Refusers

We had a zoom meeting today with two young Israelis who refused to serve in the IOF. One did it quietly and one did it very publicly. Both were clear-headed about why they refused induction and both paid a price for it. The young man, in his mid-twenties,  served 50 days in a military prison and the young woman, at 19 years of age, did 85 days.

I had a keen interest in talking with them because I myself was a draft resister some 55 years ago during the Vietnam War. But I didn’t go to prison. I went to Canada instead. It was an agonizing choice for me, but I was sure that I didn’t want to go off killing people and I didn’t want to turn myself over to the prison system either. And I wasn’t going to try to convince a military board that I was religiously inclined enough to be given an exception. Going into exile was tough, but not as tough as going to prison.

Each of the refusers talked about what led them to the decision to go against the universal expectation and requirement in Israel of doing time in the army. 

For the man it was because he could see the human rights violations happening in the occupation and also because he had a Palestinian girlfriend. He said that on the personal level, it was a choice between being part of the occupation and leaving his girlfriend. He chose his girlfriend. They are still together. He said that apartheid makes it easier for people to go into the army because they don’t have any relationships with Palestinians. Didn’t work that way for him.

The woman said she never thought she would go in the army. Which makes her an outlier in Israeli society. In most cases, it isn’t even a question. Young people don’t even think about it. It’s a social norm. She said she was raised in an anti-Zionist family and never felt any patriotic duty. She understood the political purpose and brutal nature of the army, which contradicted her deep-set values of empathy, equality, dignity, and safety for all. She said, “I never saw any other option [than refusing]."

Although both of their families supported them, they faced shunning and hostility from most of their friends and the society at large. They’ve been called stupid, naive, self-hating Jews, Hamas supporters, traitors. The man, to this day, does not let it be known that he was a refuser. He believes if it were widely known, he’d lose his job and maybe worse. 

The woman, on the other hand, made the choice from the beginning to get as much attention as possible about her decision. She was - and is - an activist against the occupation and wanted to use her refusal and imprisonment as a platform from which to speak against it. Pretty striking for a 19 year old.

Indeed, this she has used her status as a refuser to good effect. She is part of a network of refusers called Mesarvot (which translates to “we refuse”) and has been a spokesperson for the group on both domestic and international media channels, including Al Jazeera. This, she says, is tricky - the international media wants to hear her truths, but the Israeli media cut her off if she says anything negative about the occupation. She has suffered though many hostile interviews, but has not turned any down. She has, however, learned to pick her battles and often chooses to censor herself on Israeli TV for the sake of having any voice at all. She is hoping to recruit more refusers.

They both described their experiences in military prisons as pretty horrible, though not near as bad as what Palestinians go through. No torture. The worse thing was that their fellow prisoners weren’t there because they were prisoners of conscience, but because they had committed some sort of crime while in the military. They were overwhelmingly racists who took pride in the killing and suffering they had inflicted on Palestinians. The two of them were both threatened by the guards with isolation if they talked about anything political. But other prisoners could talk about politics if it was “correct politics.” The hardest part, they said, was being away from loved ones and stuck in such a regimented military system of confinement. Very hard for an anti-militaristic person. They said that just as the Israel systematically dehumanizes Palestinians, so too does it de-humanize its soldiers, prisoners, and citizens. Everyone gets dehumanized.

Conditions are worse than ever for refusers since Oct 7, they said. Longer times in prison. We learned that when someone goes to prison for refusing induction, they get an indefinite term - no specific sentence. There is, by law, no time limit. It is up to the refuser to seek an “exemption” from a conscientious objector committee which consists of 10 military officers and 1 civilian. “They try to scare you with the uncertainty of how long you will be in prison,” the man said. The woman said you have to give moral reasons to get out, not political ones. So she played the game to get out.

Neither of them could say how many refusers there were in Israel. Primarily because Israel doesn’t want people to know. They won’t release the numbers. They want to prevent any kind of movement. And most who refuse will keep it private rather than face the wrath of Israeli society. Tellingly, there are just 10 people in the Mesarvot network.

I was so happy to be talking with these two brave young people. Their situation is much harder than what I faced so many years ago. Both of them admitted that they did, and still do, consider leaving the country, but are hoping things get better. Neither of them want to live there if Israel gets worse in its violent and militaristic ways.

I’ve heard reports that many people are leaving Israel, including the best educated and most progressive. That’s not a recipe for things getting better. In the meantime, let us pray for and support people like the refusers. Our two were very grateful for our tiny delegation of 5 being in solidarity with them.

Israel talks about its soldiers being heroes. Nah. It’s the refusers.