Breaking the Silence

Avner Gvaryahu

Avner Gvaryahu was born and raised in a religious-Zionist family in Rehovot, Israel.  He joined the IDF as a paratrooper in 2004, and served as a sniper team sergeant in a special operations unit, primarily around Nablus and Jenin.  In 2009, after his military service, Avner became involved with Breaking the Silence as a volunteer, and since 2011, he has served as the Jewish Relations Coordinator.  Avner holds an MSW from Tel Aviv University and lives with his wife in Tel Aviv.

Breaking the Silence

Breaking the Silence is an organization of veteran combatants who have served in the Israeli military since the start of the Second Intifada and have taken it upon themselves to expose the Israeli public to the reality of everyday life in the Occupied Territories. Founded in March 2004 by a group of soldiers who served in Hebron, Breaking the Silence has since acquired a special standing in the eyes of the Israeli public and in the media, as it is unique in giving voice to the experience of soldiers. 

Oded Na’aman

Oded Na’aman is an Israeli writer, essayist, and activist. He served in the Artillery Corps of the Israel Defense Forces from November 2000 to October 2003. During 2003-2004 he was a regular contributor to the literary supplement of Ha’aretz newspaper. In 2005 he joined ‘Breaking the Silence’, an organization that collects soldiers' testimonies from the Occupied Territories. Oded’s articles and essays appeared in Boston Review, The Nation, Huffington Post, The Guardian, Foreign Affairs, Ha’aretz, Alaxon, as well as other publications, and were translated into Italian and German. He co-edited Our Harsh Logic: Israeli Soldiers’ Testimonies from the Occupied Territories, 2000-2010, published by Metropolitan Press. Oded’s short fiction has appeared in numerous Hebrew publications, including Ha’aretz, Keshet HaHadasha, Masmerim, and Maayan.

Oded is currently a Philosophy PhD candidate at Harvard University. He splits his time between Cambridge, MA and Brooklyn, NY.