January 2011

SABRA & THE ISRAELI

MILITARY

Students for Justice in Palestine (DePaul University

Chapter)
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 DePaul University student organization Students for Justice in

Palestine (SJP) conscientiously objects to the sale of Sabra hummus

products in University campus dining facilities. SJP is a group of

students, faculty, staff and community members from diverse ethnic,

religious, national, and political backgrounds, and includes Palestinian

and Israeli Jewish members. Through non-violent and academic-based

activism, SJP DePaul aims to educate the campus community about

Israel’s grave violations against human rights as a path toward

equality, social justice and peace. SJP’s concerns about Sabra are

based on the activities of its co-owner, the Strauss Group, an Israeli-

based corporation which provides support to Israeli military practices

that stand in direct contravention to international and human rights

law. This support is expressed through a direct material relationship

with the Israeli military, particularly providing two elite Israeli brigades,

Golani and Givati, with financial support and care packages.

Historically, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has consistently

violated Palestinians’ human rights, international law, and numerous

UN resolutions. Israel’s military occupation of the Palestinian

Territories violates UN Security Resolution 242, which calls for the

“[w]ithdrawal of Israel armed forces” from territories occupied Israel

during the 1967 war [1]. Moreover, the IDF participates in the Israeli

government’s ongoing violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva

Convention by facilitating the transfer of Israeli civilians into occupied

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Palestinian territory [2]. These violations of international law and

human rights standards clearly undermine the potential for a just

resolution between Israel and the Palestinians.

Although the Israeli military itself has a long history of violating

international law, the Golani and Givati Brigades—from 1948 until

present-day—are notorious for their severe human rights abuses

against Palestinian and Lebanese civilians. The purpose of this report

is to review some of the many human rights violations perpetuated by

these two brigades since they were established, and to demonstrate

why selling Sabra hummus products on campus is inconsistent with

DePaul University’s Vincentian values.

GOLANI AND GIVATI

The Golani and Givati Brigades both have long histories as part

of the Israeli military, even before the statehood of Israel was officially

declared. The Golani Brigade was first established on February 28,

1948 [3]. The Givati Brigade was originally founded in 1947, only

months prior to the Golani. Givati was discontinued in 1956 after the

Sinai Campaign as part of IDF reorganization. However, after the First

Lebanon War in 1983, Givati was reestablished because there was a

need for additional infantry forces in IDF's combat alignment [4].

The Golani and Givati Brigades have taken part in several bloody

wars and operations throughout Israel’s sixty-two years of existence.

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The Golani Brigade participated in all of Israel's major wars and nearly

all major operations, including the Suez Crisis, Six-Day War, War of

Attrition, Yom Kippur War and the 1978 South Lebanon Conflict, known

as Operation Litani [5]. Both brigades took part in the 1982 Lebanon

War, the 2006 Lebanon War, and various operations during the

Palestinian intifadas and Operation Cast Lead. The following pages will

highlight key human rights abuses that Golani and Givati were involved

in.

Al Nakba of 1948

According to Israeli historian Ilan Pappé in The Ethnic Cleansing

of Palestine, the 1948 Palestinian exodus consisted of the forced

relocation of approximately 800,000 Palestinians—more than half of

the Palestinian population at that time. It also involved the destruction

of 531 Palestinian villages, and the emptying of 11 entire Palestinian

cities [6]. This event is referred to as al-Nakba by Palestinians, or “the

catastrophe” [7]. Drawing upon evidence from military and political

archives, Zionist writings and the diaries of David Ben Gurion, Pappé

demonstrates that al-Nakba was unequivocally an intentional and

systematic ethnic cleansing campaign perpetrated by Zionist

paramilitaries. The goal of this campaign was to remove the native

Palestinian population to create a nation-state with a Jewish majority—

present-day Israel. Israel would become the homeland for Jews that

had been long oppressed by others, especially in Europe. However,

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this homeland came about at the expense of another people, the

Palestinians, who were dispossessed of their homeland and thus

transformed into refugees .

