such things, went in, caught the squad commander and said, `Don’t touch him any more, that’s it.’ The commander goes, `You’ve become a leftie, what?’ And he answers, `No, I just don’t want to see such things.’
“We were right next to this, but did nothing. We were indifferent, you know. OK. Only after the fact you start thinking. Not right away. We were doing such things every day … It had become a habit…
“And the parents saw it. The commander ordered [the mother], `Don’t get any closer.’ He cocked his weapon, already had a bullet inside. She was frightened. He put his weapon literally inside the kid’s mouth. `Anyone gets close, I kill him. Don’t bug me. I kill. I have no mercy.’ So the father … got hold of the mother and said, `Calm down, let them be, so they’ll leave him alone.'”
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“We did all kinds of experiments to see who could do the best split in Abu Snena. We would put [Palestinians] against the wall, make like we were checking them, and ask them to spread their legs. Spread, spread, spread, it was a game to see who could do it best. Or we would check who can hold his breath for longest.
“How do you check that?”
“Choke them. One guy would come, make like he was checking them, and suddenly start yelling like they said something and choke them … Block their airways; you have to press the adams apple. It’s not pleasant. Look at the watch as you’re doing it, until he passes out. The one who takes longest to faint wins.”
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[A soldier] stole a box of tobacco from this Arab…The Arab suddenly said, “Thieves! Thieves! I saw you!” … So that soldier said, ‘You calling me a thief?!” No one knew what happened. He said, “You calling me a thief?!” and started beating him up, really badly. The soldiers said, hey, stop, and we caught him. But they beat him to a pulp.
Who beat whom?
The soldiers beat up this Arab. And he took a wire, that soldier. He was really screwed up. He wound up this wire around and around this guy’s hand, that hand was already…
Around his hand?
Yes. I’m telling you, we tried to stop him. “No, I won’t let him go, he raised his hand at me! He will be punished!” And he wound this wire around and around, and finally cut it as close as he could to the skin. We tried to cut it off for about an hour, we couldn’t. It literally cut into him. His hand got blue in a second. And the guy cries “I can’t feel my hand any more!” I said, he’ll probably have to be amputated.”
Cross-posted at The Heathlander