Gaza: You can help war resisters make this crisis into a turning point

Dear friends,

A friend just wrote to me that two of his teenage cousins are among those Israeli civilians who were taken into the Gaza Strip and announced hostage by Hamas. The same friend spent 21 months in prison with me when we were 18-year-old and both refused to join the Israeli army as occupation resisters. These are horrific days – hundreds of Israelis and hundreds of Palestinians have already died. Many of our families and friends are directly impacted, and this is just the beginning as a war was already declared by the Israeli government. But this crisis is also a huge opportunity:, the next few weeks Israeli war resisters can make this unprecedented war into a turning point. You can help us.

Support the refusers

Shimri Zameret, RSN

In times like this, it is our role as Israeli war resisters to do all we can to prevent deadly escalation, an all-out war and the re-occupation of the Gaza strip. It is also our role to say loud and clear, in the Middle East and internationally, that there is no military solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict – this Gaza crisis is proving us right. The only stable solution to the conflict is a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

That is what we in Refuser Solidarity Network, and the Israeli groups of war refusers and war resisters we are working with, will work on in the coming days and weeks. Our Israeli partners are already publishing clear messages in social media and the press against violent escalation and for using this crisis as a turning point. They are supporting reserve refusers to the war. They are planning and leading protests in the streets. They are taking part in creating civilian de-escalation direct intervention teams, to patrol mixed Arab-Jewish cities, where in similar situations in the past violence erupted between gangs of nationalists.

It’s clear that immediate funds are critically needed to help groups on the ground. Your donations can help in amplifying the voices, messages, and actions of war resisters, in preventing escalation of violence, and in using this moment to build the movement for a just peace.

You can support the war resisters here. This is a critical time. Please help us make this crisis into a turning point.

In solidarity

Shimri Zameret

President of the Board

Refuser Solidarity Network

Hundreds of Israeli youth declare they will refuse military service in protest of fascist Israeli government

Hi,

This is Yeheli, the coordinator for Mesarvot network (Israeli network supporting Israeli youth refusers). We have exciting news. In the past few months we have been supporting a group of Israeli youth, obligated by law to enlist in the near future, in the process of writing a refusal declaration they initiated. In the declaration they state they will refuse military service for as long as the Israeli government continues anti-democratic oppressive actions, both towards Palestinians and Jews alike. 230 youth have signed the statement so far and we officially release it today to the Israeli public. Read the full statement below and please make sure to share it with friends, family, and colleagues by clicking here.

Youth against Dictatorship, Summer 2023

As young women and men about to be conscripted into Israeli military service, we say NO to dictatorship in Israel and in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We hereby declare that we refuse to join the military, until democracy is secured for all who live within the jurisdiction of the Israeli government.

Despite our six months of determined struggle for a genuine democracy that has been waging in the streets almost daily, the government continues to pursue its destructive agenda. We truly fear for our own future, and for the future of all who live here.

In view of this, we have no choice but to take extreme measures and refuse to serve in the army. A government that destroys the judiciary is not a government that we can serve. An army that militarily occupies another people is not an army that we can join.

The judicial coup has already exerted an enormous price on the Israeli society and on the Palestinian people. The dictatorship that has existed for decades in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is now oozing into Israel proper and is directed against us. Violent settlers now control the entire state. These are not recent developments. Undemocratic attitudes and actions are essential to maintaining this regime of occupation and Jewish supremacy. The only thing that has changed is that the mask is now off.

Faced with this reality, we say NO!

We know that the more youth groups will refuse service, the bigger the impact we’re going to have on the political situation in Israel. We hope to get this declaration through mainstream Israeli media channels to give more Israeli youth the courage and confidence to refuse themselves. Please click here to share this statement with everyone you know so we can get them all the support they need to continue their important actions.

I also want to share an update about 25 y/o conscientious objector “D”. He has been tried a fourth time by the Israeli military for refusing to serve the occupation. He received an additional sentence of 20 days, totalling 59 days. While he was serving his sentence, Mesarvot together with Yesh Gvul (Israeli network supporting Israeli reservists refusers), organized a support demonstration for him outside the prison. In a phone call received from “D” later that day he mentioned hearing us demonstrating made him feel supported and motivated and strengthened his spirit. “D” was released last Thursday from prison and is now at home waiting to get news whether he will be imprisoned again or receive an exemption.

In solidarity,

Yeheli

From Pro-Democracy to Anti-Occupation

Israel is in an unprecedented crisis, but we believe that it represents a unique opportunity for strengthening the anti-occupation movement. Help us make the most of it by supporting our work with Israeli civil society. Donate via this link.

As I write this update, Netanyahu’s government is ramming through its anti-democratic legislative agenda. Israel’s reserve army, a cornerstone of its defense policy, is in open rebellion. Just this weekend, as some 70,000 Israelis marched in sweltering heat from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, over 500 air force pilots formally announced that if the legislation passes, they will refuse to serve. On Saturday, they were joined by nearly 10,000 soldiers from other branches. Later in the day, dozens of former heads of the army and the security services published a letter backing the refusers. Never in Israel’s 75-year history has refusal to serve in the army been mainstreamed in this way.

PHOTO: The sign “We Won’t Kill and Die in the Service of the Settlers” greets tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters as they enter Jerusalem on Saturday night at the end of a march from Tel Aviv

At first glance, these developments might seem like a domestic spat with no relevance to the future of the Palestinians. Our Israeli partners, however, see the current turmoil as an outstanding opportunity to significantly expand the anti-occupation movement. They cite a number of factors.

  1. Refusal to serve, until recently seen by the mainstream as tantamount to sacrilege, has been normalized as a legitimate form of civil resistance.

  2. Centrist Israelis are increasingly realizing that without an end to the military occupation of the Palestinians there will be no democracy in Israel: A central pillar of the current Israeli government is a fascist party led by West Bank settlers, and many elements of its legislative agenda are designed to facilitate the occupation regime in the West Bank.

  3. The Anti-Occupation Bloc of the democracy protest movement has experienced steady growth and its message -- No Democracy With Occupation -- is increasingly visible at the demonstrations.

In an effort to make the most of the current opportunities for change, Mothers Against Violence, a new voice for refusal in Israel and an RSN partner, have launched a new campaign: Get the Soldiers Out! Because of their unique position as mothers and grandmothers of soldiers, their calls for refusal have generated traction among audiences not normally associated with the anti-occupation positions.

They’re a very lean organization, however, and have requested our professional assistance. Drawing on the cadre of refusers we’ve supported over the past two decades, we’ve managed to recruit a number of mentors with the requisite experience and skills to help MAV build their capacity. Over the next six months, RSN mentors will work with MAV and a new group of reservist refusers to ensure that they have the tools to make the most of this political juncture’s potential to significantly expand the anti-occupation movement. We’ve just launched a crowdfunding campaign to support this effort, and hope to raise $20,000 to fund them through the end of the year.

At this critical juncture, we need your support. Click here to help us grow and widen the anti-occupation movement. If you’ve already donated, please consider sharing this appeal with your friends and family.