Zionist Jewish gangs took part in forcibly cleansing villages

beginning in late 1947, a process which continued in full force

throughout 1948. The soldiers of the Golani took part in fighting and

capturing Palestinian Arab towns in northern Galilee [3]. Plan D (Dalet

in Hebrew) was a blueprint that outlined clearly and unambiguously

that the Palestinians that were living in the land the Jewish national

movement coveted had to be expelled [6]. This master plan was an

inevitable product of the “Zionist ideological impulse to have an

exclusively Jewish presence in Palestine” [6]. The Golani Brigade

applied the methods described in Plan D “almost religiously” and was

specifically involved in many major operations to uproot and “cleanse”

the indigenous Palestinians [10]. Among these was Operation Yizhak,

which was launched on June 1, 1948 to attack and occupy Jenin, Tul-

Karem and Qalqilya, as well as capture the bridges on the Jordan River.

According to Pappé, although Israeli air operations were primarily

limited to raids along the state’s borders at this time, in the military

archives one can find orders for the aerial bombardment of Jenin and

Tul-Karem, as well as other villages, a fact which contributed to the

mass exodus of refugees, and indiscriminately targeting anyone

unable to take cover in time [11].

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 The fate of Palestinian villages at this time were sealed when the

military order said either to ‘le-taher’, to cleanse, meaning to leave the

houses intact but expel the people, or ‘le hashmid’, to destroy,

meaning to dynamite the houses after the expulsion of the people and

lay mines in the rubble to prevent their return [10]. The mass

expulsion, in some cases, was accompanied by massacres and rapes

as a tactic of “cleansing” the villages [9]. The Golani Brigade was

among the brigades that formed the bloodiest of trails [10]. Massacres

of the natives worsened, especially in the autumn of 1948. According

to Pappe, during this period, “Palestinians finally succeeded in putting

up some resistance against the ethnic cleansing in certain places, and

in response the Jewish expellers revealed an ever-increasing

callousness in the atrocities they perpetuated” [10]. Such massacres

by the Golani Brigade took place in Umm al-Zinat, Lajjun and Sa’sa

[10].

Similarly, the Givati also participated in ethnically cleansing the

Palestinian people under the leadership of Commander Shimon Avidan

[8]. “Commanders like Shimon Avidan, the commander of the Givati

Brigade, cleansed his front from tens of villages and towns.” He was

assisted by Tizhak Pundak, who told Ha’aretz in 2004, “There were two

hundred villages [in the front] and these are gone. We had to destroy

them, otherwise we would have had Arabs here [namely in the

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southern part of Palestine] as we have in Galilee. We would have had

another million Palestinians” [8].

One of several operations that Givati was involved in was

Operation Hametz. On April 29, 1948, the Givati, along with the

Alexandroni and Qiryati brigades captured and thoroughly cleansed

the Palestinian towns of Beit Dajan, Kfar Ana, Abbasiyya, Yahudiyya,

Saffuriyya, Khayriyya, Salama and Yazur as well as the Jaffa suburbs of

Jabalya and Abu Kabir [10]. These neighborhoods were completely

emptied. When Ben-Gurion visited Salama on April 30 he encountered

“only one old blind woman” [12].

The acts of depopulating Palestinian neighborhoods in 1948 by

the Golani, Givati and other Zionist militias were what marked the

beginning of the Palestinian refugee crisis as it exists currently. Al

Nakba destroyed a thriving and diverse Palestinian society and

scattered the native Palestinian people into the Diaspora. According to

the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in

the Near East (UNRWA), there are approximately 5 million Palestinians

today who are registered as refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West

Bank and Gaza [13]. Many of these Palestinians are still living in

poverty-stricken refugee camps.

UN General Assembly Resolution 194, passed on 11 December

1948 and reaffirmed every year since, was the first resolution that

called for Israel to let the refugees return:

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 the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace
with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest
practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the
property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or
damage to property which, under principles of international law
or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or
authorities responsible [14].

However, Israel has since refused to allow Palestinian refugees to

return to their homes, and has refused to pay them compensation as

required by UN General Assembly Resolution 194.

