Adding Insult to Injury - IDF Style - Part Two - UPDATED

The IDF has recently joined the Government of Israel in the new national pastime of kicking the Jews expelled from Gush Katif while they're down (See Part One here).

In violation of promises made to the families of the deceased persons exhumed from graves in Gush Katif for reburial in Israel, the senior officers of the IDF Chief Rabbinate posed for photographs during the exhumation, and the pictures have since appeared on several Internet sites...

One of the photographs shows senior Rabbinate officers smiling for the camera, with coffins and open graves in the background, Israel Radio said.

(CLICK HERE to see the pictures)

Meanwhile, families of fallen IDF soldiers whose bodies were relocated from the Gaza Strip after the disengagement are being prevented from adding anything to the gravestones that mentions Gush Katif.

In an informal conversation with ministry officials, the families' legal representative, Mordechai Mintzer, was told that any mention of Gush Katif on the gravestones would be "problematic," since it "may have political overtones." (Courtesy of Ha'aretz)

1) It clearly wasn't enough for some in the IDF to have carried out their orders of expelling 10,000+ Jews from their homes and of exhuming the bodies from the Jewish cemeteries of Gush Katif - many of whom were killed in terror attacks or had served themselves in the IDF - but for some it was also an opportunity for a photo op. I'm sure those involved will proudly display the photos on their desks, or perhaps on the coffee table in their homes.

2) It was also not enough for the IDF to put the families of those whose bodies had to be exhumed through a 2nd funeral and Shiva (Jewish mourning ritual), but to not allow any mention of Gush Katif on the tombstones of those who had served and fallen while serving in the IDF - because of political overtones - is ridiculous and shameful.

Is the IDF prepared to go into every military cemetery in the country and begin changing all of the tombstones that mention those who fought in Israel's War of Independence? The Six-Day War? The battle for Jerusalem?

Do not all of those have strong political overtones, as well?

One can only shake their head in astonishment and wonder how it is that we have come to hate ourselves and our heritage so very much.

(Hat-tip: Jameel of The Muqata)

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