Ar-Ram

“Don’t photograph me,” the captain yelled.

But he must be photographed, the captain, the soldiers he commanded and everyone who participated in the collective punishment of the town of A-Ram and tens of thousands of its residents who found themselves under siege in retaliation for stones thrown by children.

Not only do we have to take photographs – we are obligated to do so.

Because if someone doesn’t report a crime they are complicit by their silence, and whoever violates international law that prohibits collective punishment must stand trial.

And if they’re not tried in Israel, they and those like them must be brought before the court in The Hague.

Because they who take over an entire town for hours, terrorize its streets, stand at intersections with weapons drawn, cut off neighborhoods, block entrances and exits for an unlimited period of time, prevent people from returning home, cause thousands of innocent citizens to incarcerate themselves in their houses, their shutters closed, their doors locked for fear of the armed invader can’t defend themselves by claiming “I only followed orders.”

They who have the guns, they who control people’s lives, they who’ve received permission to shoot and to kill – they must also accept responsibility for their actions.