Subscribe to Common Dreams News Updates
Most Popular This Week
Popular content
Today's Top News
Israel's War Against Youth
Protesters, activists and draft evaders are being targeted by a broad programme of state repression
About six months after Israel's attorney general publicly announced an effort to criminalise dissent, state authorities have upped the ante in their "war" - as the daily Ha'aretz called it last September - against Israel's youth and against the broad, grassroots protest movement of young Israelis who avoid serving their compulsory time in the military - slandered by officials as "draft shirkers".
On 26 April, a day before Israel's Memorial Day, Israeli police produced an absurd piece of political theatre - as Dimi Reider first reported here last Thursday. As if facing down dangerous organised criminals, they raided the homes of six activists in different parts of Israel, who were then detained for interrogation. Exploiting the emotions roused on a day of mourning for military dead, the police action singled out and branded anti-military activists as outside the legitimate Israeli community.
At the time of writing, police have summoned 10 additional activists for interrogation. The activists targeted are members of New Profile, a feminist movement working for over a decade to reverse the militarisation of state and society in Israel. I have been a member since its inception. New Profile intends to uphold the right to open discourse on the crucial issues young people face and we work to change the militarised thinking holding us, all the residents of Israel and Palestine, hostage. Our activism may enrage some, but our activities are totally legal.
The reality is that rising numbers of young Jewish Israelis - as well as the Druze minority who are also subject to conscription - find themselves unwilling to accept the Israeli dictate "There's no other choice". Four generations and over six decades of failed "military solutions" have engendered a broad social movement of young people who have severe internal struggles when asked to serve in the military.
Israeli law offers virtually no legal provision for conscientious objectors and Israel's courts - both military and civil - class the reason for refusing service as "political", "psychological" and only very rarely "conscientious". The soul-searching brought on by deciding to serve has caused many young people real distress. In recent years, Israeli soldiers' suicides have accounted for more deaths than all the other types of military casualties combined.
According to Ha'aretz, the criminal investigation of New Profile is motivated by "growing concern at the defence establishment of a growing trend of draft evasion". It is not New Profile that is worrying them, we are just an easy scapegoat through which they hope to sow fear and intimidate future draft dodgers. The state has thus declared a war against the many thousands who resist the draft and refuse to place their bodies, their minds, and their morality at the disposal of visionless politicians.
For years now, the army has regularly been exempting tens of thousands from service without difficulty. In fact, several years ago the military and the (very same) defence minister declared a downsizing programme, towards creating "a small, smart army". Their worry today is rather the popular vote of no-confidence in their easy use of the lives of soldiers - an anger no longer limited to alienated, impoverished parts of society but spreading deep into the middle class as well.
The growing legitimisation of the draft resisters in the Israeli mainstream is also evidence of the weakening of the hold fear has on our society. Those in power, both the right and the so-called "left", are struggling to keep in place this longstanding means of obscuring political corruption and of feeding the notion of "national unity" in the form of "the people's army".
Tragically, this war on New Profile is part of a broader programme of state repression of political dissent. Palestinian citizens of Israel were detained by the hundreds for protesting at Israel's attack against Gaza last January. Many remain in detention still, without charges, trial or due process. Activists taking part in non-violent protests against the land-gobbling dragon of Israel's separation wall are regularly attacked with lethal fire. Just weeks ago Bassem Ibrahim Abu Rahma was killed by soldiers in Bil'in. Dozens of activists, both Palestinians and Jews, are detained at demonstrations and incarcerated for varying periods. In most cases, the repressive measures applied to Jewish activists still bear no comparison, in terms of their arbitrariness and brutality, to the means employed against Palestinians.
However, the political theatre of repression being played out against New Profile is of great importance. Every act of repression is important and should be resisted, and when it is applied to a group of relatively privileged, middle-class, and largely middle-aged feminists, such repression may be more visible to mainstream Israeli society. This will more easily expose the state's fabric of lies and ludicrous, trumped-up charges, and allow decent but uninformed people a concrete grasp of the reality of the situation. In the balance yet again lies the future of freedom and rights for everyone in Israel and the Palestinian territories, because what is at stake are the lives of Israeli youth against whom the state is waging this war. What we are struggling for is the future of a democratic, civil society.