In solidarity,

Mattan Helman

Executive Director

Refuser Solidarity Network

New Profile: Helping Russian and Ukrainian refugees in Israel refuse service in occupation

Hi,

my name is Or and I am the co-coordinator for New Profile’s counselling network for the past 4 years. New Profile is an anti-militaristic feminist organization that works to create a more civil, tolerant, and peaceful society in Israel. One of our main projects is the counselling network, which provides consultation and legal aid for over a 1,000 people a year in the process of receiving an exemption from Israeli military service. We provide service to anyone who chooses this path, regardless of their reason, socio-economic background, or political affiliation. Refusal to serve for any reason is a political action and a critical component in the process of shifting Israeli society away from militarism and towards peace.

Photo credit: Breaking Walls

This means that if, for example, someone from the Ethiopian community chooses to refuse because of racism they and their family experienced by the government and different parts of society - it’s political. Or, if someone chooses not to enlist because they are the breadwinners in the household, and the Military pays soldiers under minimum wage even though the service is mandatory by law for at least 2-3 years - it’s political. If someone does not want to be a part of a militaristic hierarchical institution, or if they are in severe depression and cannot face military service, or even because they just don’t want to - all of these are legitimate reasons to refuse, and more so, they are important political statements.

In the past year we’ve seen a rise in the number of people who reach out to us for assistance in receiving an exemption from service for two reasons. One is resistance to serve under the current Israeli government that works to promote an even more violent and fascist agenda than previous governments, and the second is the enlistment orders sent to Russian-Ukrainian war refugees arriving in Israel. RSN works to enhance the refusers’ and resistance movements to militarism in Israel and is helping us cover some of the extra costs we have since this rise has begun. You can support our efforts by making a donation to support RSN and New Profile’s counselling network at this link.

Israel operates different programs to assist and lure Jews in the diaspora to immigrate to Israel, some of them assisting the Jewish Russian and Ukrainian refugees while lying to them about the maximum drafting age. Thus far, over a 1000 enlistment orders were sent to Russian and Ukrainian refugees that arrived in Israel. This is not spoken about at all in Israeli media - Newspapers aren't willing to publish about it and refugees fear doing interviews.

Some of the cases we meet on a regular basis are of Russian men who have decided that they will not take part in the Russia-Ukraine war, that they are not willing to kill or be killed, and had to be smuggled out of Russia, which has taken a toll on them and their families as they needed to use all their resources, financial and emotional, to leave the country. Just a few months after arriving in Israel they are being drafted to take part in the military occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Another type of cases are of Ukrainian women who fled the bloody war and could not even imagine there is even a possibility that they will be drafted to any military. There is no other “democratic” country with mandatory military service that applies to women, but in Israel, under the guise of the “people’s army” or “liberal feminism”, women have to become soldiers. This puts them in complete shock, which increases their already existing feeling of helplessness.

We feel this situation is completely absurd - enlisting war refugees for a different war to occupy another people. We need your help in strengthening the refusal movement to make sure anyone who wants to refuse will be able to do so. Donate to RSN to strengthen the Israeli refuser movement at this link.

New Profile is the only organization that supports the refugees, and the number of requests we receive for counselling keeps rising. We make sure to train Ukrainian and Russian speaking people to provide support, and keep any communication with the refugees anonymous, so they won’t be exposed to any risk because of it. This work is even more crucial with the current government who pushes forward laws and regulations that limit the ability to get a military exemption, that increases the amount of weapons in civil society areas, that educates children to fascists and racist values, and deepens the occupation of the Palestinian people.

It breaks my heart that no one knows about this horrible thing happening and nobody talks about this, so it keeps happening. That is why I’m happy for the opportunity to share this information with you. Please donate to RSN to help the Israeli refuser movement grow and to help us increase the assistance the counselling network can give individuals in distress.

To days without wars and weapons,

Or Ben David

Mothers Against Violence: A new voice for refusal

We’ve often worked closely with our supporters to provide direct support to the brave Israelis refusing to serve in the Israeli army. Today, we want to share an example of other kinds of work RSN is involved in the effort to build a mass civil resistance movement, in particular the refuser movement, to end the occupation of the Palestinians. We’re now launching a crowdfunding campaign to support these activities, and hope to raise $20,000 to fund them through the end of the year.

A central pillar of the current Israeli government is a fascist party led by West Bank settlers, and many elements of its legislative agenda are designed to facilitate the occupation regime in the West Bank. The realization, that without an end to the military occupation of the Palestinians there will be no democracy in Israel, has dawned on many Israelis who identify as centrist liberals.

A new crop of activist groups has sprung up to channel this energy. One example is Mothers Against Violence (MAV), a grassroots group with chapters across Israel. With their yellow vests, they are a visible presence at every pro-democracy protest, working to defuse potentially violent encounters with the police and right-wing counter protesters. In parallel they operate a humanitarian support project for the Palestinian residents of Masafer Yatta, a West Bank community that is a locus of Israeli displacement efforts.

The Mothers long term goal is ending the occupation. They have explicitly called on Israelis to refuse service in the West Bank. In recent weeks, as settler violence against West Bank Palestinians has escalated, they’ve launched a new public campaign: Get the Soldiers Out! Targeting parents of Israeli Army conscripts, the campaign warns of the legal jeopardy threatening soldiers providing security for settler attacks (particularly following their designation as nationalist terrorism), as well as communicating current research on the high levels of PTSD exhibited by soldiers who served in this role.

RSN has identified the mothers as a unique and effective voice within Israeli public discourse. Because of their unique position as mothers and grandmothers of soldiers, their calls for refusal have generated traction among audiences not normally associated with the anti-occupation positions. We believe that they will form an important component of a mass refusal movement.

Over the past few months we’ve worked with the Mothers’ leadership to find the most effective way to support the group. MAV believes that remaining a very lean volunteer organization, with no staff or offices, is essential to maintaining their effectiveness. They’ve requested that RSN help build their outreach and fundraising capacity, without compromising who they are as an organization.

Drawing on the cadre of refusers we’ve supported over the past two decades, we’ve managed to recruit a number of mentors with the requisite experience and skills to help MAV build their capacity. Over the next six months, RSN mentors will work with MAV and a new group of reservist refusers to ensure that they have the tools to make the most of this political juncture’s potential to significantly expand the anti-occupation movement.

We need your help to fund this effort, please consider donating via this link.

In solidarity,

Mattan Helman

Executive Director

Refuser Solidarity Network

Third time in prison: anonymous 25 year old refuser receives prison sentences totalling 39 days

The anonymous refuser “D”, whose refusal statement we shared with you last month, has been incarcerated again. Write “D” a solidarity letter here.

Last week, “D” (25 y/o) refused conscription to the Israeli military a third time due to his conscientious objection to becoming a soldier and act as an occupier and oppressor to the Palestinian people. He received another prison sentence, this time of 20 days, after already serving 14 days in prison and 5 days under arrest in a military base.

On one of the times that “D” arrived to refuse conscription he received a ridiculous treatment over his key chain that had the image of the Palestinian flag. While entering the military base, the guards at the gate were so startled to see his key chain it cause panic that resulted in detaining “D”, calling for back-up, bringing in a consultation of 8 soldiers (one of whom was a commander), alerting the head of the unit that was in charge of “D” to “examine the problem”, and to triple the number of guards watching over him in the car ride to the prison.

All of this has not deterred “D” one bit and will not make him flinch or change his position. RSN and Mesarvot salute him for ALL his actions. If you have not written a support letter to “D” yet, you can write one in this link.

