You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Israel-Palestine
Barbarous Atrocity! Inhuman abuse! Pali fiddler forced to play at roadblock
2004-11-26
HT LGF
Israeli troops forced a Palestinian man to play his violin in order to pass through a roadblock near the West Bank city of Nablus, human rats rights activists said Thursday. An officer made the Palestinian man take out his violin and play for about two minutes as hundreds of other Palestinians waited behind him for their turn to pass, said Horit Herman-Peled, a volunteer for the Israeli rights group Machsom Watch, which monitors soldiers' conduct at the roadblocks. The army said the soldiers made him open the case and play the instrument to show there were no explosives hidden inside, but noted the incident was "insensitively dealt with by the soldiers at the roadblock who are faced with a difficult and dangerous reality."
As, say "Dance, you varmint, dance!"?
Did he play "Fiddler on the Roof"?
It said an investigation was conducted, and that the soldiers had been reprimanded. The incident occurred Nov. 9 at Beit Iba, a large and often crowded roadblock north of Nablus, and was captured on film by Herman-Peled. Video images show the man standing and playing his violin behind a concrete barrier as a soldier inspects his documents. "It was a crowded day, there was lots of pressure," said Herman-Peled. "I was standing, trying to monitor, suddenly I saw a Palestinian playing his violin." Herman-Peled said the officer and the soldiers laughed as the Palestinian played the violin. "He just wanted to get through the roadblock and satisfy the soldiers. So he played," she said.
Negative audience reaction to a performance is now a war crime? Won't the Dixie Chicks and Linda the Hutt Ronstandt be delighted.
During the past four years of fighting, the army has set up dozens of checkpoints throughout the West Bank, saying they are needed to prevent Palestinian militants from reaching Israeli targets. The roadblocks have created constant friction between harried young army recruits and large crowds of frustrated and angry Palestinians, who are often held up for hours. The Palestinians say the roadblocks are a form of collective punishment, meant to crush their spirits.....
which must be sustained by regular bus-bombings
Not one clue yet about cause-and-effect, not one ...
The army has made efforts in recent months to improve the situations at roadblocks, staffing them with specially trained soldiers and installing facilities for the Palestinians. The army said its training emphasizes the need to "carry out their important mission ... with compassion and thought."
This kind of thing is SOP at American airports. If you have a camera, they look through it to make sure it is a functional camera and not a disguised bomb. Same for radios, laptops, and musical instruments. It is an obvious red flag if an instrument will not play or if the possessor does not know how to play it.
Posted by:Atomic Conspiracy

#17  Now, now. Why don't we all whip out our little tiny violins and play a sypathetic concerto for this poor victimized Palestinian...
Posted by: tu3031   2004-11-26 5:38:26 PM  

#16  What the fuck? I've had to turn on my laptop many times at airports to show them it works and is not a bomb - come on, don't give this issue any importance.
Posted by: Thraing Hupains4686   2004-11-26 3:39:56 PM  

#15  One question: are these roadblocks at entrances to Israeli territory? If so, the IDF has every right to take whatever reasonable steps are necessary to insure that no bombers get through, and that includes a Paleo carrying a fiddle. The reprimand of the checkpoint personnel was unwarranted. So the soldiers laughed; big damn deal.

The roadblocks have created constant friction between harried young army recruits and large crowds of frustrated and angry Palestinians, who are often held up for hours. The Palestinians say the roadblocks are a form of collective punishment, meant to crush their spirits.

Sorry Paleos, but assuming that these roadblocks are at the entrance to Israeli territory, you have no "right" to enter Israel if, when, and how you want to. You enter at their approval, not at your whim.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2004-11-26 3:38:20 PM  

#14  LOL Tom!
Posted by: Shipman   2004-11-26 12:47:34 PM  

#13  My daughter started voilin lessons in October -- I can see the link to terrorism. Even our cat is on orange alert.
Posted by: Tom   2004-11-26 12:24:21 PM  

#12  Oddly enough, if they had just smashed it looking for explosives we wouldn't be reading about this now. It's the touchy-feely "humiliation" factor that the mouth-breathing Arabs get all heated up over. Next time just smash the instrument to matchsticks...
Posted by: lilly   2004-11-26 11:41:07 AM  

#11  This band sucks!
Posted by: Beavis   2004-11-26 10:15:51 AM  

#10  "Horit Herman-Peled, a volunteer for the Israeli rights group Machsom Watch" - AKA 'useful idiot' , 'fish in a barrel', 'frog in a saucepan', 'turkey at thanksgiving/christmas', 'moron' or simply 'tool'.

.com is right on the button with this - if this Paleo couldn't play the instrument because it (a) wasn't his (so what's he doing with it then?) or (b) it's loaded with explosives, then how many lives would have been saved?

As for "insensitively dealt with by the soldiers at the roadblock who are faced with a difficult and dangerous reality" - wonder what the tool would say when confronted with the reality of a Paleo about to detonate in front of him? Again, what a tool...
Posted by: Tony (UK)   2004-11-26 9:50:54 AM  

#9  #7 - Yes, the Israeli soldiers were probably laughing to cover up their embarrassment at having to listen to those screeching sounds from his violin.
Posted by: Bryan   2004-11-26 9:35:12 AM  

#8  I've had to play my banjo in airports a couple of times. No big deal unless the people waiting don't like Blue Grass.
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2004-11-26 9:25:20 AM  

#7  I had assumed that the horror was inflicted upon those who were forced to listen.
Posted by: Scott R   2004-11-26 8:45:19 AM  

#6  OMG! He had to play for almost two minutes? The horror...the horror
Posted by: Frank G   2004-11-26 8:31:11 AM  

#5  #1 "the army has set up dozens of checkpoints throughout the West Bank, saying they are needed to prevent Palestinian militants from reaching Israeli targets."

The AP, true to form, is fiddling with the truth. To them, appearing to agree with Israelis would be like selling their soul. That's why they are distancing themselves from the IDF's position. "What soul?" you might ask. Good question.
Posted by: Bryan   2004-11-26 7:34:19 AM  

#4  Palis play the violin? A wonder!
Posted by: Moshe Stravinsky   2004-11-26 6:59:20 AM  

#3  Wish someone would get out and play the fiddle in our traffic jams , sheesh . Would provide some much needed fun to an otherwise stressful time :)
Posted by: MacNails   2004-11-26 5:03:04 AM  

#2  Lol! AC certainly chose well as this AP stooge maintains the absurd Tilt! and bias, yet again, lol! Can an institution have an inner-ear condition? Apparenly so. To the author: Of course you make 'em play the instrument, turn on the computer / radio / whatever, etc. ya pathetic apologist - this isn't some phreakin' game, it's life and death. And if these guardians of a nation want a concert, the dude can play 'em a concert - his ass may be the one they save.

AP - Apologist / Anarchist / Accessory / Asshole Press.
AFP - well, you get it, lol!
Posted by: .com   2004-11-26 2:17:46 AM  

#1  "the army has set up dozens of checkpoints throughout the West Bank, saying they are needed to prevent Palestinian militants from reaching Israeli targets."

Gee, an actual news service with non-cretinous editors would have reworked this to "the army has set up dozens of checkpoints throughout the West Bank to prevent Palestinian terror attacks, which have killed hundreds of Israelis on buses and in public places." But that would mean just actually reporting the situation in a way that conformed to the facts, and made sense.

Think this one calls for the Zero Sympathy Meter.
Posted by: Verlaine   2004-11-26 1:54:37 AM  

00:00