- Posted in
20 Comments so far
Show AllSTOP THE DRAFT!
Israel's War Against Youth
In seven years of war in Iraq et al. we have killed 4500 of our own youth
When Congress sends Israel Raytheon's Gattling Gun the Jews can kill that many Palestinean children every minute.
How much longer will the Zionists play this sadistic game?
It was American youth that played a large part in ending the Vietnam. Burning draft cards and thousands yelling "Hell, no, we won't go!" provided a sort of catalyst for activity from the general population.
The Israeli youth for peace may well serve the same goal, an incentive for peace and diplomacy rather than killing and repression.
If they ever achieve it, they'd better stay ever watchful. Look at what has happened to the United States!
what's the surprise - this is nazi 101
first you have "us" then create "them"
then, its game on
the world has come to see the zion state for what they are - murderers and fascists - to their fucking core
ah goebbels must be smiling down from wherever they keep him saying "its not like i didn't warn you"
i am getting fed up with their constant bullshit propaganda - same goes for the corporate state of america
i can hardly wait for the zionists to start lobbing nukes over at the iranians
I hope to God that more younger Israelis can unite and end the tyranny against Palestinians. The Israeli gubbmint sure knows how to mistreat its own young ones in addition to the Palestinians in general.
"New Profile" are breaking the Israeli law by encouraging young people to avoid the draft service.
If they want to oppose the draft, there are democratic ways of doing so.
They can form a new political party, or join an existing party which have the same goal, and try to change the law in a democratic way. (That is, if they’ll convince the majority of the public that they’re right)
Don't blame the Israeli police. All they do is enforcing the existing law. (Which was passed democratically in the Knesset - The Israeli Parliament)
So what if "New Profile" is actually helping the young avoid getting drafted? At least they're helping the young have a better chance at standing up to the tyranny of the Israeli zionist pols unlike the broken parties much like what's going on here in America. Sometimes government is to be mistrusted and people have the right to take the laws into their own hands when the government fails them big time. I don't know what your problem is but when government breaks its own laws, why should the people obey them? Better to be a vigilante at this point. "New Profile" is a strong symptom of everything that is the matter with the zionists running the Israeli government. Telling "New Profile" to go away is like telling 3rd parties not to run for fear of "spoiling" the rotten status quo. At least "New Profile" has real courage while Washington is full of cowardly pols playing kissyface with AIPAC and the zionist pols running Israel.
"New Profile" is an association. Their main goal is giving legal advice to young Israelis on how to evade conscription recruitment to the IDF. (Many countries, such as Switzerland, Germany and Sweden, have conscription laws similar to Israel's.)
According to the Israeli law, an encouragement to evade conscription service is illegal.
The Israeli police came after "New Profile" after another association “The Israeli Forum for the Promotion of Equal Share in the Burden” filed a complaint to the Israeli supreme-court, which ruled in their favorer, and ordered the police to enforce the law against "New Profile"
“The Israeli Forum for the Promotion of Equal Share in the Burden” believes that all Israeli citizens should have equal share in the burden.
The Principles of Equal Service
1. Every Israeli citizen will participate in shouldering the burden by service.
2. The service may be military of civil, with preference to the military. Those not conscripted to the IDF will be referred to national or civil service.
3. He/she who gives more receives more.
http://www.shivyon.org.il/52572/English
If all young people were draft-dodgers there'd be no war no more, nowhere, never, not even one, which means that draft-dodgers are blessed, just like peacemakers.
yourstruly, "If all young people were draft-dodgers there'd be no war no more"
This is true only if draft-dodging will happen simultaneously on all fighting sides.
If it will happen only on one side, you will see a slaughter.
"this war on New Profile is part of a broader programme of state repression of political dissent."
'THIS' is exactly what i have been talking about regarding the restrictions Israel placed on Vanunu denying him the right to speak to non-Israel's ever since his release from behind bars to open air imprisonment in occupied east Jerusalem, April 21, 2004, under the draconian restrictions of the British Mandate.
