To Starmer, Lammy and the Jewish Labour Movement Israel’s Refuseniks are the ‘Wrong Sort of Israelis’
In
today’s Labour Party Starmer and Evans are expelling anyone who is seen as supporting the Palestinians.
According
to Starmer this is because ‘every Jew in the Labour Party
matters’ although if you are a Jewish member of the Labour Party you are 5
times more likely to be expelled or suspended.
The
reason is because we are ‘the wrong sort
of Jew’. Opposition to Israeli Apartheid and its settlement
enterprise is equated with anti-Semitism. That is their justification for opposing BDS, the only means of putting pressure on the Israeli state.
The
fact that the same hypocrites are only too eager to support sanctions on Iran,
China and a host of other countries points to their selective opposition to sanctions.
To
Starmer and Johnson young Israelis who refuse to serve in Israel’s army are the
‘wrong sort of Israeli’. That is why it is important to support them.
We
should be under no illusions that these brave young people are a tiny minority,
a sliver, of Israel’s Jewish population who come under immense social and political pressures. That is why they need, more than ever,
our support.
Shahar
has been sentenced to imprisonment for the third time. She described
how life is made as difficult as possible for those who break the national
concensus. She wasn’t allowed, as of
right, to have access to writing materials:
Some
days I could only get a pen for 10 minutes; on Saturdays or holidays you don’t
get a pen at all. Privacy is a luxury I don’t get to have as a prisoner
and I was not allowed to write anything without the rest of the inmates, guards
and commanders getting to see what I’m writing.’
In prison, ‘writing is in itself a form of activism’
the
prison authorities hindered my ability to document what goes on behind
bars, write articles and develop ideas and plan on how to share my experiences
once I am released for a few days. The military does not want me to
write, speak or share my thoughts. They are trying to silence me.
The silencing of political refusers is
a small part of a more violent pattern of behavior - The silencing of the
Palestinian struggle for human rights in the West Bank and Gaza
Shahar wrote that
‘it
is this silencing, this attempt to erase, hide and deny what is really
happening, that makes me stand proud and declare my refusal publicly.’
As Amira Hass wrote for female
prisoners ‘writing is the rarest of
‘privileges’. The Israeli Army doesn’t allow female soldiers to
write. This has been applied in the new military prison at Neve Tzedek (in Hebrew, Oasis
of Justice). ‘They’re not allowed to hold
writing implements, except for a half hour or 20 minutes a day at best.’
MK Gaby Lasky (Meretz) asked why this was so and
Gali Ofir, an adviser to Defense Minister Benny Gantz, answered that: “The decision to restrict the use of writing
implements was made by the commander of the prison base.” Which is no
explanation at all.
Israeli soldiers help built illegal settlement
Amira Hass was told that there are no restrictions on writing implements. ‘In short, the anonymous military official lied to me.’ In the wings of imprisoned male soldiers, this ban is not enforced.
Tair Kaminer, who was imprisoned in two different military
jails in 2016, said that she and fellow inmates kept using writing implements
for painting, writing journals and letters to family and friends, which was
essential for breaking the boredom. “We
could ask for paper and pens any time of day and the wardens would give it to
us,”
The writing ban was not the decision of one governor
alone. This decision was a premeditated attempt to prevent detailed
descriptions of life inside prison to be circulated outside.
Peretz spent 58 days in military prison. She told Haaretz:
In my first
and second sentences I was told that we could ask for a pen between 1 o’clock
and 4 o’clock in the afternoon. But the pen was given according to the
commanders’ timetable. Sometimes only for 10 minutes
Eran Aviv
Eran
Aviv said that in the men’s wings there were pens on the table all the time for
their use. During Peretz’s third term in prison
The
new military prison Neve Tzedek, near the Sharon Junction in central Israel.
“it had been
decided that there would be a single writing time for all the women. From 20
minutes to half an hour... Every day it was different. Sometimes the commanders
told us that today’s writing would be allowed only for women who want to write
requests to the prison authorities. And so I didn’t get a pen on Sunday or
Monday last week. You can only write in the yard... Sometimes 20 girls come out
to write, but there are only five pens. And still everyone has to go back to
their cell after the half-hour. The commanders stand over us and read what we
write. I wrote a letter to my boyfriend and one of the commanders asked me: ‘What, you have a boyfriend?’”
Afterwards the commander-wardens count the pens
to make sure all were returned. Shahar described the regime of petty
punishments:
“We can be in the
yard and suddenly the commander says: ‘Who wants to write?’ It’s completely
random. And I don’t have time to go back to my cell and get my sudoko booklet.
It can be at 3 P.M. or 6 P.M. And it might not happen at all. When one day we
mentioned to the commander that we hadn’t received pens, she answered ‘Right,
and you won’t get any today.’ I tried to understand the reason for the ban. The
main answer is that we might stab one another. So why is there a ban on felt-tip
pens, which can’t stab? The commanders bring razor blades to the girls. That’s
not dangerous? Another answer is that they don’t want us to scribble on the
walls and the uniforms. There are cameras in every cell except in the showers
and toilets. In the yard they are listening everywhere. All the time they can
see what we’re doing and punish us. One of the commanders told me, angrily,
that a pen is a privilege and not a right. I came here with sudoko and writing
booklets, with all kinds of plans to document what goes on in prison. And I
came home with everything almost empty.”