1982 Lebanon Invasion

On June 6, 1982, Israeli forces, under the direction of Defense

Minister Ariel Sharon, invaded south Lebanon as part of "Operation

Peace for Galilee"[15]. Both the Golani and Givati Brigades

participated in this Operation [3][4]. The invasion was in violation of

UN Security Council Resolution 425, which was passed five days after

Operation Litani, a previous Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1978 [17].

The Resolution called on Israel to immediately withdraw its forces from

Lebanon and established the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon

(UNIFIL) [16]. Just four days after the resolution was passed, Israel

withdrew its forces. However, Israel came back and expanded its

occupation in a larger-scale invasion of Lebanon during the

euphemistically-named Operation Peace for Galilee in 1982. The

Golani Brigade became particularly well-known in Lebanon after its

vital role in this invasion.

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 On the first day of the invasion, the Golani led the mission to

capture the Beaufort castle and succeeded in capturing it after a

bloody battle with Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) [17]. The

next day, the Golani entered Ein el Hilweh, a Palestinian refugee camp

near Sidon, Lebanon. The camp was invaded by use of tanks and

infantry, supported by air attacks and artillery [18]. Many Palestinian

refugee civilians were killed, and many others had to flee and become

refugees elsewhere once again. According to UNRWA, Ein el Hilweh

houses the largest number of refugees and is the largest camp in

Lebanon, in terms of both population and area size. Ein el Hilweh was

especially hard hit by violence from the Israeli attacks, resulting in “a

high number of casualties and the near total destruction of the camp”

[19]. The brigade also took part in many other operations throughout

the war, including the Siege of Beirut [20].

In 1982, an international commission investigated into reported

violations of international law by Israel during Operation Peace for

Galilee. The commission’s report concluded that “the government of

Israel has committed acts of aggression contrary to international law”,

that the government of Israel had no valid reasons under international

law for its invasion of Lebanon, and that the Israeli forces were

involved directly or indirectly in the massacres at Sabra and Shatila

Palestinian refugee camps, condemned as an act of genocide by the

UN [21]. Although the number killed during these massacres varies

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from source to source, according to Robert Fisk, one of the first

journalists on the scene, approximately 1,700 Palestinian civilians were

slaughtered. This happened under the eyes of the Israeli Brigades in

Lebanon, who allegedly did nothing to stop it [22].

Jenin

in 2002, both the Golani Brigade and the Givati Brigade took part

in Operation Defensive Shield [23][24]. Operation Defensive Shield

was a large-scale military operation in the West Bank conducted by the

Israeli military during the course of the Second Intifada as a means to

crush Palestinian resistance. The Golani Brigade’s role was especially

central in the Battle of Jenin, or what Palestinians call “The Jenin

Massacre,” which was one of the most well-known and controversial

operations during the Second Intifada.

On April 3, 2002, Israeli forces launched a major military

operation in the Jenin refugee camp, home to 14,000 Palestinian

refugees, the overwhelming majority of them civilians (HRW). Israel’s

expressed aim was to capture or kill Palestinian militants responsible

for suicide bombings and other attacks. However, according to Human

Rights Watch, the Israeli military still had an obligation under

international humanitarian law to take all feasible precautions to avoid

harm to civilians, as well as a legal duty to ensure that its attacks on

legitimate military targets did not cause disproportionate harm to

civilians. Unfortunately, Human Rights Watch’s research demonstrates

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that these obligations were not met. During their incursion into the

Jenin refugee camp, Israeli forces committed serious violations of

international humanitarian law, some amounting prima facie to grave

breaches of the Geneva Conventions, or war crimes.

Israeli military attacks were indiscriminate, failing to make a

distinction between militants and civilians. According to Human Rights

Watch:

Firing was particularly indiscriminate on the morning of April 6,

when missiles were launched from helicopters, catching many
sleeping civilians unaware. One woman was killed by helicopter
fire during that attack; a four-year-old child in another part of
the town was injured when a missile hit the house where she
was sleeping. Both were buildings housing only civilians, with
no fighters in the immediate vicinity.
The Israeli military used armored bulldozers to demolish civilian

homes. According to the Human Rights Watch, in the Hawashin

district, “the destruction extended well beyond any conceivable

purpose of gaining access to fighters, and was vastly disproportionate

to the military objectives pursued [25]” The damage to the Jenin camp

by missiles, tank fire and bulldozer destruction came as a shock to

Human Rights Watch observers. At least 140 buildings—most of them

multi-family dwellings—were completely destroyed, and at least

another 200 were so severely damaged that they were rendered

uninhabitable. An estimated 4,000 people, more than a quarter of the

population of the camp, became homeless because of this destruction.

