israeli soldiers

At my alma mater, columbia college chicago (a small media arts school), I can't tell you how many times I've seen posters for Israeli photographers who have done projects on Israeli soldiers in the IDF (the Israeli Army that enforces the government's occupation of the Palestinian territories, Syrian Golan Heights, Lebanese Shebaa Farms and has led many wars in Palestine and elsewhere like the recent 2006 war in Lebanon). These images, like many throughout Israel's history, aim (as I see it) to show the army and it's "good looking" young soldiers (note famous pic from 1967 when Israel occupied Jerusalem with the young male soldiers at the wailing wall) who are put into this "difficult" position where they have to fight and - with the context given - most would understand it to mean these soldiers have to fight in order to "protect Israel." When in actuality, yes under Israeli law its citizens are forced to do their military service, but they are certainly not fighting to protect their state, unless you understand the state to be that of a colonialist settler state - then not only are they trying to protect their colonialism over the middle east but work to expand it. Btw, saying "no" to military service might land you in jail for a period from a couple months to a couple years, many Israelis have refused their military service, but not many "mainstream" photographers invited to do shows in the US would feature their work. It's another part of the conflict where Israeli society is always portrayed as being open-minded and able to criticize itself as a true democratic society and the Arabs on the other hand are always the face/nameless "terrorists" who kill just to kill. I would like to see an Israeli photographer take portraits of the at least hundreds of Israeli soldiers who have [knowingly] killed thousands of Palestinian children over recent decades. Sorry for pic quality, I would link to photographer's site, but I'm really not interested in promoting this work. Anyway, always missing in such work (and I have to admit that I dont much about this particular body but its safe to assume at this point) is the context that these young good looking soldiers are soldiers of OCCUPATION and the Palestinian "terrorist" soldiers are fighting that occupation as is their right under international law.