In solidarity,

RSN team

Another 20 days in prison: Yuval Dag receives a 4th prison sentence

We want to update that Yuval Dag, 20 year old Israeli conscientious objector, whose refusal statement we shared with you in the past, has been incarcerated again. Write Yuval a solidarity letter here.

In the past few months Yuval refused three times to enlist in the Israeli military because of his objection to the occupation of the Palestinian territories. Each time he was tried and sentenced to prison. He received sentences totaling 50 days, of which he already served 46 days. Last week he refused a fourth time and received an additional sentence of 20 days. However, he is standing strong knowing he is doing what is right. In his refusal statement Yuval wrote:

“The occupation can no longer be seen as incidental. It can no longer be considered as a security need. The occupation is a political enterprise operated by the army, which harms the vast majority of people who live here. It serves a racist and colonialist agenda of Jewish supremacy. Even those who shut their eyes for all these years, who tried to ignore and suppress the existence of the occupation, cannot continue to ignore it after the pogrom committed [in Huwara] by settlers under the protection of soldiers of the Israeli army. The fact that this violence, which originates with the government, has become so transparent and unapologetic requires us to open our eyes and resist.”

RSN and Mesarvot hope Yuval will be released as soon as possible to continue his activism against the occupation as a free man. In the meantime, if you have not written Yuval a solidarity letter yet, write him via this link.

In solidarity,

RSN team

Anonymous 25 years old conscientious objector in prison

Hi,

I’m “D”. I’m a 25 years old Israeli conscientious objector. I don’t feel comfortable disclosing my name but I want to share my story with you. I have already served 5 days under arrest in an Israeli military base and another 14 days in military prison because I refuse to serve the Israeli military. Some people might say I’m a traitor. After all, since I moved to this country a couple of years ago when I was a kid I have been given so much. And, some might say, now that it’s my time to give something in return, I stab them in the back. Well, it’s not that simple, and if you have one minute I can tell you why.

Write “D” a support letter

Like many of the Jewish immigrants who have settled between the river and the sea, I didn’t have a simple life in my homeland. I lived with a dysfunctional family in a dysfunctional country, and would constantly fantasize about a way out of that misery. So when the Jewish Agency approached me with their smiling faces and full pockets I decided to follow them.

They put me in a boarding school in a kibbutz (communal village), where I joined scores of other kids like me, who were brought to Israel without their families from all around the world. In the seemingly perfect life of the kibbutz we were taught Hebrew and indoctrinated with zionist narrative and values.

In the bubble where I lived during those years I never met a Palestinian, and the teachers conveniently refrained from talking about certain subjects, for instance what really happened in 1948 or what is happening all around us today. Little did I know that I was in fact being “educated” in ignorance, indifference and hatred.

But after I moved to Jerusalem this illusion in which I lived didn’t hold up for long, because despite all the efforts of the Israelis to hide reality, it is impossible for them to make the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians that live under oppression in this city disappear, or to conceal the segregation wall which I saw everyday.

Write “D” a support letter

As my enlistment day came closer and closer the voices in my head grew. Realizing the hypocrisy of Israeli society wasn’t easy for me, because it involved admitting that I had been wrong all those years. It involved realizing that all of the wealth that I enjoyed was based on the plundering of the land of innocent people.

Breaking free from the mental chains of the apartheid as a member of the oppressors was a painful process. Zionists brainwash you to think that Israel is the underdog, that the only way Jews can exist is if there is a Jewish state, and they make you believe that Palestinians are some kind of inferior and barbaric humans, that must be kept in cages or else they will break out and kill you.

But once I had learned the facts I couldn’t go back. I had finally seen the truth and unmasked the cynical impostors that had brought me here. They didn’t want to help me, they only desired my Jewish presence.

Write “D” a support letter

But drunk with all of their power and plans they didn’t think about one very important detail. They treat people as objects, killing Palestinians and brainwashing children. They think they can give us orders and we will follow them like robots. But we aren’t robots, we are humans! All of their tanks and nuclear weapons mean nothing, because they pale in the face of their biggest menace, the thinking human.

Now the future seems bleak. They treat me like an enemy and a traitor for standing up for human rights and solidarity. I am one of the lucky ones, because instead of being incarcerated endlessly like hundreds of Palestinians in administrative detention, my time in jail eventually will come to an end. But all of their violence and oppression is just a sign of their fear and their weakness. Because they know that democracy is their sweet demise. That’s why they will persecute all and each one of us. But in these dark times we shall remember Pablo Neruda’s words: “They can cut all the flowers, but they cannot keep Spring from coming.”

In solidarity,

“D”

Israeli refusers need you: Take action with us today

Dear friends,

We have written to you different updates in the past few weeks, sharing with you ongoing news about the huge refusal wave and civil resistance movement against the extreme right-wing Israeli government’s plans to turn Israel into a settler-led autocracy. Should this happen, the people most affected would be all minorities under Israeli rule, but mostly Palestinians under military occupation.

This is the time to act. Even though the Netanyahu government paused its power-grab legislation, this fight is far from over. At least 200,000 Israelis turned out over the weekend, showing that they are not backing down.  At the same time anti-occupation activists are using this momentum to bring more people closer to the anti-occupation movement.

We need to show the Israelis bravely resisting autocracy that the world is watching and that they have our support. Sign this petition showing you stand with Israelis fighting for democracy for all. 

Global support for reserve soldiers who joined the resistance movement is especially crucial. The military is the institution the Israeli government derives most of its power from, both within the green line and in the Palestinian territories. The past weeks have shown that when enough soldiers refuse, the government will have to back down. 

But this is going to be a long and difficult struggle. Netanyahu is doing everything he can to demonize protesters and refusers, calling them “traitors” and “anarchists.”

It is up to us to make sure the refusers know they have the world behind them. Each one of us needs to support the biggest civil resistance movement Israel has ever seen. Click here to sign our new petition, showing Israelis that we stand with them. 

The shift in the mainstream Israeli public opinion around support for army refusal as a civil resistance act is a massive opportunity for the anti-occupation movement. This shift indicates a breakdown in the Israeli mainstream’s conviction of the morality of the government’s military. 

Right now, RSN is working in collaboration with Israeli anti-occupation activists on the ground in order to seize this opportunity and grow the movement. Help us show the resistance movement they have global support by signing our petition.

In solidarity,

Shimri Zameret,

Chairman of the board

Refuser Solidarity Network

Breaking news: The refusers forced the Israeli government to delay the judicial coup!

Weeks-long wave of refusal and civil resistance forced the Israeli government yesterday (Monday) to postpone the anti-democratic judicial coup! Due to the refusers' pressure, on Saturday, the minister of defense, Yoav Galant, had a press conference and announced his opposition to the judicial coup, citing voices of dissent in the army as the major reason for his break with his own party and the government. As a result, the prime minister, Netanyahu, fired him on Sunday. The firing led to a huge backlash:  mass protests, a general strike by universities and trade unions, the blocking of roads across the country and the shutdown of the airport. All this forced the government to postpone the judicial coup. And it all started with the refusers.
 

You can help us support the refusers.
 

Earlier this week the Israeli press overflowed with daily refusal statements and civil resistance announcements. Each day hundreds of reserve soldiers protested against the government and declared their refusal to continue to serve in the Israeli army. Among them are soldiers of the Intelligence Corps soldiers, doctors, combat pilots and more. In a letter sent to the Israeli defense minister, soldiers of the Intelligence Corps  wrote:

“Our conscience does not allow us to cooperate with the attempts to change the regime In Israel. An undemocratic Israel is a weak Israel which is dangerous to minorities within it, an Israel with a failing economic system. Our love for the country and the many years we spent serving it compel us to resist.” 