Lasky was told that it had been decided to lift
the ban on writing “as long as the
prisoners do not make wrongful use of writing implements.” The mind boggles
as to what the Israeli military consider a ‘wrongful
use’.
Oren Feld
At the end of October a protest was organised by Yesh Gvul (There Is
a Limit) and supported by conscientious objector support network Mesarvot and
the Communist Party of Israel, Maki, demanding the release of three refuseniks, Eran Aviv, Shachar
Perez and Oren Feld — at Tzedek prison, near Netanya. Feld, who is the Hadash (Democratic
Front for Peace and Equality) Jerusalem branch secretary, which is part of the
Joint List. He was just released after 14 days in military jail. Feld is 29
years old and an MA student.
See Protests to demand
release of Israeli communist and other military refuseniks
Eran Aviv and Shahar Peretz
On
December 16 Eran Aviv wrote a letter ‘as a free man’.
After spending
114 days in military jail for refusing to enlist to the Israeli military and
not be complicit in the occupation of the Palestinian territories, I finally received an exemption from military
service.
Eran
spoke about how
Just a
few months back we facilitated the Shministim letter (Shministim meaning high
school seniors in Hebrew) that was signed by 120 high school students declaring
their intention to refuse to enlist and become soldiers of the occupation.
Eran
appealed to people to ‘Join our growing
community by donating today to
help support our objection to the occupation.’
Oren wrote about
how, when he was first drafted to the Israeli military as an 18 year old,
‘I did not have the strength to
resist it. Now I do. I spent 3 years of my life in a military service I did not
believe in and over the years I have witnessed numerous injustices and
wrongdoings performed by the army.’
That is why now, at the age of 29
years, I said ENOUGH when I was called to do reserve duty. I will no longer be
a part of an institution that oppresses, kills, and exploits innocent people.
It is time to speak the truth about the history of our land, - starting with
past expulsions of Palestinians and continuing with the multiple present day
measures aimed at the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, that are part of
everyday life. Only truth will stop the occupation.
The occupation manifests itself
in many forms. It has controls over the Palestinian leadership; It controls
transportation routes through the use of lockdowns and blockades; It performs
mass arrests; It has the power to prohibit gatherings and demonstrations. The
occupation is undeniable, and it is a political choice: there is no
justification for an endless, limitless foreign rule over millions of innocent
people.
I choose peace. That is why when
I received the order to report for reserve duty, I told my army commander that
I will not comply. He sentenced me to 14 days in jail for my refusal. I sent a
request to the conscientious committee asking them to release me from reserve
duty, but they denied my request and I went to military jail. Serving time was
a harsh and humiliating experience but I will continue to stand firm in the
face of oppression!
Sentenced to 14 days in prison
for refusing to serve the occupation
Tom
Kearney described how at
the end of August 2021 when many students had just left school Shahar Peretz in
the town of Kfar Yona, Israel, was drafting a statement to present at the local
army induction base. On the 31 August, she attended the Tel Hashomer base,
refusing to enlist in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF). Her actions resulted in
her being sentenced to be detained in a military prison.
Shahar Peretz - conscientious objector
Shahar, 18, is one of 120 teenagers who signed the “Shministim Letter”
(an initiative with the Hebrew nickname given to high school seniors) in
January, in which they declared their refusal to serve in the Israeli army in
protest of its policies of occupation and apartheid in Gaza and the West Bank.
While
Shahar was drafting her statement Eran Aviv, 19 from Tel Aviv, was preparing
for his fourth period of imprisonment as a conscientious objector.
In a
recent interview, facilitated by the Refuser Solidarity Network both Shahar and Eran described how
young people, from an early age, are habituated through school and the wider
society to their joining the IDF. They described seeing uniforms or machine
guns being carried on buses as a natural part of the public arena, which they
argued has resulted in a space that sanctifies soldiers, death, and dead heroes
and where streets are named after commanders.
Shahar
remarked that she had decided to refuse to join the army after participating in
a summer camp between Palestinians and Israelis. She said that she could not
become part of system that oppresses them and their families daily.
“I do not want
to wear a uniform that symbolises violence and pain. I do not want to become
their enemy”
Eran
expressed the view that there are two systems in Israel and the Occupied
Territories (OTP), Israeli civil law and Israeli military law and that
Palestinians live everyday subjected to military law. He described how
conscripts in the military service are taught that the only way to protect
Jewish people is through force. They are therefore expected to practice
violence and of course many Palestinians object and are violent in return.
Shahar
concurred with Eran’s view by describing witnessing, whilst volunteering to
assist Palestinian farmers in the Hebron hills in the West Bank, Palestinian
children being attacked and harassed by Israeli soldiers as they walked to school.
