[GushShalom] Young dissidents at the forefront
Gush Shalom (Israeli Peace Bloc)
info at gush-shalom.org
Tue Jan 28 00:40:24 IST 2003
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Gush Shalom
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International release
Jan. 27, 2003
This weekend a "retaliatory invasion" left Gaza with a dozen dead -
among them very young children - and a lot of devastation in the
already desolate area.
In such an atmosphere Israel prepares for general elections in
which polls predict a renewed mandate for Sharon.
The struggle of the refusers which we have been supporting during
the last year, is more important than ever. It is especially the very
young dissidents who now are at the forefront of the struggle for
peace and morality.
- The hunger strike of two imprisoned Conscientious Objectors is
entering its thirteenth day. [Renewed protest letters requested.]
- An intelligence officer - in his early twenties - holds up an airforce
strike
- The Chief of Staff gets difficult questions in a "model school."
- Prisoners, guards and elections
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-The hunger strike of two imprisoned Conscientious Objectors is
entering its thirteenth day. [Renewed protest letters requested.]
[Translation of today's press release]
Hillel Goral and Noam Bahat started their hunger strike on
January 16, in protest of "the State of Israel's imprisonment and
mistreatment of Conscientious Objectors as well as the crimes of
the Occupation" as Goral put it in a statement from his prison cell.
At the start of their hunger strike, both of the 18-year old CO's
were held at Military Prison 4 in Tzrifin (southeast of Tel-Aviv).
After three days, however, the military authorities decided to
separate them and transferred Goral to Military Prison 6 at Atlit
(south of Haifa). But the two keep contact via their parents and
via lawyers of human rights organizations who regularly visit them,
and they decided to continue their hunger strike.
Adv. Orna Cohen who visited Goral in prison noticed that his
fingers were getting bluish and that his body temperature was
dropping, and at her insistence he was examined at the prison
clinic. He consented to get an infusion, but otherwise refused
several pleas to stop his hunger strike, and declared he would
continue it as long as he is held in prison. And the recent killing of
thirteen Palestinians -including an eight- year old child - during the
invasion of Gaza, only increased his determination.
Goral and Bahat are among the 300 signatories of the "Highschool
Seniors' Letter" (Shministim in Hebrew), published several
months ago. Some of them declared their refusal to serve in the
Occupied Territories while others expresse complete objection to
any service in the Israeli armed forces (more on the seniors'
website: www.shministim.org).
At present, some ten of the signatories are held in military prisons
for their refusal to enlist, in addition to several reservists refusing
to take part in the occupation.
The military authorities have recently hardened their position
towards the young CO's, sending them to repeated terms of
imprisonment witthout limitation. Various means by which CO's
had previously been discharged from service, such as the army's
"incompatibility committee" or "psychological discharge" are now
closed off, apparently at orders from high up in the military
hierarchy. The longest-serving prisoner, so far, is Yoni Ben Artzi,
who happens to be the nephew of Foreign Minister Netanyahu,
and who was sentenced to seven consecutive prison terms, a total
of 196 days with still no end in sight.
On the most recent occasion, Ben Artzi was personally judged by
General Gil Horev, Head of Manpower in the IDF General Staff -
who got the task of judging Ben Artzi after lower echelons
declined to deal with "the hot potato".
The refusers' struggle got considerable international support,
including from South African Bishop Desmond Tutu, renowned
for his part in the struggle against the Apartheid regime. The
imprisoned refusers were recognized as Prisoners of Conscience
by Amnesty International. About 2000 signatures were
so far collected on an international support petition
(www.petitiononline.com/091202/"). A coalition of refusers'
support organizations, including New Profile, The Seniors' Letter,
Yesh Gvul, Courage to Refuse and the Refusers' Parents Group,
and supported by Gush Shalom, are calling upon the government
and the military authorities to recognize the refusers' democratic
right to their conscience, i.e. their principled objection to military
service; to release forthwith all imprisoned COs and to stop the
repeated imprisonements.