The act of refusal also worked its way to different sectors of the army and the Israeli society. 700 Soldiers in the standing army sent out official letters to the minister of defense and the Commander-in-Chief of the Israeli army stating that they will resign from service. Parents of soldiers to be facing mandatory conscription have reconsidered sending their children to serve in the army and a group of 40 soldiers currently serving their mandatory conscription filmed a video vowing not to serve an undemocratic government. 

On Friday, the Israeli army Commander-in-Chief warned that the Israeli army is disintegrating and that military operations are at risk due to massive amounts of refusals caused by the judicial coup. Israeli prime minister Netanyahu addressed the unprecedented crisis the army is facing and mentioned that refusing to serve in the military is a great danger to Israel. 

The refusal wave puts the government in an unparalleled crisis, and this crisis is a huge opportunity. This represents a massive crack in the Israeli mainstream’s conviction that the army is used purely for defense. It is a moment of deep change in the worldviews of the Israeli citizenry, that could allow the anti-occupation movement to show Israelis that a democracy only for some people, is not a democracy at all.

Although this could be a time to celebrate decades of hard work leading to a moment of success, the fight is far from over. The reforms have only been postponed and not cancelled.  Netanyahu called for the army to punish the refusers, and to get the majority needed to approve a delay in the legislation, Netanyahu promised an ultra-nationalist party to create a new “national guard” under the control of Itamar Ben Gvir, the leader of an extreme right-wing party. All this means that leveraging the protests to fight the occupation is a challenge, and there is no democracy without an end to the occupation. 

Refuser Solidarity Network continues to support local Israeli refusers. We support efforts to use this moment to expand the anti-occupation movement and continue the fight to bring an end to the occupation. 
 

Please help us, and donate to support the refusers.


In solidarity,

Mattan Helman
Executive Director
Refuser Solidarity Network

Yuval Dag received a 10 day prison sentence for refusing to serve the occupation

Earlier this week we shared with you Yuval Dag’s refusal statement in which he shared his experience of self-reflection and awakening that led him to his decision to refuse to enlist in mandatory army service. In his statement he declared:

“Today, more than ever, it is becoming clear to the general public how closely Israel and its policies are connected to violence and to the occupation of the Palestinian territories. [....] Resistance begins, first of all, with self-reflection and understanding. With the understanding that by wearing a uniform and symbols of a certain body, you choose to represent that body. With the understanding that enlisting in the army is a political choice, and its meaning is to support the military and political agenda, and to take part in it. [....] I refuse to give my body and my life to any system, for any country, and in the current situation, especially not to the state of Israel and the Israeli military.”

On Monday, Yuval arrived at an Israeli military enlistment center and declared his refusal to enlist. He was accompanied by a group of Mesarvot’s activists (Israeli support network for occupation refusers) that held up signs in protest of the occupation. After stating his refusal to enlist to military authorities he was arrested and sent to trial. Yuval received a sentence of 10 days in military prison, where he is currently kept. 

We support Yuval in taking an active stand against the occupation and refusing to be even a small cog in a ruthless oppressive system. 

In this historic period where thousands of Israelis are protesting on the street and refuse to serve the establishment of a dictatorship by the Israeli government within the green line, Yuval’s personal act of protest is important to show the mainstream Israeli public the connection between the settler-led Israeli government’s power grab and the war crimes of the occupation. Help us amplify his voice - share his statement through this link on Facebook and ask two of your friends to share it as well. With your help we have the power to make a difference. Let's spread this message as far as we can.

In solidarity,

RSN team

Tomorrow I will refuse to enlist in the Israeli military

Hi,
My name is Yuval Dag. I’m 20 years old and I live in a moshav in the south of Israel. Tomorrow I will refuse to enlist in the Israeli military because I am not willing to take part in the Occupation of the Palestinian territories and give myself to the Israeli state.

Send Yuval a solidarity letter at this link

Yuval Dag

I grew up a zionist. The existence of Israel, as a state and as a society no matter its actions in the past and present, has always felt self-evident to me. I never questioned it. I participated in every national holiday and event with anticipation. I enjoyed the feeling of unity and fellowship.

One day, while roaming the internet, I encountered an “anti-Israel” comment. The moment I read it, I was filled with rage. How could it be that someone dares to criticize us? We are the victims and always have been. The commentators have no way of knowing what it is like to live in our reality. But as much as I was shaken by the comment, I was even more shaken by my own reaction. I found myself offended in the name of the state, without having ever developed a conscious stance and without ever having examined my own beliefs, all because of  my education and the social atmosphere I was living in. At that moment I realized that my outlook was not a product of my own critical thinking, but a product of indoctrination. At that point, I began a journey of disassembling my beliefs and examining them under a new light, in a non biased and independent form.

I began to see how, contrary to what I believed all my life, the two sides in the “Israeli-Palestinian conflict” are asymmetric, and the “conflict” itself is not a conflict, but an ongoing and prolonged war. I saw that we are not the victims, but the occupiers and oppressors. I began to understand the absurdity of how we treat human lives; when an Israeli citizen is murdered, the entire nation mourns, but when 7 Palestinians are murdered by the Israeli military in one week, we do not hear a word about it, and if we do, we hurry to question the innocence of the murdered or to justify the soldier who performed the killing and who should be blamed. For us, the status quo is a relatively peaceful life with the occasional “operation” in Gaza and a wave of terrorist attacks from the west bank, but for many Palestinians, military invasions, violence, killings and oppression is the norm. I realized that Palestinians in the west bank do not live alongside the Israeli military, but under its rule. Their basic daily schedule, from the moment they wake up, whether they can go to school or work, depends entirely on the military. In a moment's notice, due to “security” concerns, Israel can put entire villages and neighborhoods under a complete lockdown, even if it means denying medicine and food to tens of thousands of people.

I realized that Israel was built on expulsion and banishment, and that the only way for it to continue existing as an national home exclusively for the Jewish people is by crushing, oppressing and silencing any element that can potentially destabilize this status, whether this element is the lives of millions of people or a symbolic flag. Everyone has the right for sovereignty, both Palestinians and the Jewish people, but no sovereignty can come at such a heavy price at the expense of so many lives.

Finally, I understood what now seems obvious to me. The body responsible for executing this project that is built on explosion and can be enforced only through oppression, is the Israeli military. Unlike the common belief, the military is not driven by pure intentions and its crimes are not the result of a few rogue soldiers. It is a body that, time after time, demonstrates hostile, racist and clearly offensive policies. Terrorism, murder of civilians and journalists, pogroms, vandalism, displacement and prevention of basic and crucial infrastructure are daily occurrences which are perpetrated by the Israeli military in the West Bank, with its help, and under its rule.

No one can overlook what happened in Huwara. It was impossible to ignore the burnt houses, the shattered windows, the dozens of wounded, those who were murdered and the soldiers who stood by. It was also impossible to ignore the Israeli minister who called for the erasure of the village after the acts. Today, more than ever, it is becoming clear to the general public how closely Israel and its policies are connected to violence and to the occupation of the Palestinian territories. The occupation can no longer be seen as incidental. It can no longer be considered as a security need. The occupation is a political enterprise operated by the army, that harms the vast majority of people who live here. It serves a racist and colonialist agenda of Jewish supremacy. Even those who shut their eyes for all these years, who tried to ignore and suppress the existence of the occupation, cannot continue to ignore it after the pogrom committed by settlers under the protection of soldiers of the Israeli army. The fact that this violence, which originates with the government, has become so transparent and unapologetic, requires us to open our eyes and resist.

