Israeli high school
students refuse to join the Israeli military citing the “continuing Nakba”
Sixty
Israeli high school students sign letter refusing their compulsory enlistment
in the Israeli military - "The Zionist policy of brutal violence towards
and expulsion of Palestinians from their homes and lands began in 1948 and has
not stopped since."
BY JONATHAN OFIR JANUARY 7, 2021
A letter signed by 60 Israeli senior year high
school students came out on Tuesday in which they refused their compulsory
enlistment in the Israeli military. It is breathtaking and deserves an honorary
framing. This is not the first of such letters historically, yet it is
historical and novel in that for the first time, it addresses not merely the
1967 occupation, but also the 1948 Nakba, the “continuing Nakba”, and the
“violent occupation” of “72 years”. That is, its visions and frames 1967
occupation as a part of the whole Israeli endeavor since its inception, as in
statements like this:
‘The actions of the Israeli military in 2020 are
nothing but a continuation and upholding of the legacy of a massacre, expulsion
of families, and land theft, the legacy which “enabled” the establishment of
the State of Israel, as a proper democratic state, for Jews only.’
Let their letter first get
the main stage, in full:
We are a group of Israeli
18-year-olds at a crossroads. The Israeli state is demanding our conscription
into the military. Allegedly, a defense force which is supposed to safeguard
the existence of the State of Israel. In reality, the goal of the Israeli
military is not to defend itself from hostile militaries, but to exercise
control over a civilian population. In other words, our conscription to the
Israeli military has political context and implications. It has implications,
first and foremost on the lives of the Palestinian people who have lived under
violent occupation for 72 years. Indeed, the Zionist policy of brutal violence
towards and expulsion of Palestinians from their homes and lands began in 1948
and has not stopped since. The occupation is also poisoning Israeli society–it
is violent, militaristic, oppressive, and chauvinistic. It is our duty to oppose
this destructive reality by uniting our struggles and refusing to serve these
violent systems–chief among them the military. Our refusal to enlist in the
military is not an act of turning our backs on Israeli society. On the
contrary, our refusal is an act of taking responsibility for our actions and
their repercussions.
The military is not only
serving the occupation, the military is the occupation. Pilots, intelligence
units, bureaucratic clerks, combat soldiers, all are executing the occupation.
One does it with a keyboard and the other with a machine gun at a checkpoint.
Despite all of this, we grew up in the shadow of the symbolic ideal of the
heroic soldier. We prepared food baskets for him in the high holidays, we
visited the tank he fought in, we pretended we were him in the pre-military
programs in high school and we revered his death on a memorial day. The fact
that we are all accustomed to this reality does not make it apolitical.
Enlistment, no less than refusal, is a political act.
We are used to hearing
that it is legitimate to criticize the occupation only if we took an active
part in enforcing it. How does it make sense that in order to protest against
systemic violence and racism, we have to first be part of the very system of
oppression we are criticizing?
The track upon which we
embark at infancy, of an education teaching violence and claims over land,
reaches its peak at age 18, with the enlistment in the military. We are ordered
to put on the bloodstained military uniform and preserve the legacy of the
Nakba and of occupation. Israeli society has been built upon these rotten
roots, and it is apparent in all facets of life: racism, the hateful
political discourse, police brutality, and more.
This military oppression
goes hand in hand with economic oppression. While the citizens of the Occupied
Palestinian Territories are impoverished, wealthy elites become richer at their
expense. Palestinian workers are systematically exploited, and the weapons
industry uses the Occupied Palestinian Territories as a testing ground and as a
showcase to bolster its sales. When the government chooses to uphold the
occupation, it is acting against our interest as citizens– large portions of
taxpayer money are funding the “security” industry and the development of
settlements instead of welfare, education, and health.
