Shooting and crying
"Shooting and crying" (Hebrew: יורים ובוכים yorim ve bochim) is an expression often associated with a practice that some former Israel Defense Force soldiers follow. It is used to describe the actions of a soldier in uniform expressing remorse for orders undertaken throughout their service.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Descriptions
Gil Hochberg described "shooting and crying" as a soldier being "sorry for things I had to do." This "non-apologetic apology" was the self-critique model advanced in Israel in many politically reflective works of literature and cinema as "a way of maintaining the nation's self-image as youthful and innocent. Along with its sense of vocation against the reality of war, growing military violence, occupation, invasion, [there was] [...] an overall sense that things were going wrong."
Sarah Benton described it as "an act through which the soldier cleans his conscience (at least somewhat), without taking personal responsibility or any practical steps, either to prevent 'inappropriate behavior by soldiers in the field' as it occurs or to redress injustice and prosecute criminals later."[8]
Karen Grumberg noted that "the Zionist soldier, a man with a conscience, loathes violence but realizes he must act violently to survive; the dilemma causes him to weep while pulling the trigger. Looking inward, he despairs at the violence he feels compelled to enact this way because he fears his moral corruption."
Amir Vodka wrote that "It typically depicts the IDF in a critical light, as a traumatizer of young soldiers, yet the genre itself is often criticized for turning the assailants into victims, and in a sense allowing the continuation of war under the guise of self-victimization."[8]
Appearances in media
Literature
- Khirbet Khizeh (1949)
- Si’ah Lohamim (Fighters’ Discourse) (1968)[6]
Film
- Resisim (1989)
- The Deserter's Wife (1991)
- Z'man Emet (1991)
- Time for Cherries (1991)[9]
- Beaufort (2007)[8]
- Waltz with Bashir (2008)[10]
- Lebanon (2009)[11]
Television
- Fauda (2015–20)
See also
- Military psychology
- Killings and massacres during the 1948 Palestine war
- Sabra and Shatila massacre
- Allegations of war crimes in the 2006 Lebanon War
- United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict
References
- ^ "Shooting and crying". ifamericansknew.org.
- ^ Streiner, Scott (December 1, 2001). "Shooting and Crying: The Emergence of Protest in Israeli Popular Music". The European Legacy. 6 (6): 771–792. doi:10.1080/03075070120099520. S2CID 145424985 – via Taylor and Francis+NEJM.
- ^ Bishara, Marwan. "On chutzpah and war". www.aljazeera.com.
- ^ Zlutnick, David. "No More Shooting and Crying: Israeli Soldiers After Their Service". www.cultureunplugged.com. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Munk, Yael (December 31, 2012). "Investigating the Israeli Soldier's Guilt and Responsibility. The case of the NGO "Breaking the Silence"". Bulletin du Centre de recherche français à Jérusalem (23) – via journals.openedition.org.
- ^ a b Mendelson-Maoz, Adia (June 24, 2018). Borders, Territories, and Ethics. Purdue University Press. ISBN 9781612495361 – via Google Books.
- ^ Zlutnick, David. "Shooting and Crying: Israeli Soldiers After Their Service". Truthout. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
- ^ a b c "See-Shoot-Cry - springerin | Hefte für Gegenwartskunst". www.springerin.at.
- ^ Flynn, Michael; Salek, Fabiola Fernandez (September 18, 2012). Screening Torture: Media Representations of State Terror and Political Domination. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231526975 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Shooting Film and Crying". MERIP. March 16, 2009.
- ^ Hochberg, Gil (2019-05-17). "From "Shooting and Crying" to "Shooting and Singing": Notes on the 2019 Eurovision in Israel". Contending Modernities. Retrieved 2020-09-09.