Resistance begins, first of all, with self-reflection and understanding. With the understanding that by wearing a uniform and symbols of a certain body, you choose to represent that body. With the understanding that enlisting in the army is a political choice, and its meaning is to support the military and political agenda, and to take part in it. The understanding that even a small cog contributes to the system's function. The understanding that one of the Israeli military’s most central missions and roles is to be an occupying and oppressive body. The understanding that even a good person serving as a soldier in this system causes harm and suffering to the people under occupation. The understanding that even tough conscription is the default, it does not mean that it is the moral and right thing to do. The understanding that no individual alone has the ability to change the policies of a military-political body. Self-reflection should occur when every boy or girl are called to enlist. It is our responsibility to take a deep look at ourselves and decide what we are willing to stand for.

I refuse. I refuse to give my body and my life to any system, for any country, and in the current situation, especially not to the state of Israel and the Israeli military. I call on everyone who is about to enlist to recognize and face the truth. Open your eyes and look at our reality. Set aside the Israeli society’s common narrative, which has a clear interest in turning everyone into soldiers. I believe that in this reality, our only choice is to refuse.

In solidarity,

Yuval

Send Yuval a solidarity letter at this link

Amidst an unprecedented wave of refusal, Nave Shabtay Levin is officially free!

Amidst a wave of refusal, during which thousands of Israeli soldiers issue statements of public refusal in protest of the Israeli government’s race to promote a cluster of anti-democratic laws, the conscientious objector Nave Shabtay Levin received an exemption from military service!

We are at a critical point for the refuser movement. Please make sure to share this link with everyone you know and to sign up for our updates so you can all become a part of our community.

Nave Shabtay Levin

Nave (19) received an exemption from the military after 7 months and 115 days of imprisonment. Nave first declared his refusal to enlist to the Israeli military last September, along with Einat Gerlitz, Shahar Schwartz and Evyatar Rubin, in protest of the occupation of the Palestinian Territories and the apartheid regime enforced by Israel over the Palestinians. All four were tried multiple times for their refusal to enlist and were sentenced to prison for months. The group received ongoing support from the Mesarvot network (Israeli support network for occupation refusers) since last summer and Nave is the last of the group to receive an exemption.

In a time of an unprecedented wave of refusal by reserve soldiers, it is important to note that Nave refused to enlist for mandatory service because of his understanding that there is no such a thing as a moral occupation or a moral occupying army. Once released he stated:

"As exciting as this refusal wave is, we need to remember that the fight against the occupation and capitalism is far from over. We have to continue our struggle, to fight to bring about the end of the occupation, the fall of capitalism and the liberation of Palestine."

We want to thank all of you, our international supporters, for showing solidarity with Nave and our struggle to end the occupation by conscientiously objecting to war crimes. It is important to remember we have strength in numbers. This is a time to get more people on our side. Please make sure to share this link and our updates with everyone you know so they can become a part of our community. These are crucial times and the bigger our community is the better support we can provide to the Israeli refusal movement. 

Israeli army is facing an “unprecedented crisis” as thousands of soldiers refuse; hundreds of thousands in mass protests

My name is Shimri Zameret and I am RSN’s board chairman. These are crucial times in Israel/Palestine and the Israeli refuser movement needs your help as thousands of soldiers have announced their refusal to serve in the Israeli army over the last two weeks. During the Second Intifada, as the Israeli army was killing thousands of Palestinians in its effort to suppress the uprising, I was part of a movement of Israeli youth and soldiers who refused to serve in the army. From the age of 18 to 20, during 2002-2004, I spent 21 months in prison in protest of the occupation and its brutal policies. It was one of the largest campaigns of conscientious objection seen in Israel. What we are seeing in the past 14 days is a far larger wave of refusal.

You can help us support the new wave of refusers by committing to a monthly donation here or by making a large single donation here.

Over the past two weeks, and for the first time in two decades, a new movement of army refusers has emerged in opposition to the plans of the far-right government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, to pass a slew of anti-democratic legislation. The proposed laws, described as a “judicial coup” by opponents, will severely weaken the country’s courts, giving the ruling coalition almost unlimited power. While impacting the rights of women, LGBTQ people, secular people, and other minorities, it is Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line who will face the heaviest brunt of the legislation.

Against this imminent threat, thousands of Israeli soldiers and reservists have made public statements announcing their intent to refuse army service should the government’s legislation pass. One such statement had over 250 signatures of reserve soldiers, all from the army’s special ops unit, stating the legislation is intent on “making the judicial branch a political and non-independent branch, in other words an end for Israeli democracy.” A second, similar statement of refusal garnered over 500 signatures of reserve soldiers, all from  “Unit 8200”, an intelligence unit often compared to the U.S. National Security Agency. 

Meanwhile, according to media reports, almost every Israeli army unit — including the Sayeret Matkal commandos and other elite forces — is facing a revolt from within. Internal army chat groups are reportedly flooded with rank-and-file soldiers stating they either refuse or will refuse to serve if the judicial coup succeeds. 

Dissent in the air force — one of the Israeli army’s most revered divisions — has been of particular concern for the military leadership, according to reports in the press. In a message on an internal air force WhatsApp group quoted in Haaretz, one pilot announced that instead of serving one day a week as a reserve soldier, he will now use that day to demonstrate against the government. Another new refuser said that if the legislation is approved, the army’s ability to address security threats “will be damaged, without a doubt,” emphasizing that “There are whole units, especially in the intelligence area but also in the technology area, that are dependent on reserve service year-round.”  On Sunday, almost all the reserve pilots of Squadron 69, one of the air force’s most elite teams, declared to their commanders that they, too, would refuse service should the judicial plans go ahead.

Or Heler, a military correspondent for Channel 13 news who has been closely covering the current developments, warned that this historic revolt risks putting the Israeli army in an “unprecedented crisis.” He is right. And for us, the movement struggling to end Israeli rule over the Palestinian people, this crisis presents a moment of unprecedented opportunity.

Almost all Jewish Israelis are conscripted into the army at the age of 18, with men typically serving for 32 months and women for 24 months. Notably, though, almost all the Israelis taking part in the current wave of refusals are reserve soldiers — older Israelis who continue to serve in the army for either one month every year, or one day a week for many years, typically until the age of 40.

These reserve soldiers are called for regular training and are recruited in great numbers in times of war. But the army also relies on these soldiers for its day-to-day functions, especially in fields that require longer training and technical knowledge, such as intelligence gathering and the air force. Without them, the army cannot operate.

This wave of refusal is unfolding amid a larger campaign of  mass demonstrations and civil resistance actions across Israel. Protesters have blockaded major highways and train stations in Israel's biggest cities; surrounded and tried to nonviolently break into the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, during debates on the legislation; staged a national general strike; and organized weekly marches that have brought hundreds of thousands out onto the streets every Saturday. 

