Today is Saturday, August 7, 2010 and it is now 1235AM here in the South Bronx, New York City,USA.
Recap: I was talking about the South Bronx a bit.
This entry: Back to my 1st arrest, bringing red hashish into Israel, from Lebanon, in a Merkava 1 tank, while attached to AMAN (IDF Intel), Shouf Phalangist Section,Central Sector...
Inside the Border Administration Building they had put me inside a huge holding cell, and since this was 1984 it was chock full of narcotics offenders such as myself. Most were junkies, as heroin in Lebanon was costing 3 US Dollars for a 1/2 gramme piece in a paper fold.
Of course, when addicted to heroin you need a dosage at least every 8 hours of you begin physical withdrawal. The stink was unbearable and I was used to combat...when a man is killed he will shit all over himself until his system is almost empty. The stink in that cell though, with its ancient plumbing and men packed like sardines was beyond sickening, or at least I thought it was, since I was wet behind the ears (the things I have seen since make it look like a 3 Star Hotel).
In the IDF we don't have a "JAG," like Western militaries (JAG being the Military Legal apparattus). Our equivalent is "MAG," and so someone from the MAG came to interview me that night. Until they interview you your interrogation can only consist of absolute particulars, name, unit, military ID #, etc.,etc. After they evaluate you and make their recommendation for prosecution, or dismissal, you are given actual interrogation.
In my first contact though I had admitted that the hash was mine, and so they didn't go hard on me. In today's IDF it is very different. In my day your CO (Commanding Officer) could beat you, you got beaten in training and you can best believe that in Full Interrogation a lot of unfun things can happen to you.
The result of my full admission was that within 48 hours I was shipped to IDF Camp 394, popularly known as "Prison #4." At the time we had 2 prisons, 4 and 6. 6 was for Command Seargents and above, Prison 4 was for all others, such as myself, I had actually been promoted to Sgt by then but only on paper, so I was a Corporal, a rank that doesn't even exist anymore in the IDF.
Prison #4 was a huge place, I say "was" because although it still exists it is almost a totally different facility inside and out.
My first home was Absorption, where I was given a cell in solitary, thoroughly checked for any physical conditions (at the time mental illnesses weren't classified within Military Prisons), and was classified per unit. There were 4 "Companies."Military Prison of course functions entirely along military lines. I was assigned to "Company Dalet," or "Company D."
I was happy because "D COY" was a detachment of minimal security, and though I was in pre-trial detention, my placement in that company was seen as an indicator that I wouldn't be serving that much time.
On my 5th day I was transferred to D COY and was given a bunk in a cell built for 2 but housing 8, all narcotics offenders such as myself.
Now, in the IDF, since the 1967 War the minimum age for service has been 18, BUT we are not now nor have we ever been party to any Convention related to age. Our actual Manpower Figures are based on a minimal age of 14.5. I began my service just as I turned 16 for a couple of reasons.
First and foremost I had been educated in the Merkaz HaRav (Centre of the Master) school system. Merkaz was the school founded by Israel's 1st Chief Ashekanz Rabbi, Rav Kook the Elder. I will not bore you with all the nuts and bolts, sufficient to say that it was a Hard Right Wing school, with a very through military indoctrination. I began my full time military training before I turned 12 and by the time I was 15, I was already better trained than IDF Infantrymen/Paratroopers.
Then factor in, as I discussed previously (Prison#1), the war had killed the equivalent (per capita vis a vis the US) of 200,000 Israeli soldiers. It wasn't a huge choice for me. Our IDF liason (liason for our training programme) asked for willing bodies, I was more than willing, voila. In truth I have never regretted my choice but the point is that as a 17 year old in a military prison things COULD have turned out very badly for me, VERY VERY badly. The nature of my charges coupled with my brief but bloody combat experience earned me the respect of my cell mates and soon after, my Company mates as well.
The hardest part for me was that when I was ajudicated (sentenced), which took place in my 2nd month, the IDF immediately knocked off all but minmum rating neccessary to re-ntegrate to my original Battalion. In short, the need for soldiers allowed me not to be booted from the IDF, to retain my rating as an Infantryman/Paratrooper but did nothing to save me from losing my Intel position. Frankly I didn't give a shit except for how it might affect me down the road, in terms of promotions and such.
I ended up being sentenced to 180 days, with 42 days credit in pre-trial detention. I ended up serving 118 days in total and was immediately sent north again, to kill and kill again.
