URI GELLER? :

I'm still haunted by the face of Arab soldier I killed (Uri Geller, Jewish World Review)

ON A rocky hillside amid the despair and devastation that has been the West Bank for untold generations, I lifted my rifle to my shoulder.

I could see the terror in the face of the Arab soldier a few yards in front of me. He had already shot at me twice and was out of position and firing wildly about him as my unit advanced. We were both bad soldiers. He should have been retreating-I should have been diving for cover.

Instead I turned and for what seemed a long time I stared at him. My most vivid thought was: "You have a moustache. You are not like me."

Then I took aim and squeezed the trigger.

It is 35 years since I killed that Jordanian in Ramallah-the scene of so much bloodshed now.

I was an Israeli paratrooper sergeant fighting in a war against a crushing Arab coalition.

The father I hero-worshipped was fighting too. I was so proud to be in his army. So proud to be ready to lay down my life for my country. Now I look at the pictures of my homeland on TV, the horrific images of death, and my nightmares flood back. For many years after the Six Day War, all through the height of my spoon-bending fame in the 70s, I was tormented by a recurring dream of the soldier I killed.

Uri Geller? People never cease to amaze you. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 6, 2002 10:10 AM