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| Reports on Israeli youths and soldiers refusing to serve the occupation *** March 2010 - Shir Regev in Prison | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dear Friend, Shir Regev, 19 years old, an Israeli anarchist, was released from his 1st prison term for refusing to serve in the Israeli army, and sentenced to a 2nd term yesterday 25/3/10, this time 10 days, which he will serve at prison 6 in Atlit. Shir Regev's letter to the Israeli authorities follows. Shir will be lglad to receive letters. If you wish to write to him, you can send your letter to: yeshgvul2001@yahoo.com Best Wishes Yesh Gvul To: Induction Bureau, Haifa Copies : Prime Minister Netanyahu , Minister of Defense Barak Sirs ! My name is Shir Regev and I have been a deserter since 1/12/09. I believe it is my personal duty to refuse and defect from an army whose main purpose is to serve as an occupation police for maintaining "Israeli order" and imposing it on defenseless Palestinians who are denied citizenship. And what is this "Israeli order" ? It is an ongoing process, in effect over 42 years, comprising a military regime over the Palestinians, denying them access to Palestinian community resources of land, water, agricultural crops and ores. It is also entails pollution of their land and their streams, along with support for disenfranchisement by settlers who live in the same areas, under a separate system of seemingly democratic laws. And I have not even mentioned the violation of more basic Palestinian human rights, like denying their freedom of movement, and causing bodily harm, including mass killing, without due investigation of alleged criminal offenses of the gravest type. These acts may constitute war crimes under international law. Since I have the medical profile of a "combat soldier", had I joined the army, there is no doubt I would have been sent to serve this "Mafiosi" system, which has almost nothing to do with the IDF's designated role as "Defense Forces"... This is an army that serves interests in which I do not believe. Therefore, in the dilemma between doing such service and obeying my conscience, I have no doubt about my decision. The day will come when my decision is appreciated by people who presently deny the horrible reality which we as a society are creating for another people and the damage we are inflicting on the souls of many young Israelis who may not be aware of the moral degradation in which they take part. Sincerely Shir Regev ---- December 2009 Or Ben-David in prison. To see how you can support her: http://www.newprofile.org/english/?cat=8 October 2009 First Objector from New Refusal Letter in Prison http://www.newprofile.org/english/?p=221 Fisrt prison term for Efi Brenner, the first among the signatories of the 2009-2010 Shministim refusal letter to be sent to military prison. Full information and recommended action follow. A new collective declaration of refusal by Israeli youths, the 2009-2010 high school seniors letter, went public last week. Today (22 Oct.), two of its signatories, Efi Brenner and Or Ben-David, came to the military induction base in Tel-Hashomer and there refused to enlist. Efi was indeed sent to prison, while Or has not yet been sentenced (she was told that the military prison for women was full), and will have to return to the induction base tomorrow, probably spend the weekend there and be sent to prison on Sunday. We will run a separate update on her case once she is in prison. Efi Brenner, 18, from Rishon Le Zion (a suburb of Tel-Aviv), is a familiar figure among young anti-Occupation and animal rights activists in Israel. He was sentenced today to his first prison term of ten days (more terms in prison are likely to follow), which he serves in Military Prison no. 6 near Atlit. Following the media exposure that the Seniors’ Letter has received after it was made public, Efi was kicked out of home by his father, and spent the last days before imprisonment at a friend’s house. In prison he has already been transferred to the isolation ward for refusing to obey the military dressing code. In addition, the prison authorities decided (against all known regulations) not to allow him to take books with him into prison. Efi has prepared the following statement upon entering prison: I object to oppression, whether it is commited by a hierarchical organisation, such as the military is, or whether it is commited by the human species against animals. The Israeli government and military conduct a policy of occupation and oppression against the Palestinian people since 1948. It began with the expusion of Palestinians from their homes in 1948, which continues to this day, and continued with the imposition of an oppressive military rule on Palestinians, with the restriction of the freedom of movement of all people, with roads for Israelis only, with administrative detentions, house demolitions, land thefts, etc. We must act in peaceful ways and refuse to take part in the crimes commited by the military. That is our true duty. All the things mentioned above stand agaist the basic values of freedom and justice in which I believe and for which I struggle. I therefore refuse to enlist to the Israeli military and indeed to any military force of any kind. Efi Brenner is due to be released from prison on 30 October, but is likely to be imprisoned again soon afterwards. His address in prison is: Efi Brenner ID number 203258272 Military Prison No. 6 Military Postal Code 01860, IDF Israel Fax: ++972-4-9540580 Since the prison authorities often block mail from reaching imprisoned objectors, we also recommend you to send them your letters of support and encouragement via e-mail to shministim10@gmail.com, and they will be printed out and delivered during visits. Recommended Action First of all, please circulate this message and the information contained in it as widely as possible, not only through e-mail, but also on websites, social networks, conventional media, by word of mouth, etc. Other recommendations for action: 1. Sending Letters of Support Please send the imprisoned objectors letters of support (preferably postcards or by fax) to the prison addresses above. 2. Letters to Authorities It is recommended to send letters of protest on the objectors’ behalf, preferably by fax, to: Mr. Ehud Barak, Minister of Defence, Ministry of Defence, Hakirya, Tel-Aviv 64743, Israel. E-mail: sar@mod.gov.il or pniot@mod.gov.il Tel.: ++972-3-6975540 or ++972-3-6975423 Fax: ++972-3-6976711 Copies of your letters can also be sent to the commander of the military prison at: Commander of Military Prison No. 6, Military Prison No. 6 Military Postal Code 01860, IDF Israel Fax: ++972-4-9540580 Another useful address for sending copies would be the Military Attorney General (note updated fax number): Avichai Mandelblit, Chief Military Attorney Military postal code 9605, IDF Israel Fax: ++972-3-569-45-26 It would be especially useful to send your appeals to the Commander of the Induction Base in Tel-HaShomer. It is this officer that ultimately decides whether an objector is to be exempted from military service or sent to another round in prison, and it is the same officer who is ultimately in charge of the military Conscience Committee: Gadi Agmon, Commander of Induction Base, Meitav, Tel-HaShomer Military Postal Code 02718, IDF Israel. Fax: ++972-3-737-60-52 For those of you who live outside Israel, it would be very effective to send protests to your local Israeli embassy. You can find the address of your local embassy on the web. Here is a generic sample letter, which you can use in sending appeals to authorities on the prisoners’ behalf. Feel free to modify this letter or write your own: Dear Sir/Madam, It has come to my attention that Efi Brenner (ID number 203258272), a conscientious objector to military service, has been imprisoned for his refusal to become part of the Israeli army, and is held in the isolation ward of Military Prison no. 6 in Atlit. The imprisonment of conscientious objectors such as Efi Brenner is a violation of international law, of basic human rights and of plain morals. The particularly harsh conditions of imprisonment (confinement in the isolation ward, denial of access to books) in which Efi Brenner is held are evidence of an attempt to use the Israeli military legal system to try to force him to change or betray his convictions. This amounts to political persecution. I therefore call for the immediate and unconditional release from prison of Efi Brenner, without threat of further imprisonment in the future, and urge you and the system you are heading to respect the dignity and person of conscientious objectors, indeed of all persons, in the future. Sincerely, 3. Letters to media in Israel and in other countries Writing op-ed pieces and letters to editors of media in Israel and other countries could also be quite useful in indirectly but powerfully pressuring the military authorities to let go of the objectors and in bringing their plight and their cause to public attention. Here are some contact details for the main media outlets in Israel: Ma’ariv: 2 Karlibach st. Tel-Aviv 67132 Israel Fax: +972-3-561-06-14 e-mail: editor@maariv.co.il Yedioth Aharonoth: 2 Moses st. Tel-Aviv Israel Fax: +972-3-608-25-46 Ha’aretz (Hebrew): 21 Schocken st. Tel-Aviv, 61001 Israel Fax: +972-3-681-00-12 Ha’aretz (English edition): 21 Schocken st. Tel-Aviv, 61001 Israel Fax: +972-3-512-11-56 e-mail: letters@haaretz.co.il Israel Hayom: 2 Hashlosha st. The B1 Building Tel-Aviv Israel e-mail: hayom@israelhayom.co.il Jerusalem Post: P.O. Box 81 Jerusalem 91000 Israel Fax: +972-2-538-95-27 e-mail: news@jpost.co.il or letters@jpost.co.il Radio (fax numbers): Kol-Israel +972-2-531-33-15 Galei Zahal +972-3-512-67-20 Television (fax numbers): Channel 1 +972-2-530-15-36 Channel 2 +972-2-533-98-09 Channel 10 +972-3-733-16-66 We will continue updating on further developments. Thank you for your attention and action, Sergeiy Sandler – New Profile. --- June 2009 Dear Friend, The reality of the occupation has not been changed neither by Obama's Speech, nor by Netanyahu's (propaganda) speech. Here's a sample from Btselem: http://www.btselem.org/ And now, an update about the occupation refuseniks. 1. D, a 19 year old conscript soldier serving in the Kfir brigade has reported abuses he witnessed during service in the OT: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1094899.html D., whose family immigrated from Russia, said these things reminded him of his relatives' stories about pogroms. D. refuses to continue serving in the OT, and has been sentenced to 30 days in military prison no. 6. D. belongs to the same unit as Itai Melamed, whose refusal we reported a few weeks ago: http://www.kibush.co.il/show_ (See the Activism section on that website for activism suggestions) 2. In addition, Y., a reserve soldier from an infantry unit, has been sentenced today to a 7 day prison term in military prison no. 6, for his refusal to serve in the OT. Best Wishes Yesh Gvul http://www.yeshgvul.org.il/ --- April 2009 Dear Friend, 2 updates follow. Sergeant Itai Melamed, 20 years old from Nes Tziona, has just got out of prison 6 where he spent 17 days for refusing to serve in the OT. Itai was assigned to the Kfir brigade, a notorious unit whose sole purpose is enforcing the occupation in the OT. At first he believed he would be able to make a difference and prevent violations of human rights, but later he became disillusioned. Itai is now awaiting his commander's (a settler) decision, and he is being threatened with additional prison terms. Invitation from the Shministim: A protest in support of Conscientious objector Netta Mishly This coming Wednesday CO Netta MIshly will declare and be imprisoned for her refusal to serve in the Israeli army that just two days ago shot dead a non-violent protester, that just three months ago killed dozens of people on a daily basis in Gaza – an occupying army. On Thursday April 23th, at 6 PM while Netta spends her first day in prison we will meet at the corner of Ben Zion St. and King Gorge St. TA, and remind the residents of Tel Aviv that the occupation goes on and on and that there are those who refuse to be a part of it – as they should ! Join us in a call to refuse to kill, refuse to protect settlements, refuse to put 1.5 million people under siege, refuse to oppress demonstrators – refuse to occupy! For details please call Sahar – 0545683419 --- 02/2009 Two Objectors Return to Military Prison : http://www.newprofile.org/showdata.asp?pid=1294 --- 11.11.08 Prison Party! Dear Friend, The Highschool seniors letter, New Profile and Yesh Gvul invite you to a party in support of conscientious refuseniks Raz Bar-David-Varon, Mia Tamarin, Tamar Katz, Sahar Vardi and Omer Goldman, all imprisoned for their refusal to serve in the army of occupation. The party will take place on Saturday 15/11 at 16:00 near the walls of prison 400 in Tzrifin. We will be there to encourage our imprisoned friends with music that cuts through walls, and call for the release of the conscientious refuseniks and an end to the occupation. Transportation: Jeruslaem - Binyanei Hauma , 15:00 Tel Aviv - central bus station (not Arlozorov station as usual!) , 15:15 Registration for the bus: from Tel Aviv, Yuval 0507336117 from Jerusalem - leave a message at 02-6250271 or mail yeshgvul2001@yahoo.com Best Wishes The Organizers --- Hi there, On Monday 3/11, I am reporting to the army's induction base, knowing that I will be imprisoned, not knowing for how long. I am not concerned about my life in prison, because I am well informed about all the procedures. But I am concerned about activity out of prison while I am doing time. Will there be enough activity on the issue of occupation refusal ? how many refuseniks will follow me ? (I do know Yuval is coming up next). I hope that the subject, and us refuseniks ,will not be forgotten, and I also hope our act will turn out to be meaningful. Why am I writing this letter to you? First of all, I shall be happy if you come to the solidarity vigil which will take place on Monday 3/11, my imprisonment day, at 08:30. Transportation from Tel Aviv's central station at 07:30 , register with Haggai 0523881213 And if you can't show up, I'd be thankful if you could, whenever the topics of military service or the occupation or refusal come up, try to explain to people