The Israeli Refuseniks

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by Nick Dearden
November 09, 2004

At 21, Matan and Adam display amazing confidence, clarity and courage. I frequently come across these qualities in developing world activists, but less so among those of us who grew up in the west. There again, after 2 years in an Israeli jail Matan Kaminer and Adam Maor, along with Shimri Tzameret, Hagai Matar and Noam Behat are possibly the most famous representatives of one of the most famous protest movements of the last few years.

While in High School they formed a group of 62 students who signed the ‘High School Senior Letter’, refusing to serve in the military occupation of Palestine. Refusal has a proud history in Israel, stretching back to the 70s when a few refused to serve in the territories, and to the war in Lebanon, and though the High School refuseniks come from a wide range of standpoints, the signatories were held together by the belief that the occupation is ethically and politically bankrupt. Their ranks rapidly swelled to 400.

From a progressive family Adam explained in his court testimony that he made his decision while watching his 1 year old brother while “In the background the Israeli television reported... Palestinian children throwing stones at monstrous Israeli tanks and being shot at in return... That night I realized that joining the army means robbing these children of whatever I was dreaming for my brother.”

Some refuseniks only refuse to serve in the territories, but the group of 5 refused to serve in the Israeli army at all as long as the occupation continues. Matan explains that he went through initial military training, thinking he would find a way to serve without becoming dehumanised, or dehumanising others, “But with time, with the worsening of the oppression in the Territories.. I began to understand that my conscience would never make it possible for me to participate, even indirectly, in the work of occupation.”

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=107&ItemID=6610%20