Israeli soldiers are such great propaganda material

Photo by Gallo/Getty images, via Al Jazeera.

Young Israeli men (and women) tend to be very photogenique. I suspect the Israeli propaganda machinery is well aware of this, since the media right now is flooded with photos of handsome Israeli soldiers ... (Of course, all of them taken while the soldiers are hanging out and posing next to their Merkavas outside the Gaza Strip, since Israeli officials do not allow journalists to enter and with their own eyes witness the carnage and destruction the formidable Israeli military machine is wreaking upon the people in Gaza, who have, what? Rudimentary home made rockets that have killed three people so far?)

The individual Israeli soldiers are of course very much pawns in a game, caught up in the demands of political ambitions and extremist groups, as well as a macho culture where army service is an integral part of your life.


Photo from Getty Images, via Daylife. An Israeli soldier watches an Air Force bombing attack against the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun, on January 9th.


Photo by AFP/Getty Images, via Daylife. An Israeli soldier prepares a tank on January 14th, before rolling on towards the Gaza Strip.


Photo by Anja Niedringhaus/AP, via Daylife. An Israeli Army soldier recites morning prayers on January 13th.


Photo by Tara Todras-Whitehill/AP, via Daylife. An Israeli infantry soldier.


Photo by Sebastian Scheiner/AP, via Daylife. An Israeli soldier sleeps on top of a tank, January 11th.


Photo by Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images, via the Boston Globe. An Israeli soldier prays as troops take position on the Israeli-Gaza Strip border on December 30th.


Photo from Reuters, via Daylife. An Israeli soldier just outside the northern Gaza Strip, January 12th.


Photo by Alex Majoli/AP, via Daylife. An Israeli soldier at a deployment area on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, on Thursday, Jan. 15th.

But it doesn't have to be like this! Here, girls from the Shministim, an organization of Israeli conscientious objectors, are working to convince cute soldiers that they would be even more of real men if they refused to carry arms:





You too can help! To find out more, visit the websites of the Shministim and New Profile, an Israeli feminist anti-militarism group which provides support to the Shministim and other conscientious objectors:
december18th.org
newprofile.org



Photo by Tara Todras-Whitehill/AP, via Daylife. An Israeli soldier, injured in operations in the Gaza Strip, is wheeled into Soroka Hospital in the southern Israeli town of Beersheba, January 10th.
He is one of the 77 Israeli soldiers who have been wounded in the last 21 days. Maybe he, and many others of them, will one day wonder what his injuries were for.


Meanwhile, a Palestinian man cries in face of the death of his family, outside Gaza City's al-Shifa hospital on January 5th. Photo by AFP/Getty Images, via Daylife.

The inevitable comparison, since December 27th:
Israelis: 13 dead and 159 wounded (source)
Palestinians: more than 1,100 dead and 5,200 wounded (source)

It seems chillingly obvious that the Israeli government is using their "last chance" at living out their genocidal tendencies before US president-elect Obama's inauguration on Tuesday. Because, who knows, after that maybe games like this can't be played anymore?
I wish.