your point of view about serving or refusing to serve in the army at this time. Best Wishes Raz Bar-David Varon --- 12/10/2008 Dear Friends, Four women COs, signatories of the 2008 high school seniors refusal letter, have been sent to a another prison term today (12 Oct.). Sahar Vardi and Tamar Katz have been sentenced to 21 days in prison and are due to be released on 30 Oct. Omer Goldman and Mia Tamarin have been sentenced to 14 days in prison and are due to be released on 24 Oct. This is the second term in prison for each of them (click on their names to read the more detailed reports on their first prison terms). Their addresses in prison are listed below (note the corrected military ID number for Mia Tamarin, and Omer's surname, as listed in official documents): Sahar Vardi Military ID 6055780 Military Prison No. 400 Military Postal Code 02447, IDF Israel Fax: ++972-3-9579389 Tamar Katz Military ID 5396326 Military Prison No. 400 Military Postal Code 02447, IDF Israel Fax: ++972-3-9579389 Mia Tamarin Military ID 5399276 Military Prison No. 400 Military Postal Code 02447, IDF Israel Fax: ++972-3-9579389 Omer Granot Military ID 5398532 Military Prison No. 400 Military Postal Code 02447, IDF Israel Fax: ++972-3-9579389 CO Avichai Vaknin, on whose case we've reported in August, has now been exempted from military service on medical grounds, after two prison terms, and is no longer in danger of further imprisonment for his beliefs. Since the prison authorities often block mail from reaching imprisoned objectors, we also recommend you to send your letters of support and encouragement to the imprisoned objectors via e-mail to shministim@gmail. com, and they will be printed out and delivered to them during visits. --- 18/12/06 CO Hadas AmitHadas Amit, 19, a pacifist woman CO, was sentenced today (18 Dec.) to 14 days in prison for refusing. In a letter to the military authorities, announcing her refusal to perform military service, Hadas wrote: If I were to be recruited into the army, this would absolutely and in all respects contradict my convictions and my way in life, since violence, killing, nationalism and vandalism are not part of them. I am not willing to wear the uniform of an organisation responsible for killing and destruction, acting in a way detrimental to its environment. Every State, the State of Israel included, should act by peaceful means alone, and even if attached, not to respond with fire. In any situation, Israel's case included, it is wrong to sustain a military force trained for war and killing - this is altogether contrary to the pursuit of peace and coexistence with our neighbours in the Middle East Hadas appeared before the military Conscience Committee in November, but was rejected. Hadas reported that during her hearing she was constantly interrupted and had to suffer degrading and disrespectful comments. A member of the committee demonstratively left the room, and two other members were exchanging notes, with her sitting between them, while she was trying to answer questions directed to her. In a statement made on the eve of imprisonment Hadas wrote: I refuse to enlist in the IDF [Israel Defence Forces], as the D of "IDF" symbolises nothing but killing to me. Who is it that decided that I am not seeking peace, and put me with my back to the wall? I could either lie or pay the price of my principles. It is for morality and justice and the love of humankind that I shall be sitting in prison. Since early 2005, women COs in Israel are referred to the same internal military Conscience Committee as male COs (despite official legal recognition of women's right to CO), and there is no right of appeal on the Committee's decisions. Accumulating evidence strongly suggests that the military Conscience Committee is fundamentally biased against women. It seems difficult for the members of this committee (4 men and one woman; all but one of the men are military career officers) to perceive a woman as a person with principles, with a conscientious stance, and with commitment to this stance. As a result (although official figures are not released), the committee rejects a far higher percentage of applications by women than by men, and many of the women applicants describe their committee hearings as a degrading experience. Hadas is due to be released from prison on Friday, 29 Dec. Her prison address is: Hadas Amit Military ID 6175691 Military Prison No. 400 Military Postal Code 02447, IDF Israel Fax: ++972-3-9579348 Recommended Action First of all, please circulate this message and the information contained in it as widely as possible, not only through e-mail, but also on websites, conventional media, by word of mouth, etc. Other recommendations for action: 1. Sending Letters of Support Please send Hadas letters of support (preferably postcards or by fax) to the prison address above. 2. Letters to Authorities It is recommended to send letters of protest on Hadas' behalf, preferably by fax, to: Mr. Amir Peretz, Minister of Defence, Ministry of Defence, 37 Kaplan St., Tel-Aviv 61909, Israel. E-ma.il"sar@mod.gov.il.il"pniot@mod.gov.il Fax: ++972-3-696-27-57 / ++972-3-691-69-40 / ++972-3-691-79- Copies can be sent to the commander of the military prison at: Commander of Military Prison No. 400, Military Prison No. 400, Military postal number 02447, IDF Israel. Fax: ++972-3-9579389 Another useful address for sending copies would be the Military Attorney General: Avichai Mandelblit, Chief Military Attorney Military postal code 9605, IDF Israel Fax: ++972-3-569-43-70 It would be especially useful to send your appeals to the Commander of the Induction Base in Tel- HaShomer. It is this officer that ultimately decides whether an objector is to be exempted from military service or sent to another round in prison, and it is the same officer who is ultimately in charge of the military Conscience Committee: Amir Rogowski, Commander of Induction Base, Meitav, Tel-HaShomer Military Postal Code 02718, IDF Israel. Fax: ++972-3-737-60-52 For those of you who live outside Israel, it would be very effective to send protests to your local Israeli embassy. You can find the address of your local embassy on the web. Here is a sample letter, which you can use, or better adapt, in sending appeals to authorities on the prisoners' behalf: Dear Sir/Madam, It has come to my attention that Hadas Amit, Military ID 6175691, a conscientious objector, has be imprisoned for her refusal to perform military service, and is held in Military Prison No. 400. The imprisonment of conscientious objectors such as Hadas Amit is a violation of international law, basic human rights and of plain morals. Moreover, Hadas Amit's imprisonment comes after she had to undergo a degrading and unfair hearing procedure by a military committee, naturally biased against as a conscientious objector, and doubly biased against her as a woman conscientious objector. Enacting such a procedure is in its own right a violation of the basic standards of fairness. I therefore call for the immediate and unconditional release from prison of Hadas Amit, without threat further imprisonment in the future, and urge you and the system you are heading to respect the dignity and person of conscientious objectors, indeed of all human beings, in the future. Sincerely, 3. Letters to media in Israel and in other countries Writing op-ed pieces and letters to editors of media in Israel and other countries could also be quite useful in indirectly but powerfully pressuring the military authorities to let go of the objectors and in bringing their plight and their cause to public attention. UPDATE ON CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS IN ISRAELI MILITARY PRISON - NOVEMBER 6 2006 Yesterday, November 5, 2006 , Omri Evron and Yakir Peretz returned to the Israeli army's national induction center near Tel Aviv and refused to be enlisted for a second time. Each had already spent 14 days in military prison #4. Both Omri Evron and Yakir Peretz were sentenced for another term of 14 days. Yakir Peretz, a pacifist, is currently in prison #4. Yakir has said that he refuses to be part of an occupation army. I have the right not to be in the army and they are, at the moment, depriving me of that basic human right. Even if we were talking of an army of angels, I would not be obliged to support any armed struggle . Omri Evron, a pacifist too, refused to enlist and to wear a uniform and received, as during his previous imprisonment, additional punishment for this: he was put in solitary confinement. He commented: I refused to wear a uniform because I am not prepared to consider myself a soldier. Omri explains that he opposes the ongoing military occupation of the Palestinian people, an occupation that further entrenches and aggravates the hatred and terror between the two peoples . Since, during his previous term, he was left in his underwear for some time and deprived of his right to have books throughout, lawyers and activists are monitoring his situation closely. As for Omri's right to have books in solitary confinement - the prison authorities conceded he could have "holy books" and initially provided him with a Jewish prayer book. As a result of pressure from family, friends and lawyers, he eventually received "holy books" from various religions, like the Bible, Qur'an, and New Testament. Lawyers are communicating with the army to ensure Omri's right to books will be upheld. Both Yakir Peretz and Omri Evron will request a hearing at the army's "conscience committee" in order to be released on grounds of conscience. In support of the occupation refusers and COs , you may write to them at the addresses below. Letters of protest can be sent to the Minister of Defense - as below. Write to Omri Evron Militari ID: 6153157 Military prison 4, Military mail 02507 IDF Write to Yakir Peretz Military ID: 5346056 Military prison 4 Military mail 02507 IDF Write to the Minister of Defense Amir Peretz, Ministry of Defense, 37 Kaplan St , Tel Aviv 61909 pniot@mod.gov. il or sar@mod.gov. il or fax to: 03 6916915; 03 691 6940 -------- 10/06 Occupation Refuser Omri Evron Sentenced to 14 Days in Military Prison. Occupation refuser Omri Evron was sentenced Sunday, Oct 15, 2006 , to 14 days in military prison after he announced his refusal to enlist for regular mandatory service in the IDF. Omri was put in solitary confinement having refused to wear uniform and obey orders. Douzens of supporters demonstrated in support of Omri at the gate of the National Conscription Center . In his letter of refusal Omri wrote: “My refusal to enlist is in protest against the longstanding military occupation of the Palestinian people, an occupation that deepens and entrenches the hatred and terror between peoples… I refuse to serve an ideology that does not recognize the right of all nations to independence and a peaceful coexistence. In no way am I prepared to contribute to the systematic oppression of a civilian population and the deprivation of their rights – as it is being carried out by the apartheid regime and the Israeli military in the occupied territories. I am outraged by the starvation and incarceration of millions of people behind walls and checkpoints… I refuse to serve the arms industries, mega corporations, greedy contractors, preachers of racism and cynical leaders whose business is the advancement of suffering and who rob people of their basic human rights.. I refuse to kill! I refuse to oppress! I refuse to occupy!” Write letters to Omri Evron military ID 6153157, military mail 02507, IDF Yakir Peretz, too, was sentenced on Sunday 15 October 2006, to 14 days in military prison, after he refused to enlist on grounds of his pacifist conviction and his opposition to the Occupation. We first came to know of him because he was sentenced at the same time as Omri. Yakir said that he refuses to be part of an occupation army: "I have the right not to be in the army and they are, at the moment, depriving me of that basic human right. Even if we were talking of an army of angels, I would not be obliged to support any armed struggle." Yakir is serving his sentence in the A section of military prison #4. Yakir formed his decision not to enlist when he was?an 11th grader at high school. He was only partially informed about the existence of the army's "conscience committee" and his right to appear before it, so he turned up on his enlistment day and refused to be conscripted. He was seen, last Wednesday, by attorney Smadar Ben Natan, and decided to request a hearing at the "conscience committee". Yakir will write his letter, requesting to appear before the committee and be?released on grounds of conscience, in the next few days. Write to Omri Evron Militari ID: 6153157 Military prison 4, Military mail 02507 IDF Write to Yakir Peretz Military ID: 5346056 Military prison 4 Military mail 02507 IDF Write letters to the Authorities Mr. Amir Peretz, Minister of Defence, Ministry of Defence, 37 Kaplan St., Tel-Aviv 61909 , Israel E-mail: sar@mod.gov.il or pniot@mod.gov.il Fax: ++972-3-696-27-57 / ++972-3-691-69-40 / ++972-3-691-79-15 Chief Military Attorney, Military postal code 9605, IDF, Israel Fax: ++972-3-569-43-70 Write letters to your local Israeli embassy It is very effective to send protests to your local Israeli embassy. You can find the address of your local embassy on the web. