Sixty-three Israeli students signed a letter stating they would defy mandatory military service despite the risk of jail. Citing their country’s military occupation of Palestine, the letter criticizes the policies of Israel’s “racist government.”
The letter, signed on Thursday by sixty-three high school students from across Israel, is addressed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Israel Military Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot.
'We won't take part in occupation': Dozens of teens refuse to enlist in Israeli army in letter to Netanyahu – Israel News – https://t.co/OGmsPOqffk https://t.co/Frj6oZyc5q
— Angelos Papadopoulos (@angelohrg) December 28, 2017
Pointing to Israel’s blockade on the Gaza Strip and illegal West Bank settlements, the letter states that “the army implements the policy of a racist government that violates basic human rights, which applies one law to Israelis and another to the Palestinians in the same area.”
Blaming the Israeli government and Israeli Army for decades of violent conflict, the students wrote they,
“decided not to take part in the occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people, which separates people into two hostile camps. Because as long as people live under occupation that denies them human rights and national rights we will not be able to achieve peace.”
Israeli army has jailed conscientious objector Noa Gur Golan for 30 days. Its her fourth stint in military prison. https://t.co/Z9vnQjgIdt
— Ben White (@benabyad) October 4, 2017
The signatories also said that Israelis are exposed to a culture of “militarism” from a young age, and that they want to “change the entire system.”
The Israeli Army has not formally responded to the letter, but Yesh Atid MK Elazar Stern, a retired major general, called the letter “sad” but “marginal.”
'We won't take part in occupation': Dozens of teens refuse to enlist in Israeli army in letter to Netanyahu – Israel News – https://t.co/OGmsPOqffk https://t.co/Frj6oZyc5q
— Angelos Papadopoulos (@angelohrg) December 28, 2017
“I think our youth is committed enough to handle these marginal types. It’s minuscule compared to the hundreds of thousands who enlist, and isn’t more than (the number of draft dodgers) in the past,” Stern said.
All Jewish, Druze and Circassian Israeli citizens over 18 are expected to serve in the Israeli Army. However, Israel’s Arab minority is exempt from mandatory service. Men serve for two years and eight months, and women for two years.
Israel: Police arrest 22 ultra-Orthodox at sit-in for military draft dodgers https://t.co/ofMbSJQddM
— jdirt#AMERICAFIRST? (@jdirtFOREVER) November 20, 2017
The United Nations has repeatedly called on Israel to withdraw from occupied Palestinian territory.
In March, the UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) published a report accusing Israel “beyond a reasonable doubt” of being guilty of “policies and practices that constitute the crime of apartheid” against the Palestinian people.
(RT, PC, Social Media)