Protest letter (sample follows) to:
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon <pm_eng at pmo.gov.il>
Spokesperson of the Prime Minister <dover at pmo.gov.il>
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz <sar at mod.gov.il>
Spokesperson Defense Ministry <info at mail.idf.il>
Foreign Minister Biyamin Netanyahu <sar at mofa.gov.il>
Copy to: eilatmaoz at hotmail.com (Eilat Maoz,
Shministim, in charge of contact with prisoners)
and (PLEASE) send it also by fax or regular mail to:
Menachem Finkelstein
Military Attorney General
Military postal code 9605, IDF
Israel.
Fax: 03-7376052
Deborah Chassid
Commander of Induction Base in Tel-Hashomer
Military postal code 02718, IDF
Israel.
Fax 03-7376052
Gil Regev
Head of Manpower Division.
Fax: 03-5699400.
Head of the Incompatibility Unit
Induction base.
Fax: 03-7376705.
[sample text]
To the government and military authorities of Israel
Dear Sir / Madam,
I was informed that Hillel Goral (Military ID: 7269230) and Noam
Bahat (7165951) - both imprisoned conscientious objectors - are
on hunger strike since Jan. 16. Furthermore, that Jonathan Ben-
Artzi (Military ID 7169436) and Dror Beuml (7282965), have been
sent to prison for the 7th and 6th time in a row on 16 and 19 Jan.
2003 respectively. Also serving repeated prison terms, or awaiting
repeated imprisonment, are conscientious objectors Uri Yaacoby
(7342725), Yoni Yekhezkel (7246523), Haggai Mattar (7281989), ,
Matan Kaminer (7176324), Adam Maor (7246176) and Shimri
Tzameret (7305627).
The imprisonment of conscientious objectors is in
clear violation the human right to freedom of conscience, as
recognized in article 18 of the International Covenant for Civil and
Political Rights - signed and ratified by the State of Israel.
Moreover, the repeated imprisonment of conscientious objectors
has been recognized by the United Nations as a form of arbitrary
detention. Such repeated imprisonment is an attempt to change a
person's conviction using brute force. It is a practice that is
intolerable where the rule of law prevails.
Thus, the practices of the Israeli army with respect to declared
conscientious objectors are patently illegal and should be halted at
once.
I therefore call upon you to immediately and unconditionally release
all conscientious objectors mentioned above.
Sincerely, ---
***
- An intelligence officer - in his early twenties - holds up an
airforce strike
[Ha'aretz Internet Editon - Monday, January 27, 2003]
IDF officer removed from post for disrupting planned air strike
An Israel Defense Forces intelligence officer was recently removed
from his post after he disrupted a planned air strike that was to
take place following the double suicide bombing near the Tel Aviv
Central Bus Station, according to a report Monday in the Ma'ariv
daily.
Twenty-three people were killed in the January 5 attack.
The officer claimed that he disrupted the operation in order "to
prevent harm to innocent Palestinians," the report said.
In response, the IDF Spokesperson said, "The officer was removed
after he refused a direct order and harmed the operation."
According to Ma'ariv, after the Tel Aviv bombing, the IDF planned to
attack a Palestinian Authority target. The officer, a first lieutenant
in intelligence who received training in the army's prestigious
Talpiot program, was in possession of information critical to
carrying out the air strike, but he did not provide it.
Only after the high alert was lowered, which had been declared
after the terror attack, did the officer supply some of the
information.
A few days ago, the officer was tried by his unit commander, and
was removed from his post and transferred to an administrative
position in central Israel. Military sources estimated that the
punishment should have been more severe, but there was concern
that the sensitive intelligence information in the officer's possession
could cause damage to the country.
***
- The Chief of Staff gets difficult questions in a "model school."
[From: Asher Shechter <night_decayed at hotmail.com>]
The Hebrew Reali Highschool in Haifa, which counts among its
graduates several prominent generals, and which includes inside
its premises the Military Boarding School, has long prided itself on
preparing its pupils for "model military service".
