This week I am sharing my recent piece for New Lines Magazine which covers the ongoing war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. You can read the whole piece over at New Lines. Here is my choice excerpt:
“All parties locked in this conflict are hyperaware of their image. They wish to shape the narrative around the conflict, and images and videos that can be passed around social media, TV news and print are part and parcel of that. The uniform is a visible symbol of the power of a state or political group and a reminder of the monopoly on violence they have or wish to have. The uniforms tell us something about how a group sees itself and how it wishes to be perceived; how these forces decide to dress is their most visible form of communication with the world.”
“Clothing is a language. It communicates to the viewer, consciously or subconsciously, things about the wearer, including and particularly in warfare. This is partly because we all have an understanding of clothing — after all, we all get dressed. It allows us to identify or distance the wearer, places the wearer in a world of familiar symbols, or removes them. In this postmodern world, it can be hard to decipher the many mixed-up symbols that can appear to be at odds with each other. This is all the more reason to attempt to make sense of what combatants wear and understand what exactly they are trying to communicate.”
Read the whole article here.
Till next time,
C.W.M.
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fascinating, the IDF lack of camo. Two things however. HAMAS and human shields. That is essentially Israeli propaganda. It may or may not be true, but thats what it is, and its not been proven by any impartial source. Second., the militias of the settlers (see Otzma Yehudit and Itamar Ben-Givr) have merged with the IDF. But, settlers remain sort of in ad hoc non uni uniforms. They have a style though (not a particularly good one but still) and it reminds me of a weird version of Haitian or DR street gang attire. Or Trinidad gangs. Also, the keffiyah. How can you write this without at least a side bar on the keffiyah. The one identity marker for Palestinians (see Leila Khaled). But great work. I share your stuff a lot.
Wow, what a great article!
The IDF sticking with their green uniforms reminds me of the apartheid-era South African military, which wore all brown uniforms as standard. Those brown uniforms were phased out as soon as possible when the apartheid government lost the national election in 1994, as they were seen as uniforms of an oppressive military/regime. I’m also reminded of the post-WWII German Army not wanting to utilize camouflage, due to its association with the SS. France did the same thing, attempting to distance themselves from their colonial past (quickly phasing out lizard camouflage, and only wearing OD uniforms for decades). It’s just interesting what feelings a color or pattern can evoke.
But I guess soon everyone will be wearing Multicam anyway, so...