Shministim are the twelfth grade high school students in Israel who have refused to serve in the military. The refuse to take part in the occupation and they do this with a strong likelihood that they will go to jail.
Wednesday the 21st of October a demonstration will go out of "disngof square" at 17:30, and will finish at "david star square"
Or Ben David and Efi Brenner will be jailed on Thursday because they refuse to serve in the IDF. In a democratic country, people who act according to their conscience should not be jailed. That’s why we support Or and Efi, and protest against the imprisonment of people whose only crime was having a different opinion.
Out of sense of responsibility and concern for the two nations that live in this country, we cannot stand idle. We were born into a reality of occupation, and many of our generation see this as a natural state. In Israeli society it is a matter of fact that at 18, every young man and woman partakes in military service. However, we cannot ignore the truth - the occupation is an extreme situation, violent, racist, inhuman, illegal, non democratic, and immoral, that is life threatening for both nations. We that have been brought up on values of liberty, justice, righteousness and peace cannot accept it.
Our objection to becoming soldiers of the occupation stems from our loyalty to our values and to the society surrounding us, and it is part of our ongoing struggle for peace and equality, a struggle whose Jewish-Arab nature proves that peace and co-existence is possible. This is our way, and we are willing to pay the price.
for details call Or 0542021824
Emelia 0545897659
-thanks to the Shministim Facebook page
Senior's Letter 2009-2010
We, the undersigned young women and men, Jews and Arabs from all parts of the country, hereby declare that we will toil against the occupation and oppression policies of the Israeli government in the occupied territories, and in the territory of the land of Israel, and therefore refuse to take part in actions related to such policies, which are carried out in our name by the Israeli Defence Force.
We are all community activists and contribute in various ways to a variety of sectors in the Israeli society. We believe that contribution, cooperation and volunteerism are a way of life, and should not be limited to just two or three years. Our conscientious objection stems directly from our volunteer experience, from the values we believe in, from our love of the society that we are a part of and in which we live, from our respect of every human being, and from the aim of making our country a better place for all of its inhabitants.
The occupation creates an unbearable actuality for the Palestinians in the occupied territories. The checkpoint policy, land annexation, the building of the apartheid wall, paving of roads for Israeli's only, settlement projects, and assassinations - all these have been sowing destruction in the West Bank for over 4 decades. The siege on Gaza and the prevention of importing materials, including basic food products and humanitarian aid, undermines the basic minimal living conditions of Gaza's residents. We cannot tolerate such a reality.
The claim put forth by the spokespersons of the government and the army, that the continuation of the occupation arises from security reasons, has no substance. No country that has fought for its independence has ever been defeated by military means. The