Recap: I was talking about the South Bronx a bit.
This entry: Back to my 1st arrest, bringing red hashish into Israel, from Lebanon, in a Merkava 1 tank, while attached to AMAN (IDF Intel), Shouf Phalangist Section,Central Sector...
Inside the Border Administration Building they had put me inside a huge holding cell, and since this was 1984 it was chock full of narcotics offenders such as myself. Most were junkies, as heroin in Lebanon was costing 3 US Dollars for a 1/2 gramme piece in a paper fold.
Of course, when addicted to heroin you need a dosage at least every 8 hours of you begin physical withdrawal. The stink was unbearable and I was used to combat...when a man is killed he will shit all over himself until his system is almost empty. The stink in that cell though, with its ancient plumbing and men packed like sardines was beyond sickening, or at least I thought it was, since I was wet behind the ears (the things I have seen since make it look like a 3 Star Hotel).
In the IDF we don't have a "JAG," like Western militaries (JAG being the Military Legal apparattus). Our equivalent is "MAG," and so someone from the MAG came to interview me that night. Until they interview you your interrogation can only consist of absolute particulars, name, unit, military ID #, etc.,etc. After they evaluate you and make their recommendation for prosecution, or dismissal, you are given actual interrogation.
In my first contact though I had admitted that the hash was mine, and so they didn't go hard on me. In today's IDF it is very different. In my day your CO (Commanding Officer) could beat you, you got beaten in training and you can best believe that in Full Interrogation a lot of unfun things can happen to you.
The result of my full admission was that within 48 hours I was shipped to IDF Camp 394, popularly known as "Prison #4." At the time we had 2 prisons, 4 and 6. 6 was for Command Seargents and above, Prison 4 was for all others, such as myself, I had actually been promoted to Sgt by then but only on paper, so I was a Corporal, a rank that doesn't even exist anymore in the IDF.
Prison #4 was a huge place, I say "was" because although it still exists it is almost a totally different facility inside and out.
My first home was Absorption, where I was given a cell in solitary, thoroughly checked for any physical conditions (at the time mental illnesses weren't classified within Military Prisons), and was classified per unit. There were 4 "Companies."Military Prison of course functions entirely along military lines. I was assigned to "Company Dalet," or "Company D."
I was happy because "D COY" was a detachment of minimal security, and though I was in pre-trial detention, my placement in that company was seen as an indicator that I wouldn't be serving that much time.
On my 5th day I was transferred to D COY and was given a bunk in a cell built for 2 but housing 8, all narcotics offenders such as myself.
Now, in the IDF, since the 1967 War the minimum age for service has been 18, BUT we are not now nor have we ever been party to any Convention related to age. Our actual Manpower Figures are based on a minimal age of 14.5. I began my service just as I turned 16 for a couple of reasons.
First and foremost I had been educated in the Merkaz HaRav (Centre of the Master) school system. Merkaz was the school founded by Israel's 1st Chief Ashekanz Rabbi, Rav Kook the Elder. I will not bore you with all the nuts and bolts, sufficient to say that it was a Hard Right Wing school, with a very through military indoctrination. I began my full time military training before I turned 12 and by the time I was 15, I was already better trained than IDF Infantrymen/Paratroopers.
Then factor in, as I discussed previously (Prison#1), the war had killed the equivalent (per capita vis a vis the US) of 200,000 Israeli soldiers. It wasn't a huge choice for me. Our IDF liason (liason for our training programme) asked for willing bodies, I was more than willing, voila. In truth I have never regretted my choice but the point is that as a 17 year old in a military prison things COULD have turned out very badly for me, VERY VERY badly. The nature of my charges coupled with my brief but bloody combat experience earned me the respect of my cell mates and soon after, my Company mates as well.
The hardest part for me was that when I was ajudicated (sentenced), which took place in my 2nd month, the IDF immediately knocked off all but minmum rating neccessary to re-ntegrate to my original Battalion. In short, the need for soldiers allowed me not to be booted from the IDF, to retain my rating as an Infantryman/Paratrooper but did nothing to save me from losing my Intel position. Frankly I didn't give a shit except for how it might affect me down the road, in terms of promotions and such.
I ended up being sentenced to 180 days, with 42 days credit in pre-trial detention. I ended up serving 118 days in total and was immediately sent north again, to kill and kill again.