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Next Generation of Youth Refusers 10.2006 A new group of young highschool refusers is now active. For photos from a recent demo in front of the PM's house jerusalem: http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART1/491/207.html 7.4.06 Occupation Refuser Aviv Sela sentenced to 21 days imprisonment Occupation Refuser Aviv Sela was sentenced Wednesday, April 5 2006, to 21 days imprisonment in a military jail #4 after he announced his refusal to be enlisted for regular mandatory service in the IDF. Dozens of friends, family members and supporters demonstrated in support of Aviv Wednesday morning at the gate of the national conscription center. In his letter to the Minister of Defence Aviv wrote: "I, Aviv Sela, hereby present you with my request to be exempted from military service on grounds of conscience, according to section 36 of the 1986 law of military service (meshulav version). I would like to ask you to refer this request to the authorized exemption committee. ?Though I did not grow up in an activist or political family, my family believed in humane values and in human equality and respect. My parents are not active in peace or human rights organizations: their one political activity is going to the ballot box. ?The more I saw of the occupied territories, the more clearly could I see the complexity of Palestinian society. When you are inside Israeli society you get the impression that Palestinian society is an extremist terrorist society. Once you are able to put aside these simplifications, you discover a complex society, with various factions and different ideas, and a variety of modes of struggle. This is how I got to know about non-violent protest, Palestinian protest, conducted either indirectly or directly, which has gained widespread publicity in Israel and internationally. ?These visits I made to the occupied territories gave me a better insight into what was happening on the other side of the Green Line and they are a major part of how I have come to understand the Israeli government's policy in the territories as illegitimate and something I cannot be part of". Write letters to Aviv Sela military ID 6883615, POB 02507 Zahal (IDF). Write letters to the Authorities It is recommended to send letters of protest on behalf of the imprisoned refusers, preferably by fax, to: Mr. Shaul Mofaz, Minister of Defence, Ministry of Defence, 37 Kaplan St., Tel-Aviv 61909, Israel E-mail: sar@mod.gov.il or pniot@mod.gov.il Fax: ++972-3-696-27-57 / ++972-3-691-69-40 / ++972-3-691-79-15 Another useful address for sending copies isthe Military Attorney General: Chief Military Attorney, Military postal code 9605, IDF, Israel Fax: ++972-3-569-43-70 Write letters to your local Israeli embassy It is very effective to send protests to your local Israeli embassy. You can find the address of your local embassy on the web. ----- 01/04/06 AVIV SELA IS REFUSING ? DEMO NEXT TO THE TEL HASHOMER DRAFT BOARD On Wednesday April 5, 2006 Aviv Sela will refuse his first call-up order to the Israeli army of occupation. Aviv will be sentenced to military prison for an unknown period of time. Aviv could have found other ways to avoid army service, however he chosen to refuse publicly in order to advance a public discussion about the occupation. "? I was taught that the State of Israel is a good state, with values, which doesn't harm people; that it is a state where the values of freedom and equality are its cornerstones and in which racism has no place. I grew up proud of the country and its blue and white flag. Three years I began to travel throughout the occupied territories on a regular basis and I saw that beyond the Green Line, everything I was taught was non-existent. "As an ordinary human being, who is neither naïve or wicked, I have no intention of being part of the Israeli army which carries out war crimes in the name of Israel's policy of occupation." COME AND SUPPORT AVIV ON HIS REFUSAL DAY ? COME AND JOIN THE DEMONSTRATION The demo will take place next to the Tel Hashomer draft board at 8:30AM Transport will be going from "Habimah" on Wednesday at 7:45 and at 8am from the El Al Terminal next to the Central Train Station For details contact: 054-4861184 050-6340093 --------------------------------- 29.09.05 Another Occupation Refuser Entering Jail Watch the video: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3148837,00.html Uri Natan sentenced to 7 days in military prison; Alex Cohn already in jail 130 days; Shaul Mograbi-Berger and Urwa Zidan sentenced for the third time Uri Natan and Shaul Mograbi-Berger were sentenced today, 28.9.05, to imprisonment in a military jail after they presented themselves at the national conscription center and announced their refusal to be enlisted for regular mandatory service in the IDF. Uri was sentenced to 7 days imprisonment, Shaul â?? to 14 days. About 100 friends and supporters came to accompany Uri and Shaul. Some of them, dressed in army uniform, presented passers-by with a "gift for our boys in the army": plastic handcuffs and "instructions" for humiliating peace activists. They gave a performance of soldiers arresting Palestinian civilians and activists, putting them in handcuffs and blindfolding them. Uri Natan was sentenced for the first time. In his letter to the Minister of Defense he wrote: "I have lived in Israel all of my life, for 18 years. Throughout these years I have been witnessing endless suffering around me, I have been seeing revenge leading to revenge and more revenge. Nothing has helped me understand the explanations and excuses that I have heard as to why the violence perpetrated by the Israeli side is to be preferred over that coming from the Palestinian side. The use of violence, killings, and intended harm and humiliation cannot be justified, I believe, and I cannot understand why it is presented as necessary. I cannot see any advantage in the intimidation of an entire population â?? all I can see is suffering heaped upon even more suffering â?? revenge causing revenge causing more revengeâ?¦ I am therefore letting you know that I shall not serve in the Israeli army". Shaul Mograbi-Berger was sentenced for a third term of imprisonment. Urwa Zidan (19) is now serving his third term in prison. Urwa, who was hospitalized recently due to illness, arrived to the conscription center with medical papers stating that he was ill but was sent directly to prison. Alex Cohn is now serving his eighth term in prison - a total of 130 days up to now. Ten days ago he was told that his case would be heard by a so-called discharge committee and was sent home meanwhile. A few hours later he received a call from the army canceling that decision and ordering him to return immediately. He was sentenced once again to a 14-day term in military prison. For more details: www.refuz.org.il , www.shministim.org Write letters to the Refusers Alex Cohn, military ID 6866693, military mail 02507, IDF Uri Natan, military mail 02507, IDF Orwa Zidan, military ID 7703714, military mail 02507, IDF Shaul Mograbi-Berger, military ID 7683912, military mail 02507, IDF Write letters to the Authorities It is recommended to send letters of protest on behalf of the imprisoned objectors, preferably by fax, to: Mr. Shaul Mofaz, Minister of Defence, Ministry of Defence, 37 Kaplan St., Tel-Aviv 61909, Israel E-mail: sar@mod.gov.il or pniot@mod.gov.il Fax: ++972-3-696-27-57 / ++972-3-691-69-40 / ++972-3-691-79-15 Another useful address for sending copies isthe Military Attorney General: Chief Military Attorney, Military postal code 9605, IDF, Israel Fax: ++972-3-569-43-70 Write letters to your local Israeli embassy It is very effective to send protests to your local Israeli embassy. You can find the address of your local embassy on the web. To learn more about conscientious objection in Israel visit our website www.refuz.org.il June 2005 Three youngsters from the group have already served repeated prison terms: Eyal Barami, Alex Kohn and and Misha Hadar Details also at: http://www.refuz.org.il/Default.aspx?alias=www.refuz.org.il/english 24.03.05 Eighteen year old Eyal Barami is the first member of the group to be imprisoned for refusing to serve in the IDF and asking instead to do national civil service. Others are soon to follow. Following is a request from the new Shministim Group to support two initiatives: 1. A support petition that will be published in Ha'aretz next Friday. 2. A demo in support of the Shministim at the Bakum Induction Centre next Tuesday. Yesh Gvul totally supports these initiatives and urges you to take part: Shalom to all our comrades, In the past couple of days one hears about the new Shministim letter everywhere. The letter is the result of a joint effort of high school youth. We are now concentrating our efforts to sign people on a petition that supports our act, and will be published in a newspaper. Any one who is interested to sign the petition should send us their name and details to the following e-mail address: Shministim@gmail.com THE PETITION: LET THEM CONTRIBUTE We, the undersigned, wish to bring our support and admiration for the 250 youth who sent a letter to the Prime Minister this week, in which they declared their refusal to serve the policy of occupation in the Occupied Territories. The call of conscience that these youth are voicing brings us hope. We were deeply impressed by the declaration of the "SHMINISIM" that they are interested in contributing to the Israeli society via alternative civilian service. We call on the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff to allow the signatories of the "Shministim Letter" to serve the Israeli society according to their conscience, within the framework of non-violent civil service. In addition, we wish to announce that next Tuesday two of the draft refusers are scheduled to be inducted into the Israeli army. We are organizing a demonstration on that morning, March 22, 2005 which will take place opposite the Tel Hashomer Draft Board. The exact time is still unknown, however we ask you to mark this on your calendars. Tt's important for us that as many people as possible will come. -------------------------- 3.12.04 Laura Milo was released from any IDF Duty. Thanks to everyone who helped. The Israeli Supreme Court rejected LAURA MILO'S petition to be granted a conscientious exemption from the Israeli army today (Monday, August 09, 2004). It's very symbolic that the decision was handed down on the same day that the senior treasury officials made public the principles for the 2005 budget, including a 6 Billion-NIS slash. The budget proposal includes: a cut in allowances for workplace accidents (to encourage people to work); a 20% increase in academic tuition (to encourage the poor to go to university); a 33% increase in bus fare for youth (to help the poor) and further salary cuts to public sector employees. At the same they propose more tax cuts for the rich (which will, no doubt, trickle down to the poor). You have to feel sorry for Supreme Court president Barak and his colleagues from the Supreme Court of Justice. The finest legal minds in Israel tried their best and just couldn't find any trace of morality or justice in the Israeli legal code. They really wanted to recognize Laura Milo's conscience and the conscience of all the refuseniks, but they just didn't succeed. They weren't able to find a single law that would prevent house demolitions and land confiscations for "security needs". Not a single law has been found to prevent the assassination of innocent civilians, and they couldn't even find the legal means to stop abusing the social rights of Israeli citizens. The Supreme Court didn't find the social conscience to accept the petitions of civil and social rights groups who pleaded with them to determine a minimal standard of living with dignity that Israel must provide its citizens with. The Supreme Court won't even intervene when the workers of 260 municipal and religious councils are denied their lawful salaries for months on end (but who cares most of the are Arabs, Orthodox or Sephardim). Apparently the Supreme Court can only function when a gun in the form of Hague is held to the head of the "honourable" justices. LAURA MILO volunteered for a year of service in the Negev underdevelopment town Yeruham working with the weakened population there. She asked to continue doing community work instead of being drafted. Apparently she will do her alternative service in prison rather than serving in an army of occupation. We have to keep on supporting Laura and the rest of the refuseniks. We have to carry on the struggle against the injustices of the Israeli establishment, whether by the "security" forces or the Treasury and the government against Palestinians, Israelis of work immigrants. Ha'aretz article on the brave Supreme Court decision:http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/462003.html Ways you can support the refuseniks: http://www.yeshgvul.org/english/article/?id=8811d70502372c03cb5023c51eb9f3ee More details about the 5 who were sentenced to a year: http://www.refuz.org.il 24/02/2004 In an apparently uncontrollable onset of gender equality, the IDF authorities have started giving women refuseniks the treatment hitherto reserved for their male counterparts. Laura Milo (19), who recently completed a year's voluntary community service in the southern development town of Yeruham, reported this week at the army induction centre where she declared her refusal to join the "army of occupation". "I cannot take part in the injustices that our state carries out by means of the IDF. I am no pacifist, my refusal is prompted by the occupation... I went to Yeruham out of a sense of pioneering, with the aim of creating a new model of community and movement work. I sensed, in myself and by way of my charges, the ugliness of our society and the injustice that shapes the policy of our government .... I refuse for a very personal reason, so that I can go on living in this country and feel at peace with the dictates of my conscience." Milo's act of conscience was rewarded with 14 days' detention. From experience, this is only a foretaste of what the army has in store for her. *** Milo was preceded by another woman refusenik, "I.G.", who completed her third term of detention last week. She will repost again on Wednesday, and will probably be sentenced for the fourth time. *** This week, the five draft resisters - Adam Maor, Haggai Matar, Matan Kaminer, Noam Bahat and Shimri Tzameret - were transferred to a civilian prison, to serve out the one-year jail sentences imposed in January by a military tribunal (on top of cumulative sentences of a year or more that each had served prior to the trial). Irrespective of where they are held, we will continue to support them in their struggle, and demand their early release ! ------------------ Fact Sheet, January 25, 2004 The Battle for Freedom of Conscience and Against the Occupation The Five Refuseniks Enter Prison, Protest Continues, New IDF Dirty Tricks, the Five Appeal After having been sentenced to an additional year in prison, the five, Noam Bahat, Adam Maor, Haggai Matar, Matan Kaminer and Shimri Zameret presented themselves on January 7,2004, by order of the court, to the authorities at Military Prison Number 6, near Haifa. Just a few days later, on Saturday, January 10, 2004, more than five hundred Israeli, Jews and Arabs, answered a joint call by