You may have heard the exciting news that in the largest wave of refusal in six years, 60 Israeli youth declared in a letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu: “We Refuse to Serve in the Occupation Army.”
Well an article has appeared in the Hebrew press quoting Gal Yoseph, the head of a national body of high school students, responding to the Shministim refusal letter.
“If they endorse ways of peace, they should not act in ways of war. What they do when they declare themselves to be draft refusers amounts in fact to a declaration of war.”
Yoseph is the chairperson of the Israeli high school student and youth council– “the national one, the no.1 figure, was elected last July,” says Ofer Neiman, who provided the translation.
Is there anything left that’s not?
How Orwellian of her. Refusal to join an army engaged in a morally reprehensible and illegal occupation is a declaration of war! She surely has a future as an IDF spokesperson, ambassador to the UN, etc.
@David Samel- Took the words right off my fingertips… Or future MK/PM.
You took the statement out of context. In the next quote, she pointed out that there were many ways to serve that did not require joining the military, and made clear that she was speaking figuratively about taking on the state, which is a pretty accurate description of what draft resistance is.
Look, the reality is that Israel has real security threats, and has a mandatory draft because of them. If one person doesn’t serve, another will have to. So while her blunt language (as Israeli language often is) is jarring to the delicate ears of a Westerner, be assured; no one is declaring war on anybody in Israel.
The fact that there are sixty kids who are refusing to serve once again shows that Israel is a free and diverse country, a nuance lost on the BDS cult.
Even if you have Orwellian inclinations, it is a strange accusation. “Treachery”, “spitting in the face of all their colleagues”, “sawing (through?) the branch upon which we all sit”, but “declaration of war”? This is weird. Actually, not weird but simply showing low level of communication skills, using the first locution that is remotely related to the topic at hand. To suggest a more felicitous turn of phrase one can study our politicians faced with a perceived insult to national honor, but quite a bit short of war. That happened when Russia refused to deliver a fugitive citizen of USA back to the loving bosom of his mother country.
“They’re always putting their finger in our eye,” said Schumer. … The Arizona senator [McCain] called Putin’s refusal to expel Snowden “a direct slap in the face to America.” In another interview, “Russia has stabbed us in the back and each day that Mr. Snowden is allowed to roam free is another twist of the knife,” Schumer said.
PS. It is worth to notice that a refusal to serve in IDF by 60 NON-HAREDI citizens of Israel is newsworthy.