Breaking the Silence: Yehuda Shaul

Today, February 3^rd I spoke with Yehuda Shaul, a member and organizer for Breaking the Silence, an organization of veteran Israeli soldiers who served in the Israeli military since the start of the Second Intifada (2000-2005) and have taken the initiative to share their combat stories. Yehuda himself was a combat soldier in the city of Hebron in the West Bank during the Second Intifada. Since Breaking the Silence's first public exhibition several years ago, the group has given an outlet for the combat stories that Israelis and citizens of the world alike had never heard. In our discussion, Yehuda recounts his daily routine in Hebron that he felt directly contradicted his conscience and which drove him to break the silence. He believes that silence is not an Israeli disease, not a Jewish disease, but a human disease—his message is universal because all societies commit abuses which fly in direct opposition to their stated ideals. By breaking the silence, Yehuda and his colleagues hold a up mirror to Israeli society and stand for principles of justice in the Occupied Territories.

image: http://www.shovrimshtika.org/index_e.asp