Yesh Gvul and the Parents Forum and made the traditional climb up the hill opposite the prison to express their determination to continue the fight against the draconic sentence and their personal solidarity with the five. Dirty Tricks Never Stop Just a few days after the five entered prison and were still in the process of settling in, they were informed that a hearing by a special committee was being convened to examine a proposal that the five be transferred to civilian prisons. Neither the five, nor their lawyers or any of their many supporters were acquainted with this procedure. In a positive development, the Israeli Association for Civil Rights agreed to represent the five during the committee proceedings and their representative, Att. Avner Pinchuk met with the five and informed all parties regarding the nature of the proceeding. While the five and their attorney were preparing for the meeting scheduled for January 20, 2004, the five, their families and their attorney, Dov Khenin reached a final decision to appeal the verdict and the sentence. Khenin requested that the committee desist from discussing any matter related to the five, since the courts decision was not final. The IDF refused to delay the meeting of the special committee. High Level Internal IDF Committee Convened at Request of Prison Authorities It turns out that the IDF Prison System and the Israeli Prison Service have an agreement which permits the IDF to transfer military prison inmates to regular civilian criminal prisons. The decision on the IDF side is made by a high level committee composed of representatives for the prosecution, the Medical Corp, and a judge from the IDF Court System. The Israeli Prison Service is also represented. The committee, it was learned, met at the request of the Military Police which runs the military prison system. The suggestion to relocate the five was based on the following arguments. The five are really not soldiers, they refuse to become soldiers and the military prison system is devoted to getting soldiers who have erred back into harness. Moreover, the representative, backed by a thick file of what he referred to as antics by other refuseniks imprisoned on previous occasions, concerning such serious crimes as graffiti and wearing provocative tee-shirts, explained that the prison authorities had to devote the same amount of time and effort to several refuseniks as they needed for the rest of the whole prison population. He went on to explain that the five, even if they did not violate any rules are a living incitement and could corrupt prison discipline on a serious scale. The argumentation by the IDF Prison authority in demanding the relocation of the five was in direct contradiction to the position of the prosecution which claimed that "soldiers they are" and "soldiers they will be" and that they will be made to suffer until they accept that fact. At any rate, faced by the opposition of the five and lack of coordination in the IDF position, the committee decided to postpone its decision for a month. We are not rid of this new gambit by the IDF bureaucracy. The Five Appeal In the broadest of terms, the appeal submitted by Att. Dov Khenin argues that the lower court erred in not taking into account constitutional developments in Israeli law and their implication for freedom of conscience. It was mistaken in ascribing a serious social danger to the defendant's exercise of the right to refuse to conform. The court erred in concluding that the defendant's deportment constituted any danger to state security and judging them as though they were involved in a campaign of civil disobedience. The court erred in using against the five acts and beliefs they held as free citizens before their induction to the IDF. The appeal also argues that the court did not give do weight to the previous periods of incarceration in fixing the sentence, ignored previous less onerous punishment, and mistakenly included deterrence of others as a factor in sentencing the five. The date for hearing the appeal has not yet been fixed. If we do not destroy the occupation, the occupation will destroy us. ----------------------------------- Bound by their conscience -By Joseph Raz http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=377836 Even in refusal, there is no equality...: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=385189 ---------------------------------- Reported by Adam Keller, Gush Shalom: This should have been The Day - the culmination of more than a year of legal struggle, the day when the Jaffa Military Court would finally hand down its judgment on Haggai Matar, Matan Kaminer, Noam Bahat, Adam Ma'or and Shimri Tzameret. More than an hour before the time fixed by the court, hundreds of demonstrators turned up, holding signs: "We are all Refusers!" - "Refusing to Serve the Occupation!" - "Conscience in Prison -Stupidity in Power!" The news spreads that today admittance to the court is restricted to family members and journalists only - apparently in order to prevent repetition of last week's spontaneous rally inside the military court enclosure. But Anat Matar, mother of Haggai, negotiates with the court administration and succeeds in getting enough of us inside. When the Five filed in, they did get the hero's welcome which has become customary. Captain Yaron Kostelitz, the prosecutor, was visibly heartened by the court excepting his arguments last week: "Your honors did well in finding these five guilty, but your verdict must be completed by handing down a suitably harsh punishment. What we have here are ideological criminals, and former Supreme Court Judge Yitzhak Zamir already noted that these are the worst of criminals, since they not only break the law, but flout its authority, and therefore should be doubly punished. The very fact that they are idealistic people and in many ways positive characters should be counted against them, since it helps them find followers and spread their law-breaking further into the society." Kostelitz did not explicitly refer to last week's poll, showing that 30% of Israeli youths regard refusal as legitimate. He went on quoting many precedents on the issue of ideologically-motivated crime - most of them cases of settlers and extreme right fanatics such as he notorious Avigdor Eskin. "I object to this terminology of 'ideological crime' which my colleague of the prosecution introduces", said defence lawyer Dov Chenin. "It lumps together various criminal offenses which have no similarity whatsoever. Avigdor Eskin of whom my colleague spoke was convicted in several grave charges of assault and arson; there is nothing similar between him and the five standing trial today, who did not commit any violent act and indeed the act of which they have been convicted last week was their refusal to be in any way party to violence." Meanwhile, Kostelitz makes clear what the military system has in store for the Five: "These persistent lawbreakers must be made to render the military service which they owe to their country. It doesn't matter how long it will take: in the end they will be made to do it. If a heavier punishment and the fear of a still heavier one is the only way, then this way must be taken. It happened before. There were refusers as defiant as these ones, and the military courts knew what to do with them. Take Gadi Elgazi in 1980: he refused four times and was sentenced to a month each time; and when he persisted the military court gave him a whole year." "And that didn't help either!" sounded the voice of Gadi Elgazi in person, from among the public benches.... "Let me complete the story of Gadi Elgazi" said Adv. Chenin. "He was indeed sentenced to a year in prison. But after half a year he was pardoned and discharged from the army by the Chief-of-Staff of that time, Rafael Eitan. There was no question of demanding again and again that he enlist, as it seems the military system proposes to do now. I can only wonder at it that they want to go far beyond the policies of Eitan, who had the name of being a strict disciplinarian. 'What they don't do out of love, they will be made to do out of fear' - this new guideline of the military as expressed by the prosecutor in this courtroom, is not really new. Our people have heard it in past generations from such institutions as the Spanish Inquisition. In this very week we celebrate Hanukka, a holiday instituted to commemorate a provincial priest named Mattityahu who was faced with exactly such a guideline by the constituted authority of his time, an authority which demanded that he bow to an idol and threatened him with death for his refusal. It is part of our tradition to proudly remember his refusal and rebellion. "Such a guideline" continued Chenin, "has no place in a democratic state, a state which adopted a Basic Law on Human Dignity. My colleague has made extensive quotations of former Supreme Court Judge Yitzhak Zamir and of jurist Ruth Gavison. He submitted many articles by them as corroborating evidence to this court. Let me quote from one of these articles: 'A democratic state may find it necessary to punish a conscientious objector, but it should not try to break his will and force him into acts which are against his conscience.' In your verdict of last week your honors have stated that these five young people have acted out of moral and ideological abhorrence of being part part of an army which they consider to be perpetrating manifestly immoral acts. True, you have added that they also acted out of a wish to change public opinion in general, which you consider an illegitimate motive, but you did accept that the moral motivation was and is there. Let me say, that in the course of the past year i have come to know these young people quite well, and not only are they my clients but I am proud to consider them my friends. i can say quite confidently that they are not going to break, also by the imposition of further imprisonment. It will be no use to them, to the army or to the Israeli society. Much better to give them a chance to do three years of civilian service to the benefit of society as they are willing and eager to do. "My colleague of the prosecution said that a severe punishment must be imposed to deter other refusers. Leaving aside that a commission of very respectable jurists determined recently that it is inadmissible to impose a harsh punishment on a person not on the basis of his own acts but in order to deter others. Anyway, what deterrence is needed? Is what these young people already endured, more than a year of repeated imprisonment and detention, not enough to make crystal clear that the straightforward declaration of refusal on grounds of conscience is the most difficult, prolonged and painful way of getting out of the army? Is it not well-known that different avenues exist for getting exemption, such as appealing to a psychiatrist, and that the people who take these routes far outnumber the actual and potential refusers? "To sum up: You have determined that these young people are guilty of an offence under the military legal court, and deserve a punishment. In determining what the punishment should be you should be guided by the practice of your fellow judges in the military courts of the Israeli Defence Forces. I have gathered here for your attention several cases which I think are relevant. --Sergeant Yosef Bachar has been found guilty on three separate counts of beating up Palestinian detainees, and got three months of actual imprisonment and four suspended. --Soldier Saguy Harpaz wa found guilty of beating up a Palestinian detainee and got five months suspended. On appeal. one and half months of these were turned into actual imprisonment. --A Lieutenant Colonel publication of whose name was forbidden by censorship gave his soldiers orders, the fulfillment of which led to an unarmed Palestinian being shot to death. The military court which judged him stated that 'he had given an order whose illegality cries out'. They found that the fitting punishment was one month suspended. --Four soldiers of the Givati Brigade have repeatedly beaten up two handcuffed Palestinian children of whom one died later. Some of them got three months and some two months, plus demotion. --Four soldiers of the elite Duvdevan unit shot carelessly at a Palestinian car, killing its driver. They got a fine of one Agora [less than a US Cent]. On appeal this was changed to short terms of suspended imprisonment. "I could go on and give more examples. I can also mention that these represent the few cases of which the perpetrators were at all apprehended and punished. But it is enough to show the standards which the military judicial system applies with regard to offences committed out of moral callousness. I think it is self-evident that moral callousness is a worse phenomenon than moral sensitivity, which was the motivation recognized by this court for the act of which my clients are convicted. It would be only right and proper that their punishment be lesser." It was already long into the evening when the Presiding Judge Colonel Avi Levy made his dry announcement: "You understand of course that a judgment cannot be expected tonight. We need quite a bit of time to take all this into consideration." And so, we have still another act before the curtain falls, and the Five must wait several tense days more before they know their fate. --------------------- Doing things the hard way - the verdict of The Five Dec. 16, 2003 The courtroom at the Jaffa Military Court had never been so overcrowded. Special benches had been dragged in, filling the aisle and leaving hardly any room for passage. Activists, family members and journalists crowded into every available corner (there were four TV crews, who were chased out after the judges came in) and still as many as were in had to wait outside. At long last, the verdict in the trial of Noam Bahat, Matan Kaminer, Adam Maor, Haggai Matar and Shimri Tsameret was going to be delivered. After the Yoni Ben-Artzi verdict, nobody really expected a "not guilty." Clearly, they would be found guilty-as-charged of the formal aberration of "not obeying an order", but against our better judgement we were hoping that these boys' convincing moral stand did impress the court. But the Colonel Avi Levy who read the verdict seemed a different person from the presiding judge who had exhibited signs of moderation throughout