The water, sewage and electrical infrastructure was also severely

damaged [25].

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 The harm from this destruction was worsened by the inadequate

warning given to civilian residents. Although warnings were issued by

the Israeli military, many civilians only learned of the danger just as

bulldozers began to crush their homes. On April 7, Jamal Fayid, a 37-

year-old paralyzed man, was killed when Israeli forces bulldozed his

home on top of him, refusing to allow his relatives the time to remove

him from the home despite their pleas [25]. Similarly, 65-year-old

Muhammad Abu Saba'a begged an Israeli military bulldozer operator to

stop demolishing his home while his family remained inside. However,

when he returned to his half-demolished home, he was shot dead by

an Israeli soldier [25].

Human Rights Watch confirmed that at least fifty-two

Palestinians in Jenin were killed, at least twenty-two being civilians,

including children, physically disabled, and elderly people [25]. Many

of the civilian deaths documented by Human Rights Watch were found

to be instances of unlawful or willful killings by the Israeli military.

Others could have been avoided if the Israeli military had taken proper

precautions to protect civilian life during its military operation, as

required by international humanitarian law [25].

Among the civilian deaths were those of Kamal Zgheir, a fifty-

seven-year-old wheelchair-bound man who was shot and run over by a

tank on a major road outside the camp on April 10, even though he

had a white flag attached to his wheelchair; fifty-eight year old Mariam

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Wishahi, killed by a missile in her home on April 6 just hours after her

unarmed son was shot in the street; and fourteen-year-old Faris

Zaiban, who was killed by fire from an IDF armored car as he went to

buy groceries when the IDF-imposed curfew was temporarily lifted on

April 11 [25]. Some of the cases documented by Human Rights Watch

amounted to summary executions, a clear war crime, such as the

shooting of Jamal al-Sabbagh on April 6. Al-Sabbagh was shot to death

while directly under the control of Israeli military personnel and was

obeying orders to strip off his clothes. Moreover, Israeli soldiers

unlawfully killed a wounded Palestinian, Munthir al-Haj, whose arms

were reportedly broken, even though he had not taken part in the

fighting [25].

According to the Human Rights Watch, during Operation

Defensive Shield, Israeli soldiers also used Palestinian civilians to

protect them from danger, deploying them as “human shields” and

forcing them to be placed in vulnerable positions to protect Israeli

soldiers from gunfire or attack. For instance, Kamal Tawalbi, the father

of fourteen children, described how soldiers kept him and his 14-year-

old son for three hours in the line of fire, using his and his son's

shoulders to rest their rifles as they fired [25]. In another instance,

soldiers forced a 65-year-old woman to stand on a rooftop in front of an

Israeli military position in the middle of a helicopter battle [25].

Soldiers also forced many Palestinians at gunpoint to accompany

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troops during their searches of homes, to enter homes, to open doors,

and to perform other potentially dangerous tasks. In Jenin, such

coerced use of civilians was a widespread practice; in virtually every

case in which Israeli soldiers entered civilian homes, residents told

Human Rights Watch that Israeli soldiers were accompanied by

Palestinian civilians who were participating under duress. The forced

use of civilians during military operations is a serious violation of the

laws of war, as it exposes civilians to direct risk of death or serious

injury [25].

During the incursion in Jenin, Human Rights Watch also found

that the Israeli military blocked the passage of emergency medical

vehicles and personnel to Jenin refugee camp for eleven days, from

April 4-15 [25]. During this period, injured and sick combatants and

civilians in the camp as well as the sick had no access to emergency

medical treatment. Even further, ambulances were repeatedly fired

upon by Israeli soldiers. Farwa Jammal, a uniformed nurse, was killed

by Israeli fire while treating an injured civilian. These direct attacks on

medical personnel and the denial of access to medical care for the

wounded constitute serious violations of the laws of war [25]. Israeli

forces also prevented humanitarian organizations, including the

International Committee of the Red Cross, from gaining access to the

camp and its civilian inhabitants-despite the great humanitarian need

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[25]. This blockage continued from April 11-15, after the majority of

armed Palestinians had surrendered.

