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| Israeli Reservists Shun Duty in Territories |
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| bhaloo |
| 05/27/02 at 03:16:59 |
| [slm] http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=736&e=6&u=/ap/20020526/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_new_refuseniks_5 Reservists Shun Duty in Territories Sun May 26, 1:24 AM ET By DAFNA LINZER, Associated Press Writer TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) - When David Zonshein completed three weeks of army reserve duty at the beginning of the year, he didn't know he was about to launch a movement that would infuriate the military, reinvigorate the country's peace movement and cut him off from much of his own family. All he knew was that as a decorated officer who was the grandson of Holocaust survivors, he could not serve another day in the Palestinian territories. "As a Jew, I cannot do the kinds of things that I'm expected to do on reserve duty. Even if the whole world collapses around me, I will never bust into a Palestinian home again and interrogate and humiliate a father in front of his children," Zonshein said in an interview with The Associated Press. So when the 29-year-old software engineer finished his reserve duty in the Gaza Strip (news - web sites) in January, he called his commanders to say he wouldn't be back. Then, he and a friend published an anonymous letter on the Internet vowing never to be part of an occupation. "We were so angry, so traumatized by what we had seen in Gaza that we decided to write the letter and agreed that if we got 10 more officers to join us, then we'd sign our full names." "A friend told us it would never happen but I knew that if someone like me could feel this way, then there must be hundreds more." He was right. Within a week, they got 50 responses from officers and "Courage to Refuse" was born. They published a letter in the country's most prestigious newspaper and two weeks later, their numbers reached 200. That was three and a half months ago. Today, they are a group of 460 Israeli men, mostly officers, from different backgrounds who formulated a common opposition to Israel's presence in the territories — home to some 3 million Palestinians and more than 200,000 Jewish settlers. It has earned them praise, criticism and a new nickname — "refuseniks" — the word once used to described Russian Jews who fought the Soviet system and were denied permission to emigrate. But in a society where the vast majority of Israeli men and women participate in a mandatory draft after high school, and many serve about a month of reserve duty each year until their 40s, the movement has sparked more outcry than applause. Many Israelis view them as a threat to morale at a time when the army is fighting its biggest battle in decades — against militants that have carried out scores of attacks on Israelis. The army said it would jail refusers, and in the last four months, 80 have served time in a military prison. About 200 reserve officers who are serving published a counter letter criticizing the "dangerous and undemocratic initiative of refusing to serve." Nahum Barnea, a liberal columnist for the Yediot Ahronot daily, agreed. He warned that "such actions poison the army internally ... and abandon it to those with a light trigger finger." But to the Israeli peace movement, the reservists have revitalized their cause. "Our camp collapsed because it became so identified with the peace process which was disgraced," said Didi Remez, spokesman for Peace Now. "We needed time to regroup and rebuild and the reservists gave us the push we needed." But there have been personal costs as well. "Many of my relatives are religious and live in settlements in the West Bank and Gaza," said Zonshein, his commanding voice turning softer. "They took this very hard and won't speak to me anymore." Shawn Lacob's family in Israel is the kibbutz, or communal farm, he calls home. Normally, such communal farm are a bastion of liberalism, but the community was divided when Lacob, who moved to Israel 11 years ago from Toronto, announced in March that he would go to jail before serving in the territories. The decision came just as another member of Kibbutz Sura had been wounded while serving in the reserves in Jenin — scene of some of the fiercest fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen. "It became the only topic of conversation," recalled Lacob, a trim, 32-year-old who works as a youth counselor on the kibbutz. "One father didn't want me working in education any more but I promised not to talk to the kids about it." He spent 31 days in military jail because he refused to serve three weeks in the West Bank. When he got out, he initially avoided the man wounded in Jenin. "Now we smile at each other in the dining room but I haven't worked up the guts to talk to him about it all." "Courage to Refuse" is not the first such group that has sprung up during an Israeli-Arab war. Peace Now was originally formed by Israelis who opposed the army's 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Very few of those attached to the groups are conscientious objectors in the classical sense, because they are willing to serve inside Israel proper. "I serve 40 days every year and I'm willing to serve 80 anywhere that I'm needed for Israel's defense, but never again in the territories," Zonshein said. He and others had been reluctant to talk to reporters at first, but growing support from civilians has emboldened them. Not only are they giving interviews, some are participating in speaking engagements and fund-raisers at universities and synagogues across the United States. Amit Moshiach, whose name literally means 'Friend of the Messiah," had also served in the territories, attached to an artillery unit he had served with during his three years of compulsory military duty. "I've done my share of aiding this occupation. I enlisted in 1990 and have done reserve duty nine times in artillery. I always felt that as long as there was a process, a serious intent to solve the situation in a just way, someone had to maintain the situation until it was brought to an end. But it seems now like there's no intention." Here is the Reservist's website: www.seruv.org.il |
| Re: Israeli Reservists Shun Duty in Territories |
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| mwishka |
| 05/27/02 at 12:42:49 |
brother bhaloo, this is a very good article. another line that, i think, needs to be emphasized is this one: Very few of those attached to the groups are conscientious objectors in the classical sense, because they are willing to serve inside Israel proper. i think this a an extremely significant distinction to be recognized about what these reservists are really doing. the prison camps where they serve their time seem to be called prisons for conscientious objectors. (eh? COs go to prison in a "democracy"? hmmm....quite suspect! even in the "democracy" of the US COs serve time not in prison but in their communities, or even in non-combat military positions if they choose...) i happened to see - completely by chance - most of a VERY good segment on 60 minutes last week (or week before? don't know) about the reservist objectors. i think some of those mentioned in this article were interviewed. (it was followed by another surprising piece interviewing lynn stewart and telling the details of her "case". friends i managed to alert to these two were able to tape the second, but not the first.) in the segment about the reservists, they interviewed the mother of the deceased commander at that checkpoint where that highly skilled and wholly merciful sniper shot 16 with that old rifle held together with nails. this young commander had decided not to serve when he was called up, met objections from some, but his mother was completely supportive of his decision. on further consideration he had decided to serve then, since the option was to go in and out and in and out and in and out of prison every time he was called up. he was inside the building when the shooting started, came out, was instantly killed by a single bullet. when asked if her son had given his life for (his country) israel, she was silent in an internal struggle for a moment, then said "he did not give his life for israel. he gave his life for the settlements." more silence. you could see her fingers struggling, and see the quiet turmoil on her face. you got the sense that her struggle was not only with grief, but with a type of anger, the anger of wrongfulness. without a tear, she said "that is very wrong." it felt to me that she was trying to honor her son's sacrifice by not blowing up in anger, to be respectful of his death as he was respectful of those he wanted to no longer wrong. when asked if his life was given in vain - wasted - she briskly and bluntly said "yes." (though i've used quotation marks, i may not have actually remembered this verbatim.) this mother's words and story were so compelling that they have eclipsed the other interviews in my mind. i can't remember them to tell you. the hero of the egyptian air force destruction, with his now one leg, and walking with little grace on his somewhat awkward seeming prosthesis, was quite articulate. i can remember nothing of what he said. mwishka |
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