Israel's war on Gaza has revealed an unspoken but deliberate policy that reduces Palestinians from human beings to mere numbers.
Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and in military detention have been systematically stripped of their identities, their names replaced by numbers. The policy, say rights groups and former detainees, is part of a dehumanisation process that makes it easier for soldiers and interrogators to commit acts of abuse, torture and even killing, without moral restraint.
“Dehumanisation is the prerequisite for atrocities,” said Mohammed Shehada, of the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor.
“Israel has a systematic policy of trying to dehumanise Palestinians in every possible way – linguistically, physically, psychologically – to make it easier for soldiers to kill, to torture and to destroy.”
The Israeli army deliberately replaces human words with sterile military jargon, he said.
“They say 'neutralised' instead of 'killed'
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