When confronted with the brutal murder of Palestinian children, Israel’s supporters always claim that these are just the inevitable result of the “heat of battle.” When acting in “self defense.” soldiers inevitably and “unavoidably” kill civilians. Hence, as Amira Haas points out, it is precisely in in the day-to-day treatment of the Palestinians, where all actions should be deliberate and thought through, that one can see the naked brutality of the Israeli occupation.
“In the narrow columns rationed out in the media for reports about the occupation, the confiscation of ID cards cannot compete with the killing of children, the obstruction of olive harvests, the demolition of homes. But the confiscation of documents, like the hours of delays at the checkpoints using “security checks” as an excuse, are some of the most common harassment measures that define the Israeli to Palestinians – arbitrary, malicious, negligent, arrogant, brutal.”