Just as important are the economic actions taken under the banner of this movement: Israeli citizens and individuals and Israeli companies have publicly divested from the Israeli economy, selling their Israeli currency and stocks and buying foreign ones. The ripple effect has been effective: during February, the Israeli shekel plunged 10 percent against the dollar, and many observers are warning of further economic damage and capital flight.

As a researcher on the use of civil resistance — the use of strikes, boycotts, mass protests, and other nonviolent actions to withdraw cooperation from oppressive regimes — in global justice campaigns, I can safely say that this level of involvement in civil resistance campaigns is unparalleled in Israeli history. According to media estimates, 2 to 4 percent of Israel’s population (between 200,000 and 400,000 people) have participated in at least three of the peak protests and strike days across the country. Never before has an Israeli movement included such a scale of participation, and at the same time used civil resistance as its primary tactic. With levels of active participation by citizens widely seen as key in predicting the chances of success in civil resistance campaigns, this is important news.

Such campaigns of civil resistance can have a transformative impact, as examples from recent history show. They include the ousting of President Slobodan Milošević by Serbian citizens in 2000; the revolt that led to the restoration of democracy in Nepal in 2006; the overthrow of authoritarian rulers in Tunisia and Egypt in 2011; the blockades of the World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, and G8/G20 summits; by the global justice movement over the past two decades, and the strategies employed by climate justice movements such as Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil, and the Sunrise Movement.

Yet as successful as the Israeli protests have been in mobilizing people, some are also wary that they are missing a key underlying issue. Critics rightly point out that many of the individuals and groups leading the current opposition movement — including the army refusal campaigns — are primarily focusing their messaging on the impact that the far-right government’s legislation will have on Jews in Israel and the diaspora, while largely ignoring decades of anti-democratic and apartheid policies advanced by all prior governments against Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line. 

These critiques are important and legitimate. However, both strategists and experts on historical civil resistance movements stress that such campaigns were in fact often focused on “minor” or “symbolic” demands that helped make the greater injustice visible to larger parts of the general population. For example, the Indian anti-colonial movement's most widespread campaign was centered on fighting a tax on the production of salt, not on demanding an end to British rule. The U.S. civil rights movement also made national headlines through a campaign focusing not on voting rights first, but on segregation on public transportation.

Moreover, for hundreds of thousands of Israelis, young and old, participation in this protest movement will be a formative experience for the rest of their lives. And as we have seen with previous waves of army refusal, for many Israelis, the act of defying the military — one of the most central institutions in Israeli society and national identity — is often the first step toward abandoning the hegemonic norms in which they were raised, eventually leading to a total reshaping of their worldview. It is telling that many in the small community of Israeli activists that today devote their lives to campaigning against occupation and apartheid started as young army refusers or reserve soldier refusers in previous waves.

So yes, it is troubling that millions of Israeli Jews are only now seeing for the first time that the country’s ultra-nationalist and ultra-religious forces are an existential threat to society, including to the millions of Palestinians subjected to Israeli rule. That said, later is better than never, and this wave of refusal and protest may yet create a deep change in Israeli society. While it will likely take years to reach the surface and shape long-term policies, this period of mass refusal and civil resistance could be as transformative as the Israeli movements that emerged during the Second Intifada, the 1982 Lebanon war, and the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Faced with this wave of refusal and resistance, I believe the role of the Refuser Solidarity Network and our supporters is to publicly endorse this wave of refusal and resistance, stand in solidarity with it, and especially support those refusers and protesters who see their actions as part of a bigger struggle for justice for Palestinians. The path ahead is neither safe nor certain, but for the first time in decades, I can honestly say that I see a realistic path toward ending the occupation in our generation.

Refuser Solidarity Network and our partners in Israel are going to support these new groups of refusers in any way we can. You can help us get the resources we need to do this. One great way is to create a plan to donate monthly to our work - if you do not have one already, please consider setting up a monthly donation plan here so you can help us plan for growing resistance in the months and years of struggle ahead. 

If you are already a monthly donor, please consider making a large single donation today here to help us in this period – as you can imagine this period will require hiring new people, a lot of legal aid, press and social media work to make sure the struggle ends in victory. Every donation can help in this period. 

In solidarity,

Shimri Zameret

Board chairman

Refuser Solidarity Network

Hundreds (!!) of Israeli soldiers stated they will refuse to serve in the army

In the past few days, hundreds (!!) of Israeli soldiers have expressed their refusal to serve in the army under the new ultra-nationalist and far-right government unless its anti-democratic policies are stopped. Press reported that almost every army unit, including the “elite” commando unit and the air force, is experiencing an internal revolt, with reserve soldiers refusing to serve in a state they view as anti-democratic. This wave of refusal became so alarming that the army's head general was forced to issue a statement saying that reserve soldiers should leave their political disagreements outside of the army. However, the refusers did not comply with this order and new statements are being published every day. In the next few weeks we will closely report these once-in-a generation events.

We bring you the words of Niron Mizrahi, 27 y/o from Kfar Masaryk, as was published publicly in his facebook page, calling the Israeli public to refuse: 

It's time to refuse. 

I, Sgt. Niron Mizrahi, Military Number 8065754, armored corps fighter and combat medic, hereby announce the termination of my reserve service in the Israel Defense Forces, and call for massive refusal by the entire secular-liberal public in the State of Israel.

****

I am 27 years old, studying for a bachelor's degree in secondary education and the teaching of history, the Bible and Israeli culture. I grew up and was educated in Kibbutz Kfar Masaryk in the Western Galilee, I finished 12 years of school with a full matriculation, I volunteered for a year of service at a boarding school for at-risk youth in Pardes Hana, and in 2014 I enlisted in mandatory service as a soldier in the Armored Corps.

For three years I guarded the State of Israel on its borders with Syria and Gaza, I patrolled and made arrests in the West Bank, and today I understand that I can no longer stand idly by.

I can no longer stand idly by and see how my country sends young people like me to commit war crimes in the name of Zionism, the flag and religion, and in the name of a divine promise - imagined or not - to take part in the expropriation of land, the destruction of culture, and in one of the remaining colonialisms in modern times.

I can no longer stand on the sidelines and see how my country takes away rights and freedoms from another people and condemns people to the disgrace of hunger and miserable lives, traumas, suffering, poverty and death in the name of religious fundamentalism.

I can no longer take part in the messianic and delusional ambitions of racist nationalists and religious fanatics such as Simcha Rothman and Itamar Ben Gabir, who dream and work for the vision of the Temple and a religious Jewish kingdom from the Jordan river to the sea, and are willing to harm other human beings in order to fulfill their doctrine.

I can no longer stand by while a criminal leads the country towards a legal dictatorship and a constitutional crisis, and introduces Jewish terrorists into the Knesset, all to escape the threat of judgment.

The narrative of "maintaining security" collapsed a long time ago. There is no safeguarding of security here, there are terrorist attacks every Monday and Thursday, and a military operation every four years, and just as ultra-Orthodox men and religious women are allowed not to enlist for one reason or another, I, we, too - the secular-liberal public - have a moral obligation to refuse service in the Occupied Territories.

I ask that you not treat me as a ranting radical child. I am a mature and thoughtful person, with values and ideas that I have gathered and developed throughout my life, and I have come to this decision in an informed and sober way.

History is full of difficult and bloody conflicts, much more so than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Most of these conflicts were resolved through talks and negotiations. I don't know of a way to resolve conflicts between people that doesn't include dialogue. Violence and terrorism lead to more violence and terrorism and are never the solution.