2006 Gaza

During the Second Intifada, Gaza as well as the West Bank was a

target of indiscriminate killings. Referred to by the Israeli military as

“Operation Summer Rains,” a major ground operation took place in

Gaza, beginning on June 28, 2006 [26]. Both the Givati and Golani

Brigades were involved in this invasion, especially the Givati Brigade,

who led the operation [27]. Israel's stated goal in Operation Summer

Rains was to secure the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, who had been

captured by Hamas on June 25 [26]. However, the collective

punishment of the Palestinian people in Gaza through attacks on

civilians, their property and infrastructure, raised concern from human

rights organizations.

During this operation, the deliberate destruction of the Gaza

Strip’s only electricity power station, water networks, bridges, roads

and other infrastructure was in violation of the Fourth Geneva

Convention and amounted to major and long-term humanitarian

consequences for the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza. Moreover, high

numbers of Palestinian bystanders, including women and children,

have been killed and injured by Israeli artillery shelling and air strikes

[28]. Amnesty International characterized the deliberate attacks by

Israeli forces against civilian property and infrastructure in the Gaza

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Strip as “war crimes,” and called for “an end to the wanton destruction

and collective punishment being carried out by Israeli forces in the

Gaza Strip” [28].

UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and

Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland said, “No one can hide from

us what they’re doing, neither the Palestinian nor the Israeli side. We

are appalled by seeing how they’re playing with the future of

defenseless civilians, including children” [29]. On July 6, 2006, The

United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution deploring

Israel’s military operations in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as a

violation of international law. Passed by a vote of 29 - 11, with 5

abstentions, the resolution, “urges all concerned parties to respect the

rules of international humanitarian law, to refrain from violence against

the civilian population and to treat under all circumstances all detained

combatants and civilians in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.”

“Deep concern” was expressed over the “arbitrary arrest of Palestinian

(Cabinet) ministers, members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and

other officials as well as the arbitrary arrests of other civilians and

military attacks” [30].

2006 Lebanon War

The 2006 Lebanon War was a conflict between Hezbollah and

Israel, which began on July 12, 2006 and last until August 14, 2006.

The 33-day conflict in Lebanon had a devastating impact, particularly

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in southern Lebanon, resulting in 1,191 deaths and 4,409 injured. The

majority of those killed were civilians, one-third of which were children

[31]. Additionally, more than 900,000 people fled their homes [31].

Israel also launched widespread attacks against public civilian

infrastructure, including power plants, bridges, main roads, seaports

and Beirut’s international airport [32].

A press release by Amnesty International on July 13 condemned

attacks by both Israel and Hezbollah as “a blatant breach of

international humanitarian law and amount to war crimes” [33]. An

Amnesty International report strongly suggested that Israel’s extensive

destruction and widespread attacks against public civilian

infrastructure was “deliberate and an integral part of the military

strategy, rather than collateral damage.” This behavior suggested “a

policy of punishing both the Lebanese government and the civilian

population.” Furthermore, the International Committee of the Red

Cross (ICRC) also criticized Israel for killing so many civilians and for

destroying much of Lebanon’s public infrastructure [34]. The ICRC

Director of Operations, Pierre Kraehenbuehl, stated at a press

conference in Geneva that "The high number of civilian casualties and

the extent of damage to essential public infrastructure raise serious

questions regarding respect for the principle of proportionality in the

conduct of hostilities” [35].

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 Human Rights Watch accused of the IDF of “hav[ing]

systematically failed to distinguish between combatants and civilians

in their military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon” [36]. In a

report, Human Rights Watch analyzed almost two dozen cases of

Israeli air and artillery attacks on civilian homes and vehicles [37].

Executive director of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth, stated “The

pattern of attacks shows the Israeli military’s disturbing disregard for

the lives of Lebanese civilians. Our research shows that Israel’s claim

that Hezbollah fighters are hiding among civilians does not explain, let

alone justify, Israel’s indiscriminate warfare” [36].

