Torture? It's the Occupation... Stupid!

A recent B'tselem report released claims that Israel (Shin Bet) employs "exceptional interrogation methods and physical pressure against Palestinian detainees" with alarming regularity. I do not want to minimize the significance of the study, but... No Shit! This should not come as a surprise to anyone. Has there ever been a viable method of repressing an occupied population that did not entail subjecting them to violence? Occupation does not succeed when you tickle the other side into submission with a feather. What do people surprised by this report reckon has been going on here for the last forty years, a bi-national pyjama party? Both the Israeli right and left need to recognize the abhorrent tools necassary to maintain an occupation. Each side must then rationalize his morality in order to establish that the ends justify the means.

Here is the link to the report: Utterly Forbidden: The Torture And Ill-Treatment Of Palestinian Detainees