{"id":104480,"date":"2018-01-08T12:01:07","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T12:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=104480"},"modified":"2018-01-03T17:24:21","modified_gmt":"2018-01-03T17:24:21","slug":"dozens-of-israeli-teens-we-refuse-to-enlist-out-of-a-commitment-to-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2018\/01\/dozens-of-israeli-teens-we-refuse-to-enlist-out-of-a-commitment-to-peace\/","title":{"rendered":"Dozens of Israeli Teens: ‘We Refuse to Enlist out of a Commitment to Peace’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018Testimonies of former soldiers teach us that the reality of occupation does not allow one to make a difference from within. The power to change reality does not lie with the single soldier \u2014 but with the system as a whole.\u2019<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Solidarity protesters and family members protest for Israeli conscientious objector Tair Kaminer, Prison 400, central Israel, January 23, 2016.
(Oren Ziv\/Activestills.org)<\/p><\/div>\n

29 Dec 2017 – <\/em>Sixty-three Israeli teenagers have published an open letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu on Thursday [28 Dec], declaring their refusal to join the Israeli army due to their opposition\u00a0to the occupation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe army carries out\u00a0a racist government policy that enforces one legal system for Israelis and another for Palestinian in the same territory,\u201d they write. \u201cTherefore, we have decided not to take any part in the occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people\u2026 for as long as people live under an occupation that denies their human rights and national rights \u2013 we cannot have peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group calls itself the \u201c2017 Seniors\u2019 Letter,\u201d continuing a long tradition of similar letters sent by high school seniors announcing their refusal to join the army, dating back to 1970 (the writer of this text was a signatory of the 2001 letter). Members of the group have stated they are willing to be imprisoned for their conscientious objection; one of them, Matan Helman, is already serving a prison sentence. The teens\u00a0have also stated they will be traveling the country, speaking\u00a0to others their age, challenging them to rethink their positions on military service and inviting them to join the movement.<\/p>\n

The Israeli army does not recognize the right to conscientiously object to the draft based on rejection of the occupation. It does, however, allow for objection based solely on pacifism and the rejection of all<\/em> forms of violence. These young refusers, therefore, are likely to be denied exemptions, and sent to repeated\u00a0prison sentences of two to four weeks each, as has been the case with other conscientious objectors in recent years.<\/p>\n

In their letter, the young refusers list the occupation, the siege on Gaza, settlements, and violence toward Palestinians as the main reasons for the decision. However, they also mention the ongoing effects of militarism on the Israeli society, enshrining violent solutions instead of peace as a central value, and the effect the occupation has on strengthening Israeli capitalism and dependence on American military aid.<\/p>\n

\u201cTestimonies of former soldiers and heads of the security establishment\u00a0teach us that the reality of occupation does not allow one to make a difference from within,\u201d they write. \u201cThe power to change reality does not lay with the single\u00a0soldier but with the system as a whole. Similarly, the blame for this reality does not lie with the soldier, but with the army and government. This is the system we wish to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

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