The Golani Brigade played an especially major role in the 2006

Lebanon War. One case which Golani took lead in was the military

attack on Bint Jbeil. Bint Jbeil was one of the most heavily damaged

towns in southern Lebanon as a result of the war (UN). When Amnesty

International delegates visited the Bint Jbeil, the centre of the city,

where there had been a market and busy commercial streets leading

from it, was devastated. According to Amnesty International:

Every building on the streets was destroyed, extensively

damaged or beyond repair. The streets were strewn with the
rubble and in that rubble was clear evidence of the cause of the
damage, unexploded munitions, shrapnel and craters. The Israeli
army seemed to have used every type of munitions in its
arsenal, with air-delivered munitions, artillery shelling and
cluster bomb damage in evidence.

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Civilian homes, like that of Nehmeh Joumaa, a well-known human

rights defender, were destroyed in the process. Talking to Amnesty

International soon after learning of the destruction of his family home

in Bint Jbeil, Joumaa said, “It was a modest house but it was the house

in which I was born and brought up [some 70 years ago]; it was where

all my childhood memories were. I am very saddened to think that it

has been destroyed” [32].

Attacks from the Golani Brigade completely destroyed a hospital

in Bint Jbeil. Storage tanks in Bint Jbeil were also damaged or

destroyed [32]. In addition, the UN Commission found that six schools

in Bint Jbeil had been completely destroyed and two more partially

destroyed. Numerous mosques and churches had been damaged or

destroyed in Bint Jbeil and in many other towns in south Lebanon. The

Commission also found that Israeli attacks caused considerable and

disproportionate damage to cultural, archaeological and historical

property in Bint Jbeil and other parts of Lebanon [31].

Operation Cast Lead

The most recent operation that both the Golani and Givati took

part in was Operation Cast Lead, a three-week invasion of Gaza in the

winter of 2008-2009. The Israeli government imposed an illegal

blockade of Gaza, a measure that is still depriving Palestinians of food,

fuel and other necessities and constitutes a form of collective

punishment in violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

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The situation worsened after Operation Cast Lead, resulting in a

completely damaged infrastructure and the creation of an

unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Gaza [38]. 1,440 Palestinians

were killed during this period of time, including 431 children and 114

women [39]. After Operation Cast Lead, Gaza’s civilians are currently

facing dire shortages of food, water, cooking gas, fuel and medical care

due to insecurity, the enforced closure of all of Gaza's borders, and

alleged serious violations of international humanitarian law [38].

Following the end of fighting, UN spokesperson Ban Ki-moon

visited the Gaza Strip. He called the Israeli attacks “outrageous” and

demanded guarantees that it would never happen again [40].

Moreover, the president of the UN General Assembly, Miguel d'Escoto

Brockmann, described Israel's Gaza offensive as an act of “genocide”

against the Palestinian people [41]. On January 12, the UN Human

Rights Council adopted a resolution in which it strongly condemned the

ongoing Israeli military operation in Gaza, which had according to the

body “resulted in massive violations of human rights of the Palestinian

people,” and “demanded the occupying power, Israel, to immediately

withdraw its military forces from Gaza” [42]. The UN Fact-Finding

Mission on Gaza, headed by Richard Goldstone, a Jewish South African

judge with strong personal ties to Israel and a stellar reputation in

international law and human rights, found that Israel had indeed

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committed war crimes in attacking Palestinian civilians and property

for no legitimate reason [43].

Amnesty International expressed that “it is utterly unacceptable

for Israel to continue to purposefully deprive 1.5 million people of food

and other basic necessities. Such a policy cannot be justified on any

security or other grounds and must end immediately.” The

organization called on “Hamas and all other Palestinian armed groups

in Gaza to stop firing indiscriminate rockets against towns and villages

in southern Israel” [44]. Amnesty also condemned the use of white

phosphorus chemical weapons, which the Israeli military used in Gaza.

When white phosphorus lands on skin it burns deeply through muscle

and into the bone, continuing to burn until deprived of oxygen [45].