the earlier sessions. While starting out by accepting the defence's contention that the Freedom of Conscience is a right under Israeli basic law and not just a privilege granted at the army's pleasure, the verdict proceeded to give it such an interpretation as to nullify its practical value. In essence, the verdict endorsed the military authority's policy and the judicial justifications for it as presented by the prosecution: exemption from military service should be granted only to pacifists and nobody else. The judge seemed less concerned with the ideological differences and more with practical ones: pacifists in his view are a small group which does not challenge government policies but just seek personal salvation and, so he stated, are not likely to grow significantly. But what the court dealt with here was far more serious: "We recognize that the accused do feel moral and ideological revulsion about taking part in an army which according to their belief is perpetrating manifestly immoral acts. But the act of refusal is derived not only from this revulsion but also - and perhaps mainly - from the wish of the accused to change public opinion in general, to effect a change in the views and in the behavior of those who are about to go into the army and of conscripts and reservists, and finally to cause a change in government policy and bring about an end to the occupation." Colonel Levy went into long and complicated legal as well as philosophical arguments reaffirming over and over again that this was a threat not to be tolerated, and that everybody must be made to go into the army and share equally the risk to life in defence of the country (no mention of the tens of thousands ultra-Orthodox who don't risk their lives while receiving generous allowances for studying in religious seminaries). "There exists no legally established alternative civilian service in Israel, so the military authorities cannot be blamed for failing to offer one as an alternative to the five accused. But it is the position of this court that even if it existed, it would not have provided a fitting answer for the case of these five. The requirement of equality is not that citizens just gifact that most soldiers in a modern army are non- combatants...). As the reading ended, we sat there in stunned silence. Only Reuven Kaminer, grandfather of Matan, got up and left the court shouting "Shame!" But outside the court there was the solid phalanx of press photographers and TV cameras, and behind them the activists who had not been able to enter. When the five emerged they got a hero's welcome of wild cheers and prolonged clapping. Then there developed a scene surely unequaled in the decades that this building has been used as a military court; something halfway between a political rally and a press conference. The chanting "Occupation is Terror - the Refuser is a Hero" and "Peace Yes - Occupation No" (some cried out "army no") lasted several minutes, until the TV crews managed to get the quiet to interview the five, their parents and their lawyer. "We are being punished for saying the word o-c-c-u-p-a-t-i-o-n. So here I say it again: occupation, occupation, occupation" said Matan Kaminer. "The most easy thing for an 18-year old in this country is to get an exemption from the army through all kind of backhand tricks. Anybody can do it, and many do. We chose to go the hard way. We say that the occupation is a moral abomination which moral people can not tolerate and that this is the reason that we refuse to enlist. If our sincerity means that we will sit many years in prison then we will sit many years in prison." "We say a truth that most of the public does not know, and that many choose not to know, and that's why we are being punished" said Haggai Matar. "They do war crimes and they expect us to keep silent. But we will not be silent. We will speak out against the occupation, even when we pay a price. After an exhausting year we find that the military court is not willing to listen to what we have to say. It turns out that Colonel Avi Levy is after all not more than a screw in the military machine. He is not the kind of person to shake the whole system." "The worse the occupation becomes, the more people will refuse." These words of Adam Maor were to go into the evening TV news of Channel-I. He went on to say: "A country which oppresses three and half million people and denies them the most basic human rights is a country which is bound also to oppress its own citizens. No wonder that this country is sending us to prison. No wonder that it is trampling the poor and the disadvantaged, as it does." Shimri Tzameret was next: "I am not deterred by this verdict. This court is part of the army, and the army is doing terrible and immoral things such as sending my friends to risk their life for Netzarim settlement and for Hebron, when everybody knows that eventually we will evacuate these places. The army is causing despair in the Palestinian society. In fact it is the army which is breeding the suicide bombers. This is the kind of army it is, and it is no surprise that this is the verdict handed by the court of this army." Last of the five was Noam Bahat: "It is important to remember that the war going on now is a war of choice, a war which is not needed for survival or self-defence. A war of choice is by definition immoral. We must refuse because this war will end only when people stop supporting it. I can't say that I am happy with this verdict, but it is in no way a reason for me or the others to give up." "I have listened most carefully to this verdict" said adv. Dov Chenin. "The test of whether a basic civil or human right is being respected is not when everybody agrees. The test is exactly when it is hotly controversial. The court said that the Freedom of Conscience is protected by Israeli law, but it refuses to apply it where it is most needed. If people like these five don't get the protection of the Freedom of Conscience, then this freedom doesn't exist. About this I have a strong debate with the court. This right was not given the weight it deserves, which in my view makes the verdict unconstitutional." (This was perhaps the first draft of an appeal to the Supreme Court.) Meanwhile, the last act of this court is still to come: next Tuesday (Dec. 23) at 2pm, the court is to hear the arguments of the prosecution and defence as to the fitting punishment, which is expected on that same day. [The information reached us that solidarity demonstrations for The Five took place today in London, Rome and Berlin, and that in France over thousand signatures were collected on a petition initiated by veterans who had themselves served prison terms for refusing to take part in the Algerian War.] For more information: Adv. Dov Chenin +972-3-5256333 / +972-68-249212 Anat Matar +972-3-5408977 / +972-58-560001 Messages of support to: Noam.Kaminer@exlibris.co.il Hebrew readers can follow the "Prison Blog" of Shimri at: http://e.walla.co.il/ts.cgi?tsscript=category&path=225 [Report written by Gush Shalom member Adam Keller on behalf of the Refuser Parents' Forum.] --------------------- http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/spages/372760.html 5 IDF conscripts convicted for refusal to serve By Lily Galili, Haaretz Correspondent The Jaffa military tribunal convicted five conscientious objectors Tuesday of refusing an Israel Defense Forces order. The five - Hagai Matar, Shimri Zameret, Adam Maor, Noam Bahat and Matan Kaminer - had claimed conscientious objector status on the grounds that they oppose serving in "an army of occupation." But the court ruled that their freedom to follow their conscience had to be balanced against equally important values, such as national security, which it said could be gravely impaired if the conscripts were exempted from service. Furthermore, the court said, the five high school seniors did not refuse to serve as individuals, but rather as a group, with the explicit goal of bringing about a change in Israeli policy in the territories. As such, the court ruled, their action strayed from the norms of classic conscientious objection into the realm of civil disobedience. In support of this finding, the court cited a letter the conscripts had signed in high school, in which they declared they would not serve in the IDF "as long as it acts as an army of occupation." The five rejected the court's criticism, and noted that had they wanted only to dodge the military draft they would have operated differently. According to the five, the publicity of their campaign to avoid military service demonstrated the pain associated with their decision, and ultimately led to their conviction. The five will be sentenced next week. Draft-dodging bears a maximum sentence of three years in jail, but defense attorneys are expected to argue that all five have already served substantial sentences, as they were kept under "open arrest," in which they were compelled to appear daily at an army facility for the nine months of their trial, and served jail time for refusal to serve before the trial began. In addition, Yonatan Ben-Artzi, one of the most well-known conscientious objectors, is expected to be sentenced shortly for his refusal to serve in the IDF. Unlike the conscripts convicted Tuesday, Ben-Artzi is claiming pacifism as grounds for release from military service. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=372760 --------------------------- [The following is the report of two days in the military courtroom (Nov. 11 and 12): the defence summation of "The Five" and the verdict of Yoni Ben Artzi.] For an hour we sat in the overcrowded and badly ventilated courtroom of the Jaffa Military Court, listening to presiding judge, Colonel Avi Levi, reading out a long verdict - hard to understand as he was rushing through the document. The text gave different and contradicting pointers as to the outcome. "We have become convinced of the sincerity of Yoni Ben Artzi's pacifist convictions, and we are far from feeling that the Conscience Committee acted at its best when it rejected his request for exemption. The assertion that he wanted to avoid military service for personal convenience does not stand up to the proven record of his spending than a year behind bars, and to his rejecting offers of easy and comfortable military service made to him by various high officers. Nor do we accept the prosecutor's contention that his participation in the Yesh Gvul rally proves him to be a political refuser rather than a pacifist. A pacifist could have political opinions, too. Objecting to Israel's rule behind the Green Line is exactly the opinion which we would expect a pacifist to hold and we would have been surprised to find him holding a different one. In his testimony in this court, Colonel Simchi - head of the Conscience Committee - admitted to many shortcomings of the committee which he led. He is to be commended for his honesty. Nevertheless, this committee is the constituted authority entrusted with determining whether or not a person liable for military service would or wouldn't get an exemption. This court is not empowered to act as a court of appeal upon the Conscience Committee. Moreover, Ben Artzi appealed against the committee's findings to the Supreme Court, and was rejected. This court is certainly not a court of appeal upon the Supreme Court. We cannot accept the learned councel's assertion that the military authorities' conduct towards the accused was so grossly unfair as to render the order upon him to enlist illegal. It was a legal order, and we cannot but find him guilty of disobeying that legal order. Nevertheless, we strongly call upon the military authorities and the minister of defence to review the facts of the case and to reconvene the Conscience Committee to discuss once again the issue of whether or not Yoni Ben Artzi should get an exemption from military service." Unlike the normal practice, the judges did not just disperse and end the session. Rather, as soon as he was finished, Colonel Levi summoned prosecutor Yaron Kostelitz and defending lawyer Michael Sfard and they remained closeted at his bureau for more than half an hour. Meanwhile, in the courtroom the TV cameras focussed upon Ben Artzi and his father Matanya, and all around intensive discussion and debate. Some who followed this trial from the start were furious: "Damn this judge! After all that was revealed, how can he find him guilty!" But Yoni himself did not seem so disappointed. "I am as satisfied as I could have been in a military court. These three judges have gone out of their way to state that they believe me, and accept the sincerity of my pacifist convictions, and they rejected one by one all the counter- claims of the prosecution. They did have to find me guilty on disobeying the order. After all, I did disobey that order." When finally emerging from the judge's bureau, and immediately pounced upon by the waiting journalists, Adv. Sfard was quite upbeat: "There is no question of discussing any punishment at this moment. The ball is now in the court of the army's Legal Department. They have to answer the very strong suggestion made by the court to reconvene the Conscience Committee. If I was in their place i would think twice before rejecting it. Despite the conviction they didn't come out of this trial very well. For the first time in the history of Israel, a military court - three judges acting unanimously - recognized a person in front of the m to be a pacifist. The court, a flesh of the army's flesh, is demanding from the military authorities to stop mistreating this fin young man, who has suffered enough, to grant him at last the exemption he should have gotten two years ago. Let's see what they will do." *** What will the implications of this verdict be for the other five draft resisters, in whose own court martial we heard yesterday the defence summation? Before the court started, some 150 people had turned up, quite impressive on a working day. Fortunately the rain had let up shortly before the demo began. Signs were unfurled: "Conscience in prison - stupidity in power", "Alternative Service to COs!", "Occupation is in the dock here!" and a group of youngsters started singing "Go to Hebron / Fight for Sharon / And come back in a coffin". Chen Gutman took the megaphone and read a poem written by Yehonathan Gefen some twenty years ago, before she