Breaking the Silence holds exhibition in Zurich

Former soldiers have displayed photographs exposing the Israeli army’s practices and violations against the Palestinians in a new exhibition in the Swiss city of Zurich. The event has been coordinated by Breaking the Silence, a group of ex-soldiers who are speaking out about the things they were ordered to do by senior officers.

The exhibition, which is open until next Sunday, has outraged Israeli officials. It has been attacked by the Israeli Embassy in Switzerland and pro-Israel community organisations.

The former soldiers spoke to the media and the public about the harassment, humiliation and intimidation carried out against the Palestinians, especially at checkpoints and border crossings, and during daily incursions into towns. Houses are also stormed in dawn raids, they said.

Media adviser Hossam Shaker, an expert in European affairs, stressed the importance of such revelations coming from the perpetrators of the violations instead of their victims. “This has a huge influence on the European public,” he said. “These are basically public confessions that are authenticated by pictures and certificates to confirm the facts about the Israeli army’s practices against Palestinian civilians.” Israeli propaganda faces a “double dilemma” when faced with such disclosures, he added.

According to Shaker, the Israeli campaign against the exhibition concentrated on the financial support provided by Zurich Municipality, something the city does for other cultural and media events. “Because the organisers of the event are Israeli Jews, the charge of ‘anti-Semitism’ is missing, to be replaced by accusations of being ‘anti-Israel’; this is part of the verbal gymnastics of Israeli propaganda.”

The Israeli ambassador in Bern, Yigal Caspi, has personally led a campaign against the exhibition, using his connections with the Swiss Foreign Ministry to put pressure on the government. Hossam Shaker explained that this had the opposite effect to that which was intended. “It raised public awareness about the exhibition and exposed the Israeli government’s fear of the facts being disclosed.”

Throughout the exhibition, the media in Israel has made clear its discontent with the Swiss authorities, despite the two countries having close ties. Dozens of Israeli citizens demonstrated outside the Swiss Embassy in Tel Aviv in protest against the event.

Breaking the Silence was founded in 2004 during the Al-Aqsa Intifada. It includes nearly a thousand members or former members of the Israeli armed forces. Some are still serving.