Minor Detail

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Oswaldo It bugged me too, I just finished reading and it makes me feel off about the whole thing. From what I read online, Sgt. Moshe (who we follow in the fi…moreIt bugged me too, I just finished reading and it makes me feel off about the whole thing. From what I read online, Sgt. Moshe (who we follow in the first half) went to prison for murder (not rape) and the rest of the soldiers were sentenced for one to three years for negligence (for not stopping it). And it seems that the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz were able to uncover the story through classified military documents and reports years later after court trials went in order.

"A few days later the battalion commander, Yehuda Drexler, asked Moshe if he had carried out an order to return the girl to her village.

'They killed her,' replied Moshe. 'It was a shame to waste the petrol.' He was ordered to write a report. Ha'aretz has obtained a copy.

It said: 'In my patrol on 12.8.49 I encountered Arabs in the territory under my command, one of them armed. I killed the armed Arab on the spot and took his weapon. I took the Arab female captive. On the first night the soldiers abused her and the next day I saw fit to remove her from the world.' "

So it sounds like he was possibly forthcoming about what happened, calling it "abuse". I imagine someone had to had confessed about the whole ordeal since as you said it was "most" of the soldiers (meaning not all). How that ties in to Moshe's report and whether one came before the other I am not sure (if a whistleblower even happened at all). The whole thing was kept under wraps so frustrating as it may be, I suppose this is the reality the Palestinians are living.

The girl's rape-murder was kept under wraps and mostly delegated to hearsay. Worst part is that nothing changed and history repeated itself with the murder of the researcher in the second half too, in the same spot 25 years later.(less)
Katie New Directions published a Kindle version of it.

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