Breaking the Silence (organization)

Breaking the Silence
FoundedMarch 2004; 20 years ago (2004-03)
TypeNon-governmental organization
Websitebreakingthesilence.org.il

Breaking the Silence (BtS) (Hebrew: שוברים שתיקה, romanized: Shovrim Shtika; Arabic: كسر الصمت, romanized: Kasr as-Samtt) is an Israeli non-governmental organization (NGO) established in 2004 by veterans of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).[1] It is intended to give serving and discharged Israeli personnel and reservists a means to confidentially recount their experiences in the Occupied Territories. Collections of such accounts have been published in order to educate the Israeli public about conditions in these areas.

The organization's stated mission is "to break the silence" surrounding these military activities.[2][3] Founded to collect testimony from 2000 to 2004 from troops who served in the Occupied Territories, the NGO has continued to operate. It has collected and published accounts related to succeeding operations in Gaza and other areas since that time.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and some other senior political figures have repeatedly criticised the organization.[4] His government tried to dissuade other governments from providing any funding to it. Netanyahu strongly criticised BtS in a speech to the Knesset in early 2015, and late in the year, the Education Minister proposed a bill blocking its speakers from state schools. At the same time, some senior figures in the Israeli defense and security establishment have defended the NGO. For instance, General Amiram Levin said in 2015 that "Breaking the Silence strengthens the IDF and its morality."[5]

  1. ^ "Breaking the Silence*". Foundation for Middle East Peace. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  2. ^ Erella Grassiani, "The Phenomenon of Breaking the Silence in Israel: 'Witnessing' as Consciousness-Raising Strategy of Ex-Combatants," in Th. A van Baarda, D.E.M. Verweij (eds.), Moral Dimension of Asymmetrical Warfare: Counter-terrorism, Democratic Values and Military Ethics, BRILL, 2009, pp. 247–260
  3. ^ Sara Helman, 'From the Protest to Testimony and Confession: The Changing Politics of Peace Organizations in Israel,' in Fran Markowitz, Stephen Sharot, Moshe Shokeid (eds.),Toward an Anthropology of Nation Building and Unbuilding in Israel, University of Nebraska Press, 2015, pp. 73–90.
  4. ^ [1], Haaretz
  5. ^ Isabel Kershner, 'Israeli Veterans’ Criticism of West Bank Occupation Incites Furor', The New York Times, 23 December 2015.