Haaretz Daily,
Wed., December 15, 2004 Tevet 3, 5765
Extracted from
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/514546.html
Regrettably, Sunday's deaths of five IDF soldiers from the Desert
Reconnaissance Battalion in Rafah does not symbolize the common
destiny and integration of Bedouin in Israeli society, but rather
the contrary. From the reactions of the families to their deaths,
including the refusal of four of the families to have their sons
buried in military funerals, one can understand that there are a
lot of reservations about enlisting in the army in their
communities.
Yusuf Jahaja, father of Sgt. Sa'id Jahaja, was the only one who
agreed that his son be buried in a military ceremony - but he asked
to cover the Israeli flag on the coffin with a blanket. He said
that in the eyes of many his son was perceived as a collaborator
and even a traitor, but that his son regarded army service as a way
to get ahead in life, and Yusuf agreed.
Sa'id, who was killed in Rafah, was an Arab Muslim from the village
of Arara. He served in the battalion known as the "Bedouin
Battalion" even though he was not a Bedouin, which raises the
question of whether there is not something problematic in the
formation of battalions made up of people from one sector of
society, particularly a sector that suffers from discrimination,
and whether the assignments and missions given to such a unit are
not derived from the social status of the soldiers who serve in
it.
The Desert Reconnaissance Battalion, for example, which is mostly
comprised of Bedouin, has spent the last four years in the line of
fire in Rafah, while other soldiers serving on the front lines are
in rotation, not permanently positioned there.
The Desert Reconnaissance Battalion accepts into its ranks Bedouin,
Arabs and Muslims who are not obliged to enlist. Service in the
unit is a way for young people to escape the economic crisis in
which they live at home. Sometimes it is the only way they can get
a steady job. The need to risk their lives just to earn a
livelihood is also discomforting, especially considering just how
much the Bedouin suffer from discrimination against them in budgets
and infrastructure for their communities.
=======================
5 Muslim troops died for Israel in a battle in Dec
2004...........cooks, my foot.........the Jews can trust their
Muslim guys to fight.....
.
