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Refusenik!: Israel's Soldiers of Conscience - Softcover

 
9781842774519: Refusenik!: Israel's Soldiers of Conscience
Softcover
ISBN 10: 1842774514 ISBN 13: 9781842774519
Verlag: Zed Books Ltd, 2004

Inhaltsangabe

Hundreds of Israeli soldiers, called up to take part in controversial campaigns like the 1982 invasion of Lebanon or policing duties in the Palestinian territories today, have refused orders. Many of these 'refuseniks' have faced prison sentences rather than take part in what they regard as an unjust occupation in defence of illegal Jewish settlements. In this inspirational book, Peretz Kidron, himself a refusenik, gives us the stories, experiences, viewpoints, even poetry, of these courageous conscripts who believe in their country, but not in its actions beyond its borders. We read about the cautious, even embarrassed, response of the authorities. And we see the wider implications of the philosophy of selective refusal - which is not the same thing as pacifism -- for conscientious citizens in every country where conscription still exists. Here is a real model for the peace movement in Israel and worldwide.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Peretz Kidron was born in Vienna in 1933. Months after the Nazi occupation of Austria, his family fled to Britain. On graduation from high school, he emigrated to Israel where he lived for 20 years in Zikim, a border kibbutz near the Gaza Strip, where he grew oranges, taught school, and engaged in voluntary work. A freelance journalist, broadcaster and writer, he has translated many books, including the memoirs of Yitzhak Rabin and Ezer Weizman, and a biography of David Ben Gurion. In 1976 he co-authored with the Palestinian activist, Raymonda Tawil, her memoirs My Home, My Prison.

In the late sixties, he became active in the radical left and peace movement. He is a founding member of the Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace and serves on the steering committee of the human rights watchdog Betselem. Having refused to perform military duty in the occupied Palestinian territories, he now handles international contacts for Yesh Gvul ('There is a limit [to what an army can ask of its conscripts]'). Founded at the time of the invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the group became the voice and campaigning vehicle for the so-called refuseniks -- Israeli army reservists who report for duty when summoned but refuse morally objectionable assignments (notably serving on the West Bank and Gaza).

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Refusenik!

Israel's Soldiers of Conscience

By Peretz Kidron

Zed Books Ltd

Copyright © 2004 Peretz Kidron
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-84277-451-9

Contents

• Foreword • Susan Sontag, xi, 
• Introduction: Israel's Refusenik Movement • Peretz Kidron, 1, 
• The Early Refuseniks, 11, 
Balance • Yitzhak Laor, 11, 
Saying 'no' loudly and clearly • Ishai Menuchin, 13, 
An artist at Ansar • Zvi Goldstein, 15, 
Discovering the Palestinians • Mike Levine, 16, 
In solidarity with the almond trees • Peretz Kidron, 17, 
• The First Intifada, 23, 
I'm no martyr • Hanoch Livneh, 23, 
Whatever the price • Rami Hasson, 24, 
The problem is in Jewish society • Menahem Hefetz, 26, 
Refusal to collaborate • Dudu Palma, 27, 
I am an Arab Jew • Meir Amor, 28, 
Father and son: refuseniks • Carlos and Amit Levinhoff, 30, 
Spiral of evil • Stephen Langfur, 31, 
The limit is human life • David Ovadia, 32, 
The privilege of saying 'No!' • Adi Ofir, 35, 
Silences that cry out • Doron Vilner, 39, 
Benighted fanaticism • Nitzan Levy, 40, 
A typical 'NO'poem • Nathan Zach, 41, 
A policy that demeans my country • Shaul Schwartz, 41, 
The refusenik answers the writer • Mario Weinstein in correspondence with Yizhar Smilansky, 42, 
On the festival of freedom I waive my freedom Or: What shall I tell my daughter? • Dubi Hayun, 45, 
No to 'Always at Command' • Danny Zamir, 46, 
'You don't have to do anything wicked' • Daniel Padnes, 50, 
Decent people don't shoot children • Itamar Pitovsky, 52, 
I owe my children at least one refusal • Dan Sagir, 53, 
• The Philosophy of Selective Refusal • Peretz Kidron, 55, 
• The Story of Yuval and Imad, 61, 
• The Second Intifada, 71, 
Letter to the editor of Koteret Rashit from Dov Barak, 72, 
STATEMENTS BY JAILED CONSCRIPTS, 75, 
Those who enlist and those who don't • Uri Yaakovi, 75, 
Militarism and racism have reached a fascist level • Haggai Matar, 76, 
I am a prisoner, yet free • David Haham-Herson, 77, 
A violent and racist society • Itamar Shahar, 79, 
STATEMENTS BY JAILED RESERVISTS, 82, 
Vile injustice • David Enoch, 82, 
The red line • Michael Sfard, 83, 
Collaboration makes me a criminal • Ro'i Kozlovsky, 86, 
A cause which is not mine • Alex Lyakas, 87, 
An enormous 'black flag' • Avner Kochavi, 89, 
A letter to the commander of Battalion 719 • Ehud Shem Tov, 89, 
I killed three innocent civilians • Idan Kaspari, 92, 
The shattered dream • Omry Yeshurun, 95, 
The IDF teaches that it's okay to molest an Arab • Ishai Sgi, 100, 
Black Flag • Itai Haviv, 101, 
Three exercises in refusal • Ishai Rosen-Zvi, 103, 
Is Marwan Barghouti your uncle? • Itai Ryb, 107, 
Why am I mad at the IDF? • Ron Gerlitz, 109, 
• Closing Statements, 115, 
My reply to the General • Yigal Bronner, 115, 
Israel today is a prison • Matin Kaminar, 117, 
• List of Addresses, 119,


