The Everyday Guide For Killing People

Where was Brecht correct?

General, your tank is a powerful vehicle.
It smashes down forests and crushes a hundred men.
But it has one defect:
It needs a driver.

General, your bomber is powerful.
It flies faster than a storm and carries more than an elephant.
But it has one defect:
It needs a mechanic.

General, man is very useful.
He can fly and he can kill.
But he has one defect:
He can think.

גנרל, הטנק שלך הוא רכב חזק,
הוא רומס את היער, הוא מוחץ מאה אנשים.
אבל יש לו חסרון אחד:
הוא זקוק לנהג.

גנרל, המפציץ שלך חזק.
הוא טס מהר מן הסופה, הוא עומס יותר מפיל.
אבל יש לו חסרון אחד:
הוא זקוק למכונאי.

גנרל, האדם שמיש מאוד.
הוא יודע לטוס, הוא יודע לרצוח.
אבל יש לו חסרון אחד:
הוא יודע לחשוב.

(Bartlett Brecht, 1938)


Where was Brecht wrong?

Yes, we can think. But Brecht may have placed too much hopes on this ability. The distance from ‘can’ to ‘do’ is far...

In this post I address the following question: How can Israeli soldiers commit the actions they do? How can individuals belong to a people of high morality, and at the same time aim and shoot at innocent children? What do Israeli soldiers think when they prevent a pregnant woman from crossing the checkpoint, when they use illegal phosphorous bombs in civilian neighborhoods, when they fire at people for quietly protesting, or when they arrest people for speaking openly in Tel Aviv?

And what does it say about Israel as a country?

I am not talking about warfare or self-defense. I am talking about cases in which there is clear right and wrong. Wrong - to shoot someone because you have a weapon and he does not. Because you can.

Rather than pasting here horror youtube videos, here are two small examples, of soldiers shooting protesters without any reason. In the first example, soldiers shot a person who had been arrested and was lying on the ground, bound hand and foot (yes, the lieutenant colonel who did that still serves in the army, and yes, the father of the girl who took the video was arrested). In the second example soldiers shot an Israel for standing. Let me know if you want more videos, my library and nightmares are full of these.

The question of how people commit these crimes becomes even more puzzling when we remember that Israel has compulsory military service. The aggression of the Israeli soldiers cannot be explained with selection bias, since everyone serves. Young adults who vote for leftist parties and object the occupation man the checkpoints and prevent children from going to school. How do these people, my brothers, forget to think when they drive the tank?

- First, people operate out of fear. Israelis are sure that the Palestinians are a threat to Israel. They refuse to see how weak the Palestinians are, and how little threat they impose. Even I started to realize the dimensions of the fear campaign only after I had moved to the States. Btw, this is not out of evil. The politicians themselves are terrified. People are sure that every kitten is a Trojan horse. And as Naomi Klein shows, fear is a very effective way to control people.


The fear system works very well. Even once one is done with the compulsory service in the army, after three years of indoctrination, one still has to serve on reserve for about one month every year. 10% lifelong sentence.

- Second, people operate as part of the organization. People are very happy to identify with their mission. They shoot because they were given a gun and are expected to. They shoot because everybody shoots. Have you heard of the prison experiment? This was a simulated prison in Stanford’s corridors and offices, in which half of the students were randomly assigned to be the prisoners and the other half to be the guards. “The experiment quickly grew out of hand. Prisoners suffered ... sadistic and humiliating treatment from the guards.” (Wikipedia). Again, these guards were their classmates. The experiment had to be stopped earlier than planned, after only 6 days. Wikipedia: “The experiment's result has been argued to demonstrate the impressionability and obedience of people when provided with a legitimizing ideology and social and institutional support,”. We play our roles, cling to our guns and ideology. As Zimbardo, the professor who conducted the original study, testifies: “Most of the evil in the world comes about not out of evil motives, but somebody says: be a team player... When a person feels: I am not accountable, this is the role I am playing”.


Fascinating and sick. Watch the 6 minute version, the 23 minute version, or See the slides. The Israeli administration knows this, and does as much as it can to help its soldiers avoid excessive thinking... For example, "Israel's Cabinet promised legal and financial support for any officers facing trial [about the war-crimes in Gaza]" (the Associated Press). In that way, the army tells its soldiers: 'You don't need to consider whether these are war crimes - we did all the thinking for you. Furthermore, we are your defenders. You awe us'. The outcome - bigger identification with the army and its goals, rather than critical thinking.

- Third, people feel comfortable obeying to authority. Again, this removes personal responsibility. This time I will point you to the Milgram experiment. This guy asked participants to give electric shocks to others. The shocks were sufficient to turn a person into a nice little campfire. Most participants obeyed with no second thoughts. After all, they were given orders.

The good about the following youtube clip is that it is only 2 minutes long and gives the facts in order. The bad is that you can’t really see what is going on and the music is awful :)

Here is a 10 minutes replication of this study (Darren Brown)

What we awe Brecht (and everybody else)
We awe them to think.
Yes, we are responsible. Yes, we are individual human beings, capable of telling right for wrong.
No, no excuse can be given for making a pregnant woman deliver a dead baby at the checkpoint.
In Israel, people who rediscover their conscious and refuse to participate in these horrors are called refusniks.