Faith-based organizations, such as the World Counsel of

Churches (WCC), also condemned the violence in Gaza. “The deaths

and suffering of the last three days are dreadful and shameful and will

achieve nothing but more deaths and suffering,” stated the Rev. Dr.

Samuel Kobia, WCC’s general secretary. The “bombardment of one of

the most densely populated places on earth … must stop

immediately,” he added [46]. Moreover, the South African Anglican

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu said Israel’s bombardment of Gaza

“bears all the hallmarks of war crimes. In the context of total aerial

supremacy, in which one side in a conflict deploys lethal aircraft

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against opponents with no means of defending themselves, the

bombardment bears all the hallmarks of war crimes” [47].

The Golani, Givati and Paratrooper Brigades and five Armoured

Corps Brigades were involved in the ground invasion of Gaza during

Operation Cast Lead [43]. Both the Golani and Givati brigades have

recently attracted attention for their actions in Gaza during this

invasion. For example, members of the Givati brigade endangered

Palestinian children by reportedly forcing them to serve as human

shields. In one case, two Givati soldiers ordered a nine-year-old

Palestinian boy to open bags that the soldiers suspected were booby-

trapped with explosives [48]. Additionally, a Givati brigade soldier shot

and killed a Palestinian mother and daughter, Raya Salameh Abu Hajaj

and Majda Abu Hajaj as both carried white flags [49].

It was also a Givati brigade commander, Ilan Malka, along with

general and colonel Eyal Eisenberg, who authorized the use of white

phosphorus chemical weapons to attack a UN compound in Gaza on

January 15, 2009, that sheltered approximately 700 displaced civilians

[50]. After visiting the U.N. headquarters hit by Israel, Ban Ki-moon

called for those responsible to be held accountable: “I am just

appalled. I am not able to describe how I am feeling. This was an

outrageous and totally unacceptable attack against the United

Nations” [40]. The same day the nearby al-Quds hospital was struck

directly by a number of missiles, including white phosphorous shells,

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again putting staff and patients in great danger [51]. Malka and

Eisenberg were reprimanded for “exceeding their authority in a

manner that jeopardized the lives of others”[48].

The Golani Brigade was responsible for the execution of the

Israeli plan in the north-east of Gaza, including Al-Atatra and Beit

Lahia. The UN mission found particular cases that occurred in this

area, such as the use of human shields, and widespread mistreatment

of civilians, including detentions and transfers of large numbers to

Israeli prisons in unlawful circumstances [51]. Additionally, a unit from

the Golani Infantry Brigade opened fire on Dr. Abu El-Eish’s house. It is

from this fire, that the three daughters of Dr. Izzeldin Abu El-Eish were

killed. Dr. Abu El-Eish maintained that no Palestinian fighters were in or

on his house. He told Human Rights Watch that the IDF had full control

of the area around his house at the time of the attack and that he had

not seen or heard any Palestinian fighters in the area at the time [48].

Other Abuses

Besides their involvement in Israel’s major wars and operations,

there are countless other instances of abuse by the Golani and Givati.

Although abuse of Palestinians is frequently the norm for the IDF, in a

1989 case, thirteen Givati and Golani soldiers and officers were put on

trial in a military court [52]. They were tried in connection with three

different incidents which resulted in deaths from beatings. In ten of

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the cases the charge was causing death by negligence and in two,

manslaughter [52].

The Givati and Golani brigades have gained some attention in

recent years for their abuse of Palestinian detainees. In one instance,

a Palestinian detainee was beaten by Givati soldiers in Nablus,

allegedly slamming his head against a pole [53]. In another instance,

a Palestinian detainee was videotaped while being humiliated by

Golani soldiers. The video shows a blindfolded man kneeling near a

high concrete barrier being forced to repeat Hebrew phrases, some of

which praised the Golani brigade while others of a more sexual nature.

Golani soldiers laughed and taunted the detainee [54].

These cases demonstrate that the actions of the Golani and

Givati are responsible for constant and ongoing abuses of the

Palestinian people and their role in upholding the infrastructure of an

occupation internationally—recognized as illegal and considered by the

US government to be in direct contravention of international law.