CHAPTER 1

• The Early Refuseniks


Balance

by Yitzhak Laor

In December 1972, Yitzhak Laor — at the time a literature student at Tel Aviv University — was one of the first two IDF reservists to declare their 'selective refusal' to serve in the occupied territories, for which they incurred terms in a military prison. Their unprecedented refusal was a sensation at the time, prompting vigorous condemnation from most sections of Israeli opinion. Laor has since gone on to achieve renown in Israel as a leading poet, novelist and literary critic.

    The gunner who rubbed out a hospital the pilot
    Who burned a refugee camp the journalist
    Who wooed hearts and minds for murder the actor
    Who turned the whole thing into just one more war the teacher
    Who sanctioned the bloodshed in class the rabbi
    Who sanctified the killings the minister
    Who raised a sweaty arm in favour the paratrooper
    Who shot the third-time refugee the poet
    Who lauded the nation on its finest hour and the nation
    Who scented blood and blessed the Mig. The even-handed
    Who said let's wait and see the party hack
    Who went out of his way to flatter the army the sales clerk
    Who scented traitors the policeman
    Who beat an Arab in the anxious street the officer
    Who was scared of refusing the prime minister
    Who gulped down the blood eagerly. They shall not be cleansed.



Saying 'no' loudly and clearly

by Ishai Menuchin


Ishai Menuchin is the chairperson of Yesh Gvul, of which he was a cofounder in 1982. An IDF reserve major, he served a term in military jail in February–March 1983 for refusal to serve in Lebanon. Born 1958, in Rehovot, Menuchin lives near Jerusalem with his wife Dina, and their three children. He holds a Hebrew University master's degree in cognitive psychology, and is writing his Ph.D. thesis on 'Justification, pluralism and civil disobedience'. On top of writing and editing dozens of Yesh Gvul pamphlets and booklets for distribution to soldiers, Menuchin also promoted and edited the anthology Democracy and Obedience on the law and limits of obedience in a democratic society, with essays by leading Israeli and foreign philosophers, legal experts and writers, including one by Menuchin himself. Together with Dina Menuchin, he also edited Limits of Obedience, developing the subject of compliance and democracy in relation to the Lebanon war; contributors include Noam Chomsky and Prof. Yeshayahu Leibovitz.

Twenty years ago, when I was first inducted into the army, to serve as paratrooper and officer for four and half years, I took an oath to defend my country and obey my commanders. I was young, a patriot, probably naive, and sure that as a soldier I would only defend my home and country. It never occurred to me that I might be used as a tool of occupation or be asked to fight in wars of choice, as opposed to wars of defence. It took me one war, the Lebanon war, many dead friends, and some periods of service in the occupied territories to find that I was wrong, whereupon I refused to partake further in acts of occupation, spending 35 days in military prison as a consequence.

Being a citizen in a democracy carries with it a commitment to democratic values and a responsibility for your actions. It is morally impossible to be both a devoted democratic citizen and a regular offender against democratic values, and it is equally impossible to be such a citizen and neglect your democratic responsibility for your actions. Depriving people of the right to equality and freedom, and keeping them under occupation, is by definition an anti-democratic act. Keeping more than three and a half million Palestinians under brutal occupation for so many years is anti-democratic conduct that drives me, and hundreds of thousands of Israeli...

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Verlag
Zed Books Ltd
Erscheinungsdatum
2004
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
1842774514
ISBN 13 
9781842774519
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
144
Herausgeber
Kidron Peretz
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Nicht verfügbar
Verantwortliche Person
Nicht verfügbar