Among the many statements Chuck Hagel meekly recanted during his confirmation hearings last week was his comment that there is “no justification for Israel to keep the Palestinians caged up like animals.” Republican Senator Mike Lee asked Hagel if he stood by that language, to which Hagel replied, “No, if I had an opportunity to edit that, like many things I’ve said, I would – I would like to go back and change the words and the meaning.”
But of course, Israel does keep the Palestinians caged up like animals.
Mondoweiss (via Scott McConnell) posts a short clip from the 2003 documentary “Checkpoint” in which Israeli soldiers can be seen describing this fact explicitly. “Animals. Like the Discovery Channel. All of Ramallah is a jungle,” says one.
You can find similar talk throughout Israel’s occupation. As Israeli military leader and politician Moshhe Dayan said following the 1967 Six Day War: “We don’t have a solution, and you will continue living like dogs, and whoever wants will go, and will see how this procedure will work out.”