We did not come into the world to fight and kill each other.

The value of life is more important than anything, and I understand that my continued participation in the cycle of violence and in perpetuating the Israeli occupation of the West Bank territories and the Palestinian people, holds back the resolution of the conflict.

I apologize if I have disappointed or hurt someone. I do not apologize for my truth.

Shahar and Evyatar are finally free, after more than 120 days in prison!

We are happy to report that after over 120 days in prison, Shahar Schwartz and Evyatar Moshe Rubin finally received an exemption from military service! Congratulate Shahar and Evyatar on receiving an exemption by clicking on this link.

Shahar (18 y/o) and Evyatar (19 y/o), the conscientious objectors who refused to participate in war crimes by an occupying army, and who were supported, throughout, by Mesarvot (an Israeli support network for draft refusers who oppose the occupation), received an exemption from the Israeli military on the basis of the "Severely bad behavior" clause.

We want to thank you, all of our international supporters, for your solidarity and for the hundreds of support letters you sent to the refusers during their time in prison.

Congratulate Shahar and Evyatar on receiving an exemption!

Here is what Shahar and Evyatar have to say: 

Shahar Schwartz after 130 days in a military prison:

"I'm glad that the long months in prison are over, where I learned up close what it is like to lose your freedom. This experience only strengthened my opposition to the predatory regime enforced by the Israeli army in the Palestinian Territories, and I continue to believe that oppression should be resisted even at personal cost.”

Evyatar Moshe Rubin after 122 days in a military prison:

"In an age where access to information is so widespread, refusal becomes an increasingly powerful tool. To me, the great battle regarding Israel is a battle for information - if only everyone knew the truth about the history of this country, about the terrible crimes that are committed here every day to maintain the racial dominance, the apartheid regime in the occupied territories would not last until the end of the year. As a result of my incarceration, I saw not only many of my friends in Israel being exposed to new content and information, but also people abroad, an equally important arena for this struggle, who are more and more aware of the situation in Israel due to the publications and widespread support for refusers, especially on social media."

Congratulate Shahar and Evyatar on receiving an exemption!

Shahar and Evyatar were indeed released, but the refuser Nave Shabtay Levin (19 y/o)  is still incarcerated, after being sentenced to an additional 45 days in prison.

Millions of Palestinians throughout the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are also not free. Mesarvot, Refuser Solidarity Network and conscientious objectors throughout Israel will continue to fight and to raise our voices against the policies that keep them imprisoned and oppressed, and against the Israeli army that carries out those crimes. 

Shahar, Nave, and Evyatar are nearing 100 days in prison, but Einat Gerlitz is finally free!

We are happy to report that after multiple prison sentences Einat Gerlitz was finally recognized as a conscientious objector, and received an exemption from military service. She is free to continue her activism to end the occupation from outside of prison. Congratulate Einat on her exemption by clicking here and read her release statement below.

Einat Gerlitz

Read Einat’s release statement: 

Four months ago, I was jailed for the first time for refusing to enlist in the Israeli army with my friends Shahar, Evyatar and Nave. 

Since, I had spent 4 sentencing terms to a total of 87 days in prison. Now that I am officially exempted, I feel we must continue the struggle for genuine freedom for everyone. Even though, and especially because, this struggle takes a toll on us.

Congratulate Einat on her exemption

In prison, I saw a glimpse of what life is like under complete military control: a feeling of constant surveillance and ongoing threats. That experience strengthened my conviction that no one should ever deny freedom to anybody else. That is the essence of our struggle against the Israeli occupation and apartheid over the Palestinians.

I am proud to be another member of a long lineage of Israeli refusers who were never afraid to question Israeli conventions and to speak the truth. It is our responsibility to change the situation. As young Israelis we must see that the militarism surrounding us also imprisons us. Nobody's free until everybody's free.

Congratulate Einat on her exemption

I was released. But my refuser friends Shahar Schwarz, Evyatar Moshe Rubin and Nave Shabtay-Levin are still imprisoned. I call for their immediate release.

In solidarity,

Einat

Shahar Schwartz, Evyatar Moshe Rubin, and Nave shabtay levin continue their struggle to be released from recurring incarcerations in military prison, for refusing to serve the occupation. Thus far Evyatar was sentenced to a total of 109 days in prison, Shahar was sentenced to a total of 112 days in prison, and Nave was sentenced to a total of 85 days in prison. Refuser Solidarity Network and Mesarvot continue to support their actions and broadcast them throughout the world. They need you too. Write a support letter in this link.

Evyatar Moshe Rubin (19 y/o) has been in prison for 65 days

Evyatar Moshe Rubin (19 y/o from Jerusalem, Israel) is spending his 65th night in military prison. Èvyatar refused to enlist to the Israeli military, refused to support the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the Zionist project as a whole. He was tried 4 times and was sentenced to a total of 92 days in prison and will likely be sentenced to jail time again. Read his full statement below: 

Evyatar Moshe Rubin

The default choice in Jewish-Israeli life in the Middle East is to serve in the Israeli army. Almost every teenage boy in Israel is part of an education system that emphasizes the significance of the military service and its contribution to the national culture and to the state security. Despite all this, my decision not to enlist in the army feels completely natural to me. I have no doubts about it. The Israeli army is, in effect, a zionist army. Its purpose is to ensure a Jewish majority in this country, and to ensure that this majority will control all its institutions - the police, the justice system, the welfare system, the education system, the government and more. Even if Druze, Arab, and other non-Jewish citizens of Israel are allowed or at times even required to serve in the army, the army remains, at all times, a zionist army for Jews.

Israel prides itself on being a 'Jewish and democratic' state. But this definition fundamentally excludes all non-Jews and turns them into second-class citizens, guests in a country that is not their own. To ensure the continuing validity of this definition, it is necessary to guard the existence of a permanent Jewish majority in Israel, and to ensure that this majority continues its racially dominant rule through election results, for otherwise the state be Jewish, but it would not be ‘democratic.’ As a result, non-Jewish populations are relegated from the onset to the position of secondary citizens, and their ability to bring about political changes that would impact their status is blocked. According to this logic, since this country belongs first and foremost to those of Jewish origin, a Jewish majority must be guaranteed at all times, or the country would cease being Jewish.

The Israeli army plays a crucial role in preserving the Jewish majority by any means it perceives as legitimate. Today, when the Israeli government is working toward the future annexation of the West Bank into the Israeli state, the army must ensure that there is no significant non-Jewish population that can challenge democratically the character of Israel as a Jewish state. The Israeli army, which claims to be the "Israeli defense forces", works continuously to thin out the Palestinian population whose only crime is to have been born to the wrong family, in the wrong city. The army does this by declaring as “military training areas” agricultural land, grazing lands and residential areas, forcing the Indigenous population from those areas so that ‘the army can train,’ although it is clear to all that there is no genuine military need for those areas. When Jewish citizens seek to enter the West Bank for "religious” or political purposes, the army is there to "protect" them - that is, to impose lockdowns on the Indigenous population, and parade military convoys in front of their homes to deter them. The army "confiscates" the water of the residents in the Negev area, it evicts citizens from their homes, it prevents residents from walking freely in their cities, and does everything within its power to disrupt the routine of life in the West Bank. The final goal of it all is to bring about ethnic cleansing and to establish a Jewish majority in these areas, and this all takes place in broad daylight. Ultimately, Israel’s goal is to rule as much territory as possible, with the minimum possible number of Palestinians residing in them.