herself was born: "We celebrate independence / On the backs of another people / We feel completely free / To kick them around and cut down their trees..." Will more generations have to grow up into the reality of ongoing occupation? At 9.00 we filed in. Knesset Members Bronfman, Barake and Makhoul showed up, as did former KM Gozanski. Dr. Anat Matar, philosophy lecturer and the mother of Haggai, spoke from the aisle: "There are far too many of us today to fit into this courtroom, even though we dragged extra benches in. Please go out at 10.30 and give your place to one of those waiting outside." From the dock where The Five sat, Matan Kaminer turned his head and smiled: "Thank you all for coming!" Then the judges entered. Adv. Dov Chenin, lawyer and veteran political and environmental campaigner, started his well-constructed exposition. "Last week in this courtroom, my colleague of the prosecution went on at length about the danger of anarchy and chaos which would ensue from tolerating Conscientious Objection. I defy him to produce even a single historical example of a state or society which was disrupted by the recognition of the Freedom of Conscience. There is none. But many are the examples of horrors which came upon societies and states by an excess of Non-conscientious Obedience. The experiments of Milgrom and other social psychologists have shown that a large part of humanity is capable of tolerating and taking part in evil acts - not necessarily out of cruelty or sadism, but simply out of conformism and acceptance of authority. Those who defy authority and stick to their own deeply-held perception of right and wrong are a vital lubricant to society. We need but look at the kind of person which our ancestors, who wrote the Bible, held up as an ideal. Look at te story of Moses. He only survived babyhood because two Hebrew women and an Egyptian princess conspired to break the Egyptian law according to which little Moses should have been drowned in the river together with the other babies. Growing up, Moses killed an Egyptian overseer who was beating a Hebrew slave, and had to flee into the desert as an outlaw. Then, he came back as an agitator fomenting dissent an rebellion among the slaves. Later still, this contentious person was debating with God Himself and often got the best of the argument. A bit later in history, in the first half of the Nineteenth Century, there was a person who took Moses as her example. A woman named Harriet Tubman, who regularly went into the south to take slaves away from the plantations and smuggle them to freedom. There was a price on her head, but since her nickname was "Moses" the pursuers did not look for a woman. By the terms of her time, she was a criminal. She deliberately broke the laws duly passed by Congress and enforced by the Supreme Court of the United States. She was a thief, who stole from the slave-owners a lot of valuable property. Yet today who of these people would be considered the criminal? Yet, you may well ask: what has all this to do with this court? This is a court of law, it can only render judgement according to the law of the land, not according abstract moral or philosophical principles. But that is exactly my contention: the Freedom of Conscience, this vital spark which is so crucial to human society, is indeed recognized as part and parcel of Israeli law. My colleague of the prosecution, who spoke at length on obscure points of military procedural law, made hardly any mention of the Constitutional Revolution which occurred in the Israeli judicial system in 1992, when the Knesset adopted the Basic Law on Human Liberty and Dignity. As Judge Aharon Barak, President of the Supreme Court, has shown, from that moment on the basic human rights have become a fundamental norm of Israeli law, a norm to which all state institutions and agencies must conform. All state institutions and agencies, that also includes the army.And, as Judge Barak and his colleagues pointed out on numerous occasions, among these rights, and not the least of them, is the Freedom of Conscience. This does not mean, of course, that every person can take any action which comes to mind, and claim that it deserves to be defended by the Freedom of Conscience. It is up to the person to prove that said action does indeed derive from conscience - that is, from deep and fundamental convictions about right and wrong, convictions so deep and fundamental that by breaking them you would break the person. But once a person proves this point - and it is my contention that the five young men standing trial here did amply prove that their refusal to enlist in an army of occupation does originate from such deeply held convictions - then that person's act is protected as part of the Freedom of Conscience. In our legal system, no right is absolute - neither the Freedom of Speech nor the Freedom of Movement, and also not the Freedom of Conscience. When a person is suspected of a crime, the police may arrest him and put him in a cell, which evidently violates his liberty. But the police may not do so arbitrarily. There is a law which defines exactly when they may arrest a person, how long they can hold him and under what conditions. The same with any other right. It may be infringed in order to preserve another right or a value upheld by society - but as the Basic Law states and the Supreme Court reiterated, such an infringement of a basic right can only be justified when it is according to a specific law and when there is a near certainty of its being needed for the sake of preserving another value. In the entire presentation made last week by my colleague of the prosecution, not the slightest mention was made of any of this. No reference to a law by which the military authorities may infringe the Freedom of Conscience, no proof that such infringement was needed with near certainty. It is not the prosecutor's fault that such a huge gaping hole was left in the argument which he presented. He did his work conscientiously, faithfully representing the position and practice of the military authorities. It is simply that those authorities have not yet realized that a constitutional revolution has occurred, and that it applies to them, too. Still, this hole does gape, and through it the five accused must walk out free." Adv. Chenin sat down. "The court thanks the prosecution and defence for the well-thought out presentations which they made to this court. This is a very complicated case, which the court will have to deliberate closely. Don't expect a verdict in less than several weeks." *** Report made by Adam Keller for the Refuser Parents Forum Contact persons: Smadar Nehab "Anat Matar" "Reuven Kaminer" Donations: Checks earmarked for "legal aid" to New Profile, POB 6187 Ramat HaSharon 47271, Israel ----------------------- 22/10/03 A few minutes before the beginning of the solidarity vigil on the afternoon of Sunday Oct, 19, somebody came up with a new slogan: "Conscience in Prison, Stupidity in Power!" Blank placards were drawn up on the sidewalk opposite the Defense Ministry gate, and the new slogan joined old favorites such as "Down With The Occupation!" and "Occupation Is Terror - the Refuser is a Hero!" Some 150 people had come to express solidarity with the imprisoned refusniks, now entering the last stages of the year-long ordeal at the Jaffa Military Court. Old and young were there, past and present refusers, parents and friends and sympathizers. The youngsters were singing the unofficial anthem: "No thank you Mr Sharon / Go yourself to Hebron / Damn your schemes, all to hell / Off we go to prison cell!" On the following morning, all who could afford to miss a working day crowded into the narrow hall at the court. KM Issam Mahoul was there, as well as a couple of "ecumenical accompaniers" from the World Council of Churches and several representatives of the international press. As on previous sessions, the five youngsters got prolonged applause as they filed in and took their places at the dock. The equally young military police accompanying them seemed quite friendly disposed. Today, the cross-examination of Shimri Tzameret, Adam Maor, and Noam Bahat was scheduled, the other two - Chaggai Matar and Matan Kaminer had theirs already in September. The prosecutor, Captain Yaron Costelitz, had managed to prepare himself by obtaining a considerable number of leaflets and press releases by the various refuser movements, as well as the full text of Shimri's "prison blog", new installments of which appear every week on the Israeli Walla news website [ http://e.walla.co.il/ts.cgi? tsscript=category&path=225 ], trying to rattle the young COs with a flood of quotations. "So you think the war is not really necessary, do you? That the government could have ended it easily enough by just withdrawing? So you know better than all the generals, and all the decisionmakers, on the basis of the enormous experience and knowledge you gathered in your 19 years of life?" The youngsters stood their ground. "I did not take the decision to refuse in one day. I pondered for years what I was going to do. I read a lot of material and spoke with many people and had sleepless nights of thinking and debating with myself. I came to the conclusion that the army's acts in the Occupied Territories are flagrantly immoral and violating international law", said Shimri Tzameret. "Violating international law? We seem to have here an eminent jurist, also! Don't you know that the Supreme Court ruled all these actions to be justified and necessary for saving lives?" "That is not true; in some cases the Supreme Court forbade things which were being done for years. For example the torture of Palestinian prisoners." "But if the Supreme Court rules that your refusal is totally illegal, would you persist in it? Would you undermine the rule of law that much?" "You are an observant Jew. Would you obey the Supreme Court if it ruled that you must eat ham?" Adam Maor was subjected to prolonged questioning about the letter which the refusers signed last June, calling from the military prison upon Palestinians to avoid attacks on civilian targets, and which was published widely in both Israeli and Palestinian press. "You wrote specifically asking your Palestinian friends to avoid killing civilians. Does that mean that you approve of the killing of soldiers?" Tense silence in the court. Everybody had seen the morning headlines telling of three soldiers ambushed and killed in a West Bank village. "I am very much against killing in general, of civilians or soldiers. In that letter we specifically mentioned other courses of action Palestinians may take, such as mass demonstrations, hunger strikes or the dismantling of army roadblocks. Still I must say, if a foreign army was occupying Haifa where I live, if roadblocks were depriving all of us of the most elementary freedom of movement, if we had grown up seeing our fathers being humiliated by the foreign soldiers - frankly, I don't know how we would have behaved." Later, Costelitz tried to dig into the meanings of the Highschool Letter which the five together with some 300 others had signed. "When you write: 'We call upon all those soon to be conscripted to do as we do' does that mean that you call upon all of them to refuse military service?" Before defense attorney Smadar Ben-Nathan could voice an objection, the presiding judge, Lieutenant Colonel Avi Levi sternly reprimanded the prosecutor: "Before asking such .a question, it i your duty to warn the accused that his answer may implicate him in more serious charges than those he faces in this court, namely Incitement to Mutiny." Throughout the trial, Colonel Levy seemed to act in an eminently fair way, which is of course no guarantee for the final outcome. When it came the turn of Noam Bahat, Costelitz produced a thick file of Bahat's correspondence with the military authorities. "I have here the letter which you wrote to the army at the age of 17, and another letter from half a year later, and also a letter which your parents wrote to the army on your behalf at the same time. None of them mentions a principled objection to military service. In fact, the only request you made at that time was not to go to a combat unit. You have come quite a long way since, isn't it?" - "If you read these letters you must know that at that time I contemplated joining the army's Educational Corps and helping those soldiers who come to the army with lack of basic education, some of them actually illiterate. Since I have already some educational experience and that is what I want to do in life, I thought that would be the most useful thing I can do. But gradually I realized that the education which the army provides to such people is short and superficial, and its main purpose i still to make them into 'usefull parts of the military'. Also, while I had this correspondence I heard from friends who already went into the army what is really going on in the territories. For example, the practice of forcing Palestinians to be human shields when soldiers are besieging suspected terrorists and force their neighbors to go first into the building, and thus sometimes get killed. Later it was very much in the news. But I had already heard about it first- hand from friends. I decided I could not be part of a body which does such things. I am still very much willing to do educational work, as a service to the society, but in a civilian framework." "In January you had a hunger strike in your cell. I have here the press release where you are quoted as saying that you are persecuted for your opinions. Is that really what you said? Persecuted for opinions - not for disobeying legal orders?" - "Yes, indeed! That's what I said then, and that is what I say now. I and the rest of us are suffering for our opinions. There is in the army a procedure that a soldier who persists in making trouble upon enlistment is sent three times to a month in prison, and after ninety days or so gets to the Incompatibilty Committee which throws him out of the army. I know somebody who went to the Induction Center on the same day I did and he refused without giving any political or ideological reason. He is already out for more than half a year. Later I talked with an officer at the Induction Center, who told me that is really the procedure but that there is an order not to apply it to principled refusers. So, yes, we are here