Every year, the Reali holds a full-dress military parade at which
pupils are required to don uniforms and march in step. To make
sure of faultless performance, they have to go through countless
rehearsals in the preceding month, under the scorching sun. The
principal is Brigadier (ret.) Ron Kitri, former IDF Spokesman, and
his predecessor also had a distinguished military career. It was the
Reali which was chosen by Army Chief-of-Staff Moshe Ya'alon
when he decided to speak to soldiers-to-be so as to increase their
morale and enthusiasm.
Still, the Reali, does have dissident voices. Asher Shechter [who
reports this] at an eaarlier occasion refused to take part in
Commemorating the Fallen in the full-dress military parade. The
dissidents who regularly raise their hands to ask disturbing
questions in class or distribute leaflets sometimes encounter sharp
hostility - though sometimes gaining the respect of fellow pupils.
The unsuspecting General Ya'alon arrived quite early on
Wednesday morning.
Already prior to his arrival leaflets were distributed, pointing out a
certain incompatibility between Ya'alon's definition of the
Palestinian Problem as "a cancer which must be treated" and the
same general's definition of himself as "a humanitarian upholder of
human rights".
About ten minutes after Ya'alon started speaking, two pupils
spread out a sign reading "You are a war criminal". However, a
teacher immediately pounced and within a few seconds grabbed
the sign out of our hands, even before two others had the time to
spread their complementary sign with "But I am not!".
The dissidents still had, however, the chance of addressing
questions to the general, and two of the group made use of the
opportunity. One asked Ya'alon how he can refer to the IDF as "a
humanitarian army" when the same army has been imposing a
military regime over millions of people for the past 35 years,
resorting to collective punishment and violations of international
law. The other asked whether Ya'alon considers himself a war
criminal, having violated the Geneva Convention. The two
questioners spoke in calm voices, which did not prevent the
majority of pupils from loud booing, and from clapping when other
questions - far more laudatory - were addressed to the army
chief.
For his part, Ya'alon avoided a direct answer, and concentrated
his response upon the issue of the refusers and "shirkers". He had
some surprise in store. While strongly objecting to selective
refusal of service in the Territories, which he characterised as
"politically-motivated", Ya'alon claimed that there does exist a
"release track" for "genuine Conscientious Objectors", and that
any such person should just "present himself at the Induction
Center" and "declare that military service is contrary to his
principles and his way". Strange. The Army-Chief-of-Staff
declared this explicitly, in front of more than 500 witnesses. Are
we to believe that CO's have a hitherto unsuspected friend at
the very top of the military hierarchy?
At the end, principal Kitri thanked the visiting general and
apologized for "the behaviour of those who abused their right of
asking questions". This precipitated a prolonged shouting match
between a large army-friendly mass of pupils and teachers and
the small group of dissidents. But the dissidents stood their
ground. When a teacher accused them of "inciting to murder", one
of the group presented him with a copy of the leaflet distributed
and the text of the questions addressed to Ya'alon, and asked him
to point out the incitement - which the teacher declined to do.
- Prisoners, guards and elections
[The following account was given by A., an inhabitant of Dura in
the southern part of the West Bank.]
(...) Two of my friends had been imprisoned for several months at
the Offer Camp near Ramallah. One day when they were there,
the guards were replaced by new reservists.
One of the new guards showed himself conspicuously hostile to
the Palestinian prisoners, all the time pointing his gun as if looking
for a pretext to shoot. Unlike other guards, he was completely
unwilling to engage in talk with the prisoners. Any approach from
their side, even on everyday matters of the prison routine, was
answered with "You are all murderers, we should throw you out
of the country".
Still, my friends persisted in trying to talk to him and tell him that
his vision of the Palestinians was wrong. Gradually, he started to
listen to them and speak with less hostility. Still, they were
surprised when on the last day of his reserve service tour he
came to say goodbye. He said that they were his friends and that
the government had lied to him, and promised that he would vote
for the left in the upcoming Israeli elections.
You can aalso protest against repeated imprisonment of draft
resisters at: http://www.petitiononline.com/091202/
---
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