THEY SHOOT POWs

Translated from Hebrew by Dr. Israel Shahak*

Foreword

This collection of translations relates particularly to a sordid and disgraceful phase of Israel's military history--the routine murders of prisoners of war, fleeing troops and civilians in battlefield areas. While most of the world has a far better picture of the Israeli army from its slogan, "Purity of Arms" and for other reasons, the record now shows the war crimes of the Israeli army have been little different from those committed by other reprehensible armies in the post-World War II era.

The murders in the 1956 Sinai War were first exposed by Davar's correspondent Amir Oren who found the story of the atrocities buried in an obscure army journal couched in the most sterile language possible. The appearance of Oren's report could not be stopped by the army censorship because of its prior publication. However, the very lively discussion stopped a day after the publication of the last of the articles in this collection. (Some articles were published afterwards about the killing of Israeli POWs by Egyptians and Syrians.) According to my sources, heavy pressure was exerted by the Israel government once it became apparent that the investigation could reach upward and implicate [Prime Minister] Yitzhak Rabin.

Dr. Israel Shahak

* Dr. Israel Shahak, a Holocaust survivor and retired professor of chemistry at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, is chairman of the Israeli League of Human and Civil Rights.

• Mass Murders

• Mass Graves