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 Posted by Aron on December 25 2002 (Wednesday) : 10:13 PM[This post has been modified with an urgent action alert] I have written quite a bit lately about the warped view of the meaning of democracy in Israeli society. Today I want to focus on an issue dear to my heart - refusal to serve in the army. This passionate article by Professor Baruch Kimmerling, found on the Courage to Refuse site, presents a compelling case for supporting conscientious objection as both a legitimate and necessary component of a democratice society. But the COs are also beginning to have a practical impact. It is well known in the CO community, that the army is starting to crack down and get tougher with the refusal phenomenon. Elia Leibowitz explains that the crackdown on the refusers is an expression of fear on the part of the army brass, that the phenomenon might be spreading. I have been following the Ometz counter which you can see at the bottom of this page for a long time. For several months, the number hovered just below the magic 500 numbers. A couple of weeks ago the 500 barrier was broken, and like the NASDAQ in 1999, it seems to be steadily rising. And I predict, the more the army cracks down, the more the numbers will grow, for that will confirm in the minds of many the injustice of the army. Quote of the day: "The great danger in today's refusal to serve in the territories is its great potential for spreading. The chief of staff understands that it is quite possible that one of these days it is liable to spread among a much wider population. That's a justified fear, since the carriers of the disease are morality and common sense." Speaking of resitors, I got this in my email today: "My name is Anton Marks and I grew up in England. I made aliyah in January 1999 to live in the country that I love and call home. Three years later I received my call up papers to serve 100 days in the Israel Defense Forces. My Zionist belief in the need for a secure State of Israel gave me the courage to enter the alien environment of the army: to wear a uniform, to handle and shoot guns; to throw grenades etc. etc." "My first night up a watchtower on guard duty was at the end of my third week in the army. A couple of hundred meters from my vantage point a suicide bomber detonated a very powerful bomb which ripped through a bus killing many innocent men, women and children. In the hours that followed I fully appreciated my responsibility to defend my country from those intent on mindless acts of terrorism. That very same evening my swearing in ceremony was held and I made an oath on the Tanach to serve my country and defend it." "I am now exactly half way through my 100 days service, and I learnt on Thursday that from tomorrow, I am being sent to guard settlements in the occupied territories. My moral conscience prevents me from being an active participant in the occupation of another people, which fulfilling this order necessitates. I have spent the last few years actively involved in fighting the injustices which the occupation brings, all within the democratic means available to me. However, due to the army's refusal to relocate me to a place within Israel proper where I can continue the rest of my service, I have been forced into a situation where the only moral decision for me is to refuse this order." "I believe the settlements are a stain on the moral integrity of the State of Israel. The mere existence of around 200,000 settlers amongst a population of 3 million Palestinians has a direct influence on the events that I witnessed from my watch tower. By extension, I believe that for me to guard these settlements is not an act of defence of the State of Israel, an oath I made only a month ago, but it is being a footsoldier of the occupation." After Anton Marks refused to serve in the Occupied West Bank, he was given an alternative position guarding in the Golan Heights, where he gladly served the country for the past 3 weeks. Upon completing this assignment yesterday, he was again instructed to go to the Occupied West Bank. Anton only has a couple of weeks left to serve, which he has requested to complete anywhere inside Israel, rather than the occupied territories. Despite his request to fulfill his IDF service elsewhere, he was this morning sentenced to 14 days in a military prison, for refusing to obey an order which goes against his moral conscience. To send support or request more information, please email to: antonmarks@kvutsatyovel.com < | >
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"Entre los individuos, como entre las naciones, el respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz -- Among individuals, as among nations, respect for the rights of others is peace" -Benito Juárez
"It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it." -Eleanor Roosevelt "Let them call me a rebel and welcome. I feel no concern from it. But should I suffer the misery of devils, were I to make a whore of my soul" -Thomas Paine | |
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Refusal to serve could be contagious