Despite the substantial number of such acts, and despite the brutality with which they are carried out, within Israel itself there is little awareness of them. Those who know of such acts and support them as means for establishing a "Jewish state in the historical land of the Jewish people" advocate a nationalist and extreme worldview, in which a religious belief in an ancient kingdom from 2000 years ago is more important than human beings who are attempting to live their lives. This perspective divides the world into races, of which only one is a chosen and deserving race, and that ‘chosen race’ is entitled to carve out a living space for itself and its people, and to ensure its complete rule over its "promised land". Needless to say, I strongly oppose this point of view, and see it as fundamentally racist and as a burden on humanity.

It is also important to note the army, which views itself as a merely defensive army, "Israeli Defense Forces", does not act in defense of the State of Israel. For decades now, the State of Israel has addressed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict solely through military force. Beginning with the 1948 war, where Israel turned nearly a million Palestinians into refugees; through the 1956 Sinai war in which Israel invaded Egypt to eliminate parts of those refugees who became the Fedayeen; The '67 war; the '73 war; the first Lebanon war in 1982; two intifadas; a second war in Lebanon; and countless "operations" in Gaza (“Defensive Shield” in 2002; “Cast Lead in 2008-2009; "Protective edge" in 2014; and finally the Gaza operation in August 2022).  This will never end, because whoever conquers a people will always encounter resistance, and so there will always be another Intifada, another “terrorist organization,” and more military operations.  Israel will continue to try to wipe the Palestinians off the map because it has no choice if it wants to remain "Jewish and democratic".  Otherwise, with the annexation of the West Bank a significant Jewish majority in the country will not be certain.  And this will all stop only after everyone loses.

In Israel, Jewish people like to say that "there is no partner for peace", to justify the merciless brutalities for which the army and the government are responsible. Despite that, the latest polls show that there is twice as much support among Palestinians for a peace process, for the existence of a bi-national state, for coexistence, and for a life of brotherhood rather than war, than there is among the Jews in Israel. The Israel government is the one that insists on fighting, and it is the one that will always insist on fighting as long as it pursues the nightmare dream of the Jewish kingdom that was promised in heaven.

Enlisting in the army means endorsing these goals. It means endorsing the ethnic cleansing of non-Jews, or at the very least the endorsement of an endless “holy” war. To those who prefer to view the army as “Defense Forces,” and who wish to highlight the ways in which it protects Jews by preventing terrorist attacks, I can only recommend that they observe that for every attack the army prevents, it enables twice as many attacks on Palestinians by settlers in the West Bank. For every missile that hits Israel, three hit Gaza. For every Israeli-Jew killed, five Arabs are killed. I wish to see the end of this terrible cycle of bloodshed. Despite all this I am optimistic, and I believe that the end of the bloodshed, as distant as it may seem, is inevitable .

To summarize, the systematic oppression of Palestinians in Israel ultimately stems from one central source - Israel's demand to be a 'Jewish and democratic' state. This demand comes at the expense of everything: life, liberty, peace, and equality. This is extreme nationalism that yields nothing but hatred. However, a general trend can be seen worldwide against such extreme nationalism. Slowly humanity as a whole is turning its back on nationalistic evil, even if sometimes it seems that for every two steps forward there is one step back. Notions that a hundred years ago would have been considered completely absurd – universal democratic rights, recognition of the rights of the LGBT community, of racial minorities and of women - today seems almost obvious. The wise see that this war can never end; there will always be more justice to fight for. Whoever fights for such justice, for the ultimate truth that all people are brothers, will always seem ridiculous at first, for they seem to demand the impossible. But, as can be seen time and time again in history, our worldview is always vindicated. I truly believe that everyone who trembles with rage when faced with injustice will sooner or later conclude that refusing to serve in the Israeli army is the only right choice.

We have reached the midpoint of our year end campaign to raise essential funds needed to support occupation objectors like Evyatar and make sure the statements of these inspiring young people are heard and shared around the world. This work is crucial to show that Israelis stand in solidarity with Palestinians and to ensure no refuser is left alone. 

Please donate as generously as you can. Right now we are at 25% of our goal to raise $20,000 by the end of December. Every dollar makes a difference and supports the refusal movement in Israel. 

In solidarity,

RSN team

This is my 46th day in prison, help me reach more people

Hi friends,

This is Nave. I am an 18 years old Israeli conscientious objector. I wrote to you last after serving my first 10 day prison sentence for refusing to serve as a soldier for the Israeli army and further fuel the occupation of the West bank and the Gaza strip. Since then things have gotten worse. I was already tried 3 times and served 46 days in prison. With me are 3 of my friends - Einat Gerlitz, Shahar Swartz and Evyatar Moshe Rubin.

Nave, 18 y/o

But this struggle is not about us. This is about the continuous oppression and abuse Palestinians endure at the hands of the Israeli government, military and police. What we, Israeli conscientious objectors, go through by being imprisoned is a fraction of the human rights violations Palestinians face. Whether by ethnic cleansing, settlers attacks, violence towards children, abusive employment of Palestinian workers by Israeli businesses, and by Israeli weapon companies profiteering off of the Occupation.

We need you, now. We know that a big part of what makes a difference is international pressure in collaboration with Israeli activists. We need to make sure our opposition to these atrocities is heard around the world. This is why we make sure to write to you each time another refuser is sentenced to prison. Please donate whatever you can to make sure we can continue this effort in addition to our work within Israel. 

We need $20,000 and so far have raised $2711. Each dollar makes sure we are more capable of educating the world on Israeli resistance to the occupation. As right-wing backlash to our work, in Israel, continues to stifle our movement, your financial support is more important than ever to make sure our mission is fulfilled. Let's work together and build a just future for all.

In solidarity,

Nave

I have been sentenced to 102 days in prison, need your help

Hi,

Einat here. You might remember me from the previous letter I wrote you. I’m a 19 y/o occupation objector. Growing up in Israel, I was expected to enlist in the Israeli military at the age of 18. I refused to fuel the occupation over the Palestinian territories and as consequence I am continuously imprisoned by the military. I am currently serving a fourth prison sentence and have to date spent 63 days in jail. 

Einat Gerlitz

It's time all young Israelis take responsibility for the society we live in. We have the opportunity to use our privilege as Israeli jews and stand in solidarity with Palestinians. That is why I decided to refuse military conscription. I refuse to be a part of the violent system that arrests Palestinian children, enables settlers violence towards Palestinians and denies an entire people basic human rights and freedom. 

Fortunately for me, I am a part of a community of youth occupation objectors, supported by Refuser Solidarity Network and Mesarvot. We all support each other during our ongoing  jail sentences. We don’t care how long we will be imprisoned as long as we take a clear and peaceful stand against the occupation. But we need your help. 

We are doing what we can within Israel, but it is clear we need global public pressure in order to reach the Israeli government. This is where you come in. We need your help in sustaining and expanding our work and to get our messages through to as many people as possible. 

We need to reach $20,000 in order to continue collecting and publishing refuser testimonies throughout 2023. We cannot allow the world to think that all Israelis support the atrocities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. By donating, even a small amount, you will be helping to amplify a clear voice within Israel of Israelis standing in solidarity with Palestinians and promoting peace. Make a donation today and to keep our movement alive.   

In solidarity,

Einat