The military is a violent,
corrupt, and corrupting institution to the core. But its worst crime is
enforcing the destructive policy of the occupation of Palestine. Young people
our age are required to take part in enforcing closures as a means of
“collective punishment,” arresting and jailing minors, blackmailing to recruit
“collaborators” and more– all of these are war crimes that are executed and
covered up every day. Violent military rule in the Occupied Palestinian
Territories is enforced through policies of apartheid entailing two different
legal systems: one for Palestinians and the other for Jews. The Palestinians
are constantly faced with undemocratic and violent measures, while Jewish
settlers who commit violent crimes– first and foremost against Palestinians but
also against soldiers- are “rewarded” by the Israeli military turning a blind
eye and covering up these transgressions. The military has been enforcing a
siege on Gaza for over ten years. This siege has created a massive humanitarian
crisis in the Gaza Strip and is one of the main factors which perpetuates the
cycle of violence of Israel and Hamas. Because of the siege, there is no
drinkable water nor electricity in Gaza for most hours of the day. Unemployment
and poverty are pervasive and the healthcare system lacks the most basic means.
This reality serves as the foundation on top of which the disaster of COVID-19
has only made things worse in Gaza.
It is important to emphasize
that these injustices are not a one-time slippage or straying away from the
path. These injustices are not a mistake or a symptom, they are the policy and
the disease. The actions of the Israeli military in 2020 are nothing but a
continuation and upholding of the legacy of the massacre, the expulsion of families,
and land theft, the legacy which “enabled” the establishment of the State of
Israel, as a proper democratic state, for Jews only.
Historically, the military
has been seen as a tool that serves the “melting pot” policy, as an
institution that crosscuts social class and gender divides in Israeli society.
In reality, this could not be further from the truth. The military is enacting
a clear program of ‘channeling’; soldiers from upper-middle-class are channeled
into positions with economic and civilian prospects, while soldiers from lower
socioeconomic backgrounds are channeled into positions that have high mental
and physical risk and which do not provide the same head start in civil
society. Simultaneously, women’s representation in violent positions such as
pilots, tank commanders, combat soldiers, and intelligence officers, is being
marketed as a feminist achievement. How does it make sense that the struggle
against gender inequality is achieved through the oppression of Palestinian
women? These “achievements” sidestep solidarity with the struggle of
Palestinian women. The military is cementing these power relations and the
oppression of marginalized communities through a cynical co-opting of their struggles.
We are calling for high school seniors
(shministiyot) our age to ask themselves: What and who are we serving when we
enlist in the military? Why do we enlist? What reality do we create by serving
in the military of the occupation? We want peace, and real peace requires
justice. Justice requires acknowledgment of the historical and present
injustices, and of the continuing Nakba. Justice requires reform in the form of
the end of the occupation, the end of the siege on Gaza, and recognition of the
right of return for Palestinian refugees. Justice demands solidarity, joint
struggle, and refusal.
The letter is addressed to
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, army Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi, Minister
of Defense Benny Gantz, and Education Minister Yoav Galant.
In Israel, conscientious
objectors like these are often jailed. In 2003 five male conscientious
objectors were sentenced to about 2 years in prison. The
longest-serving female conscientious objector is Hillel Kaminer, who
was released from prison after 150 days, in 2016.
It is doubtful that those
to whom the letter is addressed will be very affected by it. The most
‘liberal’ among them is probably Benny Gantz, former army chief of staff, who
has boasted of
bringing Gaza back to the “stone age” as his entry card into politics two years
ago. Gantz is precisely a depiction of what these ingenious and courageous
youths are speaking about when they say that Israeli society is “violent,
militaristic, oppressive, and chauvinistic”.
Yet there are many among
us who listen very closely to what these young people are saying. And here they
are defining a critical discourse. The 1967 occupation is not the start and it
is not the end. It is part of Israel’s overarching project of occupation, it’s
the state in its entirety, enacting “Apartheid policies” as part of its very
nature. The “proper democratic state” is a sad joke, it is for Jews only.
I have signed their letter
in solidarity. You can too.
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