Sep 18, 2006
An Israeli Sport
New York Times reporter Chris Hedges, describing his eye witness account of Israeli soldiers deliberately aiming and shooting at Palestinian children, in a 2001 appearance on NPR's Fresh Air:
BOGAEV: You describe daily encounters between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians there. And most of those killed are young Palestinian boys. What did you see of this fighting while you were there? How did this shooting go down?
Mr. HEDGES: ... I walked out towards the dunes and they were -- the -- over the loudspeaker from an Israeli army Jeep on the other side of the electric fence they were taunting these kids. And these kids started to throw rocks. And most of these kids were 10, 11, 12 years old. And, first of all, the rocks were the size of a fist. They were being hurled towards a Jeep that was armor-plated. I doubt they could even hit the Jeep. And then I watched the soldiers open fire. And it was--I mean, I've seen kids shot in Sarajevo. I mean, snipers would shoot kids in Sarajevo. I've seen death squads kill families in Algeria or El Salvador. But I'd never seen soldiers bait or taunt kids like this and then shoot them for sport. It was--I just--even now, I find it almost inconceivable. And I went back every day, and every day it was the same.