STRAUSS SUPPORT

The Israel-based Strauss Group, the Israeli company that co-

owns the Sabra Hummus has been known for its vocal and financial

support for the Golani and Givati Brigades. In November 2010, the

website, under “Corporate Responsibility” read: “Our connection with

soldiers goes as far back as the country, and even further. We see a

24
mission and need to continue to provide our soldiers with support…We

have adopted the Golani reconnaissance platoon for over 30 years…

We have also adopted the Southern Shualei Shimshon troops from the

Givati platoon” [55] [56].

Recently, although the statement above remains the same on

the Hebrew site [55], the language on the English site was slightly

changed. Now it reads: “As part of its donations program, the Sales

Division of Strauss Israel has made a contribution to the men and

women who serve in the Golani brigade. The funds are designated for

welfare, cultural and educational activities, such as pocket money for

underprivileged soldiers, sports and recreational equipment, care

packages, and books and games for the soldiers’ club. Yotvata, our

dairy in the south, contributes likewise to the southern Shualei

Shimshon [Givati] unit” [57]. The speculated reason for the change in

language is the growing pressure from the Boycott, Divestment and

Sanctions (BDS) movement and the damage to the Strauss Group’s

image for supporting the IDF’s egregious human rights abuses [55].

Support for the IDF, however, is not limited to vocal and financial

support. According to a Strauss Social Responsibility publication, at

the end of 2008, during Operation Cast Lead, dozens of Strauss

employees were recruited for active military service and actually took

part in the siege of Gaza [58]. Fighting alongside the Givati, Golani

25
and other units of the IDF makes it clear that Strauss not only supports

but takes part in human rights atrocities committed by the IDF.

CONCLUSION
The Strauss Group’s explicit support for the Golani and Givati

brigades is an endorsement of egregious violations of Palestinian and

Lebanese human rights. The behavior of the Golani and Givati

exemplify the Israeli military’s pattern of disregarding human rights

norms. As a result, Students for Justice in Palestine suggest that

DePaul adhere to more ethical business practices by indefinitely

suspending Sabra sales and withdrawing financial support from a

company openly promoting the endangerment of Palestinian and

Lebanese lives.

Indeed, purchasing Sabra hummus, when the Strauss group

supports illegal Israeli action, is not a political issue, but an issue of

fundamental human rights. As students at DePaul University, a

university that derived its title from St. Vincent DePaul and strives to

“ennoble the God-given dignity of each person,” [59] we believe that

DePaul University should stand for the highest standards of morality

and human rights. SJP’s call to suspend the sales of Sabra Hummus

follows the call of the civil and religious leaders of Palestine to boycott

goods that support the illegal occupation. In the Kairos document, a

unified Christian appeal for international solidarity, Palestinians are

26
united in asking “the international community to stand by the

Palestinian people who have faced oppression, displacement, suffering

and clear apartheid for more than six decades.” Furthermore, the

Palestinian Christians “...declare that the military occupation of our

land is a sin against God and humanity, and that any theology that

legitimizes the occupation is far from Christian teachings because true

Christian theology is a theology of love and solidarity with the

oppressed, a call to justice and equality among peoples” [60]. We

urge DePaul University to stand in solidarity with those Palestinians

and ennoble their “God-given dignity.”

We are deeply concerned about DePaul University’s relationship

with any company with such strong ties to the IDF, particularly in light

of ongoing reports from human rights organizations, such as Human

Rights Watch, Amnesty International, B’Tselem, the International

Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations, that the IDF is

committing grave human rights violations against the Palestinian and

Lebanese people. By continuing to serve Sabra Hummus in its dining

halls, DePaul University is complicit in Israel’s illegal occupation of

Palestinian land. Therefore, we call on DePaul University to suspend

the distribution of Sabra Hummus in its dining halls pending a final

decision from the Fair Business Practices Committee. We hope that

the Committee ultimately concludes that DePaul’s distribution of Sabra

Hummus is in violation of our Vincentian values, which recognize that

27
all people must be treated with dignity and respect, and that DePaul

permanently refrains from buying, stocking and using Sabra Hummus

products.

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33