in this court not because of our disobedience but because of our opinions." With this day-long session a long-drawn out process of testimonies and cross-examinations came to an end. The next session, on November 4, will be devoted to the final summations of prosecution and defence, after which the final verdict should not be too long in coming. Still before that is expected the verdict in the separate trial of the "unrecognized pacifist" Yoni Ben-Artzi. (The army's official doctrine is that, while an objector to the occupation is ineligible for exemption a true pacifist could go free.) Meanwhile, on the day of the trial, a new refuser was reported to have embarked that morning on the long and weary way of confronting the military system. Three other draft resisters are still trapped in the limbo of going in and out of ever renewed monthly prison terms, while four reservists are presently incarcerated for refusing service in the occupied territories. Report made by Adam Keller for the Refusenik Parents Group Contact persons: Smadar Nehab "Anat Matar" "Reuven Kaminer" Donations: Checks earmarked for "legal aid" to New Profile, POB 6187 Ramat HaSharon 47271, Israel - ------- 10/08/03 By Lili Galili , Haaretz An unexpected twist occurred Sunday in the trial of draft refuser Yonatan Ben-Artzi when a Jaffa military court recommended that he be brought anew to the army's conscience committee. In a well-publicized conscientious objection case, Ben-Artzi, the nephew of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has already served 200 days in military prison after the committee refused in an earlier hearing to recognize him as a pacifist. [Actually, Yoni is already "celebrating" a year in prison. GS] The Jaffa court on Sunday cut off summation discussion and issued its recommendation for Ben-Artzi's re-appearance before the army's conscience committee. It issued this recommendation to the IDF Advocate General after conferring behind closed doors with the prosecutor and defense counsel in the Ben-Artzi case. The Jaffa court opined: "We believe that in light of new materials [that have surfaced]...the army draft board should consider the arguments for a re-hearing" of Ben-Artzi's claims. The court was referring to the testimony of Yonatan Ben-Artzi himself, as well as that of his sister and IDF Colonel Shlomo Simhi, who headed the conscience panel before which Ben-Artzi originally appeared. Ben-Artzi's attorney, Michael Sefarad, said Sunday that he views the court's recommendation as a rebuke of the decision reached by the conscience committee to refuse to grant his client pacifist status. In an appearance before the Jaffa court, Simhi stated that while Ben- Artzi might genuinely believe that he is a conscientious objector, the IDF committee believes otherwise. ------- 29/7/03 New phenomenon revealed in Jaffa Military Court: THE IMAGINARY PACIFIST "Yoni doesn't lie; he really believes he is a pacifist; but the Commission has no doubts: he isn't" thus could be summarized what Colonel Shlomi Simchi admitted in an hours-long cross-examination by Adv. Michael Sfard. Simchi had headed the Conscience Committee which rejected Yoni Ben-Artzi's application for CO status. Yoni joins the honour with Martin Luther King whose credentials as a genuine pacifist were also put in doubt by the colonel. This caused an explosion of laughter of the family and friends, among them Uri Avnery, on the spectator benches. And further on the name Tolstoi seemed to mean nothing at all. All this came up after Sfard exposed the total lack of criteria or guidelines of the army's Conscience Commission. Sfard compared the percentage of successful applications to the Conscience Committee and it turned out that over the years less than 5% were recognized. Sfard had with him a dossier showing the statistics in other countries which have conscription and do recognize the freedom of conscience, in all of which 60% to 95% of applicants succeed to get CO status. Simchi responded that he neither knows nor cares about other countries. Then Sfard showed him the statistics for Israeli women draft refusers who go through a different commission, composed of civilians, unlike the one for males. There, the number of successful applications is 95%. Moreover, the number of applications by women is tenfold that of the males. Sfard | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Previous Updates Press Release: Draft Resisters Parent?s Forum July 15, 2003?07?15 Speaking Truth to Power: An Ode to Humanism in the Testimony of Young Israelis Refusing to Join an Army of Occupation Despite the fact that the date was chosen arbitrarily, the deliberations that took place in the Jaffa military courtroom are a tribute to Bastille Day. In the framework of the trial of the five draft resisters who are refusing to join the IDF because their conscience does not permit them to serve in an army of occupation, the court heard the testimony of Shimri Tsameret, Adam Maor and Noam Bahat. (The other two, Haggai Matar and Matan Kaminer testified in a previous session). The values of freedom, equality and solidarity were woven into the testimony of the three. The courtroom was packed with supporters, including Israel Prize laureates Shulamit Aloni and Professor Dan Meron. The trial began with the testimony of Col. Noam Burstein, who heads the Conscript Division in the Mobilization Base. In this capacity Burstein was responsible for the repeated sentencing of the conscientious objectors. In the cross examination by Adv. Dov Khinin, the defendents? attorney, Burstein admitted that he had never seen any official order or regulation dealing with conscientious objectors and that he does not know of any such official procedure, despite the fact the during the period that he holds his position, he was personally responsible for sending tens of conscientious objectors to prison. Burstein admitted that he had never been present in any briefing on the subject of conscientious refusers and that he had never received any tools from the IDF to deal with the subject. He explained that the method of dealing with refusenicks is a ?mixture of personal discussions and prison sentences?, which often convinces the refusenick to change his mind and agree to be mobilized. After this, the court continued to hear the testimony of Shimri Tsameret. In the first part of his testimony on June 24, 2003 Shimri began to explain the motives for his conscientious refusal. He concentrated on the tremendous damage done to Israeli society by the endless occupation. Previously he talked about the damage from terror acts, the psychological harm to soldiers serving in the occupation and the seepage of corrupt norms into Israeli society. ? I believe that the war we are engaged in,? he said, ?could be avoided and only political egoism as well as errors of judgment prevent the public and its leaders from being stopped. This is a war of choice and not necessity and its victims are unnecessary. ? Shimri gave examples of a list of subjects that vanish from the public?s agenda because of the ?security situation.? Among other matters, he cited social problems, economic polarization, ecological issues, and discrimination between different groups. This distorted public agenda, totally determined by the occupation and problems stemming from it, leads to the loss of faith of the public in its leaders and to the degeneration of the media. and the deterioration of Israeli democracy. During the testimony, the prosecution staff was augmented by General Enat Ron, head of the army prosecutor?s office. By chance, a few minutes after her appearance, Shimri cited her as being responsible for denials and whitewashing in the case of the death of a child, Khalil el Morabi. He expressed sorrow over the lack of any media coverage in this affair as a symptom of the very same moral degradation which he reviewed. Shimri concluded his testimony with a number of personal experiences, some of which were based on participation in the activities of women from MachsomWatch (Checkpoint Watch) and other events regarding his family history. In citing the conclusion of the play ?Ashkavah? (Requiem) by Hanoch Levin, he explained the individual?s commitment to assume personal responsibility and to shape his own life and the life of the society in which he lives. ?It is forbidden to give up on the dream?, he said. ?It is the refusal to give up on my hopes and my dreams ? which has motivated me in my decision to refuse.? Adam Maor testified after him. Adam spoke of a number of cases which typified the evils of the occupation and the critical role of the IDF in enforcing these evils. It was like that in the Kfar Yanoun affair, as well as the Southern area of the Hebron hills. ?Any person who saw or heard about what happened in Yanoun would be shocked. Every sane person would understand that Avery Ron, the settler, is the leader of all of the activity in the area and is a terrorist, and even a model of terrorism. But I want to stress at this point that my wrath is not directed at the settler, Avery Ron and his gang. Religious and nationalist fanaticism and severe manifestations of racism such as these are things that have happened all over the world and in every period. Many groups, including the Jewish people, have suffered such pogroms. The question is, in my mind, what does the sane majority do in such cases. Of course, if Avery and his gang would come to my house and rob me, no one would permit this to go on for two hours, or more than once. Of course, if the Yanoun residents would enter a settlement, the army would respond with speed. But when Avery and his gang torment Palestinians they enjoy immunity if not full cooperation. The sane majority in this case does not stop the terrorists, it finances them, defends them and cooperates with them. Thus, people who have nothing in common with these fanatics, defend them, discriminate between them and their victims, and implement many of the deeds that the IDF performs to advance the criminal settlement project such as the annexation of land from Palestinians for military purposes, so as to build new settlements and the like. When the IDF becomes a tool in the hands of fanatics, all its soldiers, either as a result of a lack of understanding or simply not caring, become fanatics themselves.? Adam talked about his meeting with Brian Avery and his sincere admiration for the International Solidarity Movement volunteer who was seriously wounded when he tried to defend Palestinians in Jenin. He concluded his testimony by telling of his love for music and how this guides him in his refusal to deny a normal life from the Palestinian population. ?If you participate in the occupation you become responsible for it, responsible for the immoral acts perpetrated in the territories and responsible for the terrorist actions.? Noam Bahat testified after him. His testimony was devoted mainly to his role as an educator and the deep contradictions that he discovered between the educational system which disseminates ?occupation values? and between his understanding of morality. In cases where the law harms the interest of the weak, physically and spiritually, violates their freedom, discriminates against them, renders them illegitimate or denies them freedom of expression or freedom of conscience or other freedoms anchored in basic freedoms, I consider it my civil and moral duty to violate the law. You can try other things, but if they are not successful you cannot allow the law to eliminate people?s basic rights." Noam analyzed the values inculcated in Israeli youth via the educational system and discussed his efforts as a youth leader to change this reality. He also discussed the way he was exposed to the level of crime perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinians. He expressed amazement over how very few, the number of people who know about these tensions. He determined ?that everything that appears evil is indeed evil, but people refuse to understand that they are Goliath and want to see themselves as David, small, weak, heroic and wise. In truth we are just another country exploiting and tormenting the Palestinian people and workers almost to the point of slavery. In the face of this reality,? testified Noam, he feels that he "must refuse to join the IDF". The date of the continuation of the trial is yet to be determined. Checks earmarked for "legal aid" to New Profile, POB 6187 Ramat HaSharon 47271 ---------------------------------------- FROM GUSH SHALOM June 24, 2003 Dramatic days at the Jaffa Military Court. Today: three young refusniks delivered stirring, hours-long anti-occupation addresses of a kind never before heard in an Israeli military court. It followed yesterday's session of the resumed Ben-Artzi Trial, in which the prosecution ties itself in knots trying to prove that a pacifist is not a pacifist. [] June 23, Ben Artzi's court martial the prosecutor's predicament [] June 24, court martial of "The Five" the occupation in the dock \\// //\\ \\// //\\ \\// [] June 23, Ben Artzi's court martial the prosecutor's predicament As the court martial of Yoni Ben-Artzi resumes, a disappointment: two intriguing witnesses who were expected, didn't show up. Colonel Shlomi Simchi - head of the army's Conscience Committee, which persistently refused to recognize Ben Artzi as a pacifist - was "too busy" and would come on a different occasion. The same with Brigadier Avi Zamir, Deputy Head of Manpower, who had tried to negotiate with Ben-Artzi on "easy terms of service" and when that failed ordered Ben-Artzi court-martialed. The first witness who appears: Ruti Ben-Artzi, sister of the accused, who came over from Columbia University in the US where she is completing a PhD. in Political Science. "I am twelve years the elder; I know Yoni since I helped change his diapers and have followed closely his development. Already in the highschool he objected to lectures by officers who came to the school to prepare children for military service. Nor did he want to take part in school outings to the Mount Herzl National Cemetery and the like.And I witnessed myself how deeply he was moved when the family visited Verdun, France and saw these terrible cemeteries with hundreds of thousands of mostly anonymous tombstones. 