After WW II, Attorney Yaccov Shapiro, who later became Israel's Minister Of Justice, described the British Mandate's Regulations as "unparalleled in any civilized country: there were no such laws in Nazi Germany."
Eileen Fleming, Author, Founder WAWA:
http://www.wearewideawake.org/
Producer "30 Minutes With Vanunu" and "13 Minutes with Vanunu"
Hi Eileen,
Pleased to meet you. I admire you're website and you look great. :)
If Israel were to become a democracy it would be the first democracy to exist in the Middle East since the U.S. coup against the Iranian republic. It would be great.
Hey letto:
Can you blame them for draft dodging?
Who wants to be part of an army of slaves? The zionist element, which has hijacked the Jewish faith, has declared war on the entire world, and they enlist young people to fight that war, and yes Letto, make no mistake: Zionism is a declaration of war against the entire world-a war they will LOSE Badly. Face it my man-you can come up with all the excuses, rationalizations, and smug patronizing that you can muster, but that day will come to an end for you and your ilk. You people have the power on K street, washington, and God knows where else, But it is fleeting, a very empty power that relies on lies, deceit, and dividing people. Sooner or later it will get to a point where nothing else will matter because things are so bad, and then the focus will be on people like you. You'll wake up one day and you will actually be different from everyone else, and you'll have no one to use as a shield.
Good on those Israelis who dissent~~~Long live the true fighters~~~They have my sincere blessings!
Dead Cell: “Can you blame them for draft dodging?”
I don’t blame anyone. But if they chose to break the law, which was passed by a democratically elected parliament, they shouldn’t complain when the Police come after them.
Dead Cell: “The zionist element, which has hijacked the Jewish faith, has declared war on the entire world ... : Zionism is a declaration of war against the entire world-a war”
Not true. I would advise you to learn history.
You can start here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Arab-Israeli_War
Israel didn’t declare war on anyone. Many Arab countries initiated a war on Israel in 1948. (After rejecting UN resolution 181) Since then Israel signed peace agreement with Egypt and Jordan.
"
I don’t blame anyone. But if they chose to break the law, which was passed by a democratically elected parliament, they shouldn’t complain when the Police come after them."
Exactly what the fascists say. "It is the law". "Just doing my job". And so on.
rfloh "Exactly what the fascists say. "It is the law". "Just doing my job". And so on."
You take one attribute from group A, and one attribute from group B. Then you draw a conclusion that both groups are identical because they share one attribute.
Fascists had eyes and ears. Does it mean that everyone who has eyes and ears is a Fascist?
Now seriously:
-------------------
1. Fascists didn't pass laws in a democratically elected parliament. (Meaning - police enforcing a democratic law should not be compared to the SS enforcing laws dictated by a Fascist dictator.)
2. The Israeli police came after "New Profile" after another association “The Israeli Forum for the Promotion of Equal Share in the Burden” filed a complaint to the Israeli supreme-court, which ruled in their favorer and ordered the police to enforce the law against "New Profile"
Bless the Israeli Jews who Protest.
If the draft becomes a catalyst for Resistance, as it did in the US, it will be 86'd.
Bless the Israeli Jews who Protest.
Oh dear - we've got another one - 18 posts so far and 6 of them from Letto.
It's called defending the indefensible.
Israel is not a democratic state, you can't just "form" new political parties, especially if they have polcies which are out of line with the gobernment's - they just get banned as we have already seen this year.
As Letto has so much detailed inside knowledge about things Zionist perhaps s/he might give us the full griff on "Plan Dalet".
"Letto" is a word game. Obviously this person is just playing a game.
Give it a rest Letto.
Like I said before; The time is coming when you just won't be able to break international law and scoff at it. You have people in your pocket now, but they're just as expendable as anyone else-Israel will fall-leaving this world no poorer. And as for those Zionist dunderheads hijacking Judaism, it's true as the fact that you're a troll. Hell-Even Ariel Sharon calls the Jewish Diaspora "Yids" No one hates (REAL)Jews More than Zionists!