Both
Shahar and Eran have found their immediate families supportive of their
actions, but many in the local community have expressed criticism accusing them
of negating their national and civic duty to undertake military service. Shahar
appears to have experienced more verbal abuse through social media and at times
has felt fearful for both herself and her family though she has not been threatened
with physical violence. Eran expressed the view that he has experienced more
criticism whilst in prison than from his community, even though some soldiers
he has met in prison were there because they had gone AWOL due to their dislike
of the army and their experiences in it.
Both Eran and Shahar admitted that their prospects may be adversely affected by their decision, but
‘both passionately expressed their need to be an active contributor to the struggle to make conscientious objection a legitimate option and to work towards peace and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians.’
Shahar
Peretz was sentenced to 10 days in a military prison on 1st September after
refusing to join the Israeli army. She has subsequently served a second term of
imprisonment, during which she had her 19th birthday and on 24th October was
imprisoned for a third time for 30 days.
Eran Aviv
returned to a military prison on 1st September and was recently sentenced for a
6th term of imprisonment on 24th October. He has now completed a total of 114
days in jail and there are recent concerns expressed by his supporters that he
is finding his time in prison increasingly difficult.
You can sign up
for monthly updates at https://www.refuser.org Facebook Page for Refusers International
Ha’aretz reported that 60 High School Seniors Refuse to Serve in the Israeli Army Because of the Occupation
Departing from previous letters of this kind,
the signatories call out the country’s education system for various issues,
such as encouraging enlistment in the Israel Defense Forces and emphasizing
the Jewish narrative in Bible and history classes.
They also draw attention to issues they say the
curriculum ignores, such as the expulsion of Arabs in 1948 and the current
violation of human rights in the occupied territories. The teens wrote:
“The state demands that we enlist into an army that is
ostensibly meant to ensure the existence of the state. But in practice, army
operations are not directed mainly at defending against enemy armies, but at
subjugating a civilian population. Thus, our mobilization has a context and
implications.” They say their refusal to enlist is not an act of disengagement
or turning away from Israeli society, but rather “the taking of responsibility
for our actions and their implications.”
They added:
“We grew up with the ideal of the heroic soldier, we sent
them care packages, we visited the tanks they fought in, we dressed up as
soldiers in premilitary training camps and we elevated their deaths on memorial
days. The fact that this is the reality we’re all used to does not make it
a-political. Enlistment is a political act, no less than refusal to do so.”
Supporters gather at the IDF induction base
The letter referred to “the policy of apartheid as expressed in two separate legal systems,
one for Palestinians and one for Jews” and to the occupation, as expressed
in “societal racism, an inflammatory
political discourse and police violence.”
One of the signatories, Daniel Paldi of Tel
Aviv, said:
“From a very young age we are raised to be soldiers.
Civic classes don’t do much to change the one-directional course of the school
system, its pinnacle arriving with the preparations for enlistment in high
school.”
Paldi added:
“Why is refusal to enlist perceived as a political
action, but school activities meant to encourage enlistment seen as
self-evident? It starts with school trips to Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, in which no political contexts are
discussed. We’re only told about the battles. There’s an elephant in the room
that no one is talking about.”
Paldi noted that on a school trip to southern
Israel, the guides warned that “If we
don’t work the land, someone else will take it.”
Members of
Israeli border police walk at the scene of an incident, at Qalandia checkpoint
near Ramallah in the West Bank, December 7, 2020. Credit:
Mohamad Torokman / Reuters
“Until we talk about the Nakba in class, how it happened
that most of the Palestinians who
lived here fled or were expelled, or about the theft of their possessions, we
won’t understand how much the problem remains part of our lives. This is
sweeping history under the rug. When I began to understand this, I immediately
started thinking about what else we were ‘sold’ in school.”
After a struggle lasting months, including
spending 56 days in a military prison, one of the signatories of the
letter, Hallel
Rabin of Kibbutz Harduf, was awarded an exemption from military
service as a conscientious objector.
Rabin says the schools only teach the Jewish
narrative. In history and civics classes, they present a zero-sum game, in
which the right and justification for Jews to live freely automatically denies
the rights of the other population.”
Supporters
gather at the IDF induction base to show their solidarity with Shahar Perets
and Eran Aviv over their refusal to join the Israeli army, Tel Hashomer,
central Israel, August 31, 2021. (Oren Ziv)
- Conscientious objector: 'I don't want to wear a uniform that
symbolizes violence and pain'
- Jailed Israeli
conscientious objector faces harsher detention if supporters rally
- Hallel Rabin,
prisoner
- A conscientious
objector's thoughts from an Israeli military prison
- Israel's only women's
prison is overcrowded and run down, but there are no plans to fix it
- Israeli female
conscientious objector sent to military jail for third time
·
See Israeli
woman jailed three times for refusing to join the army
·
Israel:
Conscientious objectors Eran Aviv and Shahar Peretz resist for peace