'How futile, the Germans and French killing each other, and now they use both the same currency.' I see it that he came back from France a determined pacifist" The prosecutor his cross-examination tries to trip her up on many minor details. "Is it not true that your father described this a bit different, three years ago in a newspaper interview? And how come your grandfather thinks maybe just afraid?" (The extremely heterogeneous Ben-Artzi family is much sought-after by the press.) Then, Yoni Yechezkel - a refuser who shared prison terms with his namesake and who last week got a sudden and unexpected discharge from the Conscience Committee (the first applicant to gain an exemption since the committee was formed in 1995). The questions of Adv. Michael Sfard reveal a refusnik of quite different style, a bit flippant one who frequently went AWOL, played a kind of cat and mouse game with the military authorities and had been quite frankly willing to make all kind of compromises ("I told the army I don't care what way they get me out, Conscience Committee, Incompatibility Committee, psychiatrist - whatever they choose, but they will never make a soldier out of me"). Also Yechezkel was cross-examined, and the prosecutor - who tries so assiduously to disprove Ben Artzi's pacifist credentials - was now in the opposite role of bolstering Yechezkel's. But he was unconvincing in trying to show that Yechezkel is more of a pacifist than the punctual and principled Ben Artzi. [] June 24, court martial of "The Five" the occupation in the dock For a whole hour, before the scheduled time of today's trial, dozens of youths lined the sidewalk in front of the building, holding up placards and chanting "Occupation is Terrorism! - The refuser is a hero!" Long before the judges came in, the small courtroom was filled far beyond capacity with many envious activists left outside. In the front row were sitting Knesset Members Roman Bronfman (Meretz) and Muhammad Barake (Hadash communists) as well as former KM Tamar Gozanski. When the five accused filed in, they were greeted with prolonged applause. Adv. Dov Henin started by outlining the main defence line. "This trial is not about technicalities and obscure points of the law. This trial is about a major constitutional issue which no Israeli court has dealt with before. The conscience is the most basic part of human dignity, the part of the personality which defines the essential values; the part which if broken, breaks the whole person. It is the contention of the defence in this trial that Freedom of Conscience is already enshrined in israeli law and has been for the last ten years, ever since the Knesset adopted the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Liberty - even though the military authorities so far did not take proper cognizance of the fact. The defence asks the court's indulgence in listening to the five accused. Each one should have the full possibility of showing that his decision to refuse military service does indeed proceed from deeply held convictions - the dictates of his conscience." The first to take the stand is CO Haggai Matar. He speaks out of his already considerable personal experience with the occupation, to which he adds long quotes from the reports of human rights organizations as well as stories which he heard from military prison cell-mates who have been to the territories. "In 1999, I joined a special of joint summer studies by Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian pupils. Soon afterwards I started correspondence with a Palestinian Administrative Detainee who was held in an Israeli prison for six years without trial. When at last he was released I visited him in a house riddled by Israeli bullets and with broken furniture. I joined actions of the Gush Shalom and Ta'ayush movements. We went to the territories to rebuild houses demolished by the army, to provide humanitarian help in towns hit by closure or curfew, to support Palestinian villagers who have been violently assaulted by settlers. Always, soldiers tried to block us and in many cases used violence against us. In 2001, I met again with some of the Palestinian pupils of the summer camp and they told harrowing stories of being beaten up and arrested by soldiers. One told of witnessing his friends in Ramallah being shot to death. On August 20, 2002, three days before I was due to present myself for enlistment, i and several other activists got an emergency call to go to Yanoun Village, a tiny place where settlers have so terrorized the inhabitants that the Palestinians all left. We came there and the empty houses were terribly depressing and somber sights. We were very happy that due to our presence the people started coming back. With all my experiences, I had no doubt: I absolutely don't want to be and can't be part of the Israeli army which I don't think has any longer the right to call itself an army of defence." [The above is excerpted from a two-hour speech; full text in Hebrew and English available from Anat Matar ] * The philosophical analysis of CO Matan Kaminer, next in line, was no less impassioned. "In this testimony I would like to describe the guiding lines of my conscience and explain why it is incompatible with service in today's Israeli army. For some people the basic value from which their conscience is derived is God's word. For others it is loyalty to their country. For me the basic value is human liberty, human rights. I believe that all human beings have inalienable rights such as the right to life, the right to equality, to welfare, to education, to association, to democracy. All of these rights are violated in countless ways by the occupation - mainly violated as regards the Palestinians, but in many ways also regarding Israelis. The right of Palestinians to life is violated by the policy of liquidations (which indirectly causes also the loss of Israeli life, as we saw last week), and by the constant military activity in populated areas which causes the death and wounding of civilians. The right to equality, both of Palestinians and of Israelis living within the Green line is violated by the policy of settlement which takes land, resources and basic human dignity from Palestinians and which discriminates against most israelis in the division of national resources. The right of Palestinians to welfare and to education are violated by the ongoing closures and curfews which cause the sky-rocketing unemployment figures and the severe disruption of the educational system. The most fundamental, though not necessarily the most directly painful, is the violation of the right to live in democracy. The very very rule over another people which is denied the right to control it's own life and future is a flagrant violation of that right, and after 36 years the pretense that the occupation is temporary wears thin. The contempt for democracy is gradually crossing into Israel proper, with racist extreme right parties becoming an acceptable and common component of government coalitions. The deprivation to the right of democracy of the Palestinians is the root cause of all the crimes which accompany the occupation - both the crimes of the occupier of which I described part, and the crimes of the occupied, pushed to immoral and inhuman ways of struggle. Neither set of crimes is in any way justified. Both are direct derivatives of the occupation and can only be abolished by the occupation itself. From all of this, it logically follows that service in the army, which is the main instrument for implementing the occupation is totally against my conscience. My decision to refuse enlistment does not mean that i am against the state of Israel, against the people in israel, or against the Israeli society of which I am part. On the contrary, I feel impelled to do all i can for the Israeli society. I did it in the past and intend to go on doing it. The occupation is a terrible crime; an immoral and malignant crime against another society which spreads also to our own society, strangling and poisoning it. Obviously, in such a situation i can't go into the army. I can only ask that my conscience be recognized and that i be provided an opportunity to do alternative civilian service for the benefit of the Israeli society. [Summary provided by Matan himself and translated by us. Full Hebrew text available from: Noam Kaminer ] * At three in the afternoon it was the turn of Shimri Tzameret, whose testimony was interrupted by the court adjourning at 5 pm. "Already for years I know that i am not going to join the army. I know it with as much certainty as I know that I will never kick a homeless person lying on the sidewalk, never rape a woman, and when I will have a child - never abandon it. We all of us have our own reasonings and my reasons are a bit different from those who spoke before me. I feel that there is no need to detail what the occupation is doing to the Palestinians. What it is doing to ourselves is reason enough. First I want to talk about the suicide bombings. It is a very central part of our life here in this country and many of us are touched personally in one way or another. It happened a bit more than a year ago, exactly on the day when i decided to tell my schoolmates that i am going to refuse to serve in the army, that a suicide bombing happened in which the mother of one of the girls in the school was killed. And later on the day it turned out that her sister was killed as well. It brought home to me what does it mean, that the life of this girl whom I knew will never be the same again; how terrible it is when something like this is suddenly breaking in to a life. Some of my schoolmates were angry with me; they said: how can you refuse to go to the army when such things happen. I told them: that is exactly the reason that i am refusing: the army being in the territories is not a way to stop terrorist attacks; it causes them. Exactly because I told Merav that i feel committed to do whatever I can to prevent such things from happening again to others, I feel that one of the most important things which I as an individual can do, is refusing to serve in the army. After all, everybody knows how the present situation will end: always in the last centuries the rebellion of an occupied people eventually ended in its freedom. The only question how much time it will take, and how many more casualties there will be. I try to make both a bit less. Another point: what the occupation is doing to our society. I want to tell about Rami, whom i met in the prison. I sat with him for hours, listening. It is incredible how many terrible things he had witnessed in just three months of service in the territories. He told me about the young boy who threw a stone at the lieutenant- colonel's jeep which did not hit but the colonel still chased the child, caught him and beat him brutally with the butt of a rifle. And another child which a Shabak agent tied up, and then urinated on him. When Rami tried to protest the man shouted: go away; i am conducting an interrogation. And he also told me soldiers looting a shop, and then destroying everything which they could not carry. And he told me about how he could not stand it anymore, and how he sat in the toilet for several hours in the night, the barrel in his mouth, the finger on the trigger. In the end he ran away, and that's how he got into prison. That's what happens to the sensitive people. The non-sensitive ones, those who get used to these Wild West norms, afterwards bring these norms into the Israeli society itself. We are corrupting ourselves. I am not willing to be part of the main instrument of corruption." ------- The Previous Hearing: The first hearing of the court-martial of the five draft resisters (amongst the initiators and signatories of the ?High School Seniors? Letter): Haggai Matar; Matan Kaminer; Shimri Zameret; Adam Maor and Noam Bahat, was held today at the military court in Jaffa . The five refuse to enlist because of their conscientious objection to the occupation, and to the actions by which the army enforces it. Therefore, they are asking that they be exempted from military service, and pledge to do a three-year civilian community service in its place. They are represented by Adv. Dov Chenin . At the hearing, which lasted more than seven hours, Adv. Chenin stated the case of the five defendants: what is conscience; who has the jurisdiction to define conscience and who has the right to grant an exemption to conscientious objectors. Chenin?s presentation revealed the fact that since 1995, the army exempted only seven of the more than four hundred young people who requested not to be drafted on the grounds of conscientious objection. ?The Minister of Defense has chosen not to use his authority in the matter, which is an invalid decision? stated Chenin. Chenin also took issue with the fact that the army has sentenced the defendants to long prison sentences (two of them have been jailed for more than six months), despite the fact that they hadn?t received a fair hearing from the Conscience Committee. The IDF gravely discriminates between men and women! There was a particularly embarrassing moment in the trial today when Adv. Chenin introduced into the proceedings the precedent of a young woman, Hadas Goldman. Goldman, who was called up at the same time as Hagai Matar, applied to the Conscience Committee for a waiver from military service, on the grounds of moral conscience and her opposition to the IDF?s actions in maintaining the occupation. Goldman?s application was accepted and she is currently doing civilian service in Mitzpeh Ramon (in the South of Israel). Both the Justice and the IDF?s prosecutor Lieutenant Yaron Kostlowitz were flustered by Adv. Chenin?s argument that the IDF discriminates between male and female conscripts by dealing with them through separate Conscience Committees. The Committee for women is administered under the auspices of the Ministry of Defense, rather than the IDF and incorporates civilians, which is not the case with the IDF?s committee for male conscripts. The IDF prosecutor was unable to explain this anomaly and the inherent discrimination to the court. Lt. Kostlowitz claimed that since the IDF adheres to clear guidelines and that the IDF officials involved in the conscription of the five defendants applied these procedures, he advised them to petition the Supreme Court over the existing procedures. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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