It’s not murder. The killing of Israeli soldier was an act of war, and in war, fighters fall
She was not an innocent victim. Soldiers in the IDF who are killed by the entity defined as “the enemy” are not murdered while performing their duties. They are not innocent victims.
By Rogel Alpher • (Translated by Sol Salbe)
“Sergeant Noa Lazar, 18 years old from Bat Hefer, is the soldier who was murdered yesterday at the Shuafat checkpoint.” This is how the holiday edition of Channel 12 News opened yesterday (Sunday) evening. This is also how the main of Yediot Ahronoth headline skreiched, being highlighted on a bombastic black background: “An IDF female soldier was murdered in a shooting attack in Jerusalem.” The use of the term “murder” indicates the depth of the self-victimisation and pretence of innocence of Israeli society, its stubborn refusal to acknowledge reality.
In News 12 it was stated that Lazar served as a fighter, and she actually on duty. The term “fighter” appears as the first word in the Yediot headline. At the time she was killed, Lazar was wearing a uniform by virtue of her role, in what is known in the IDF as a “checkpoint fighter”. That is, she was stationed exactly where she was supposed to be and was performing exactly the role she was trained to perform by the IDF. Israeli society as a whole bears the responsibility of being there. She was there at the behest of Israeli society and was acting in the name of Israeli society. Israel sent her there, and put a weapon in her hand, and trained her to use it and staff the checkpoint near the Shuafat refugee camp.
Lazar was a soldier who fell in the line of duty. Contrary to the impression that arises from the use of the term “murdered”, she was not an innocent passer by at the scene, uninvolved in the incident. She was not an innocent victim. Soldiers in the IDF who are killed by the entity defined as “the enemy” are not murdered while performing their duties. They are not innocent victims. They are the fallen.
Lazar chose to serve as a Checkpoint Fighter. That was her right. But she knew that by doing so she put her life in danger every time she went on duty at the checkpoint. That’s why she was armed. That is why she underwent combat training. That is why she was entitled to the description of “Checkpoint fighter” and this is why she was promoted after her death to the rank of sergeant. News 12 and Yediot present her murder as fact. This is the word they use in news reporting, the purpose of which is meant to be to faithfully reflect reality. In doing so, they present Lazar not as a soldier in uniform, but as some young woman who happened against her will at the scene of the incident and was chosen at random by the terrorist. This is a complete distortion of reality.
She was killed because and only because she was a fighter who went on duty at the checkpoint when the terrorist arrived on the scene. That’s the only reason. She was killed as an official representative of the Israeli military. Not in her bed. Not in the shower. Not while on vacation at home. Not an innocent victim. On the contrary. A fighter who knowingly chose to represent the IDF and Israeli society at the Shuafat checkpoint. She was not a civilian. To claim that she was murdered is to deny the fact that her death occurred as part of an armed conflict in which she took an active part as someone who was tasked, as required by the circumstances, to also kill. To say this, is to say that in this conflict, Israeli soldiers in uniform, and the Israeli society they represent, are passive victims. Murder is a criminal act. The killing of the fighter Noa Lazar was an act of war. And in war as in war, fighters fall.
Original article in Hebrew:
(Translated from Hebrew by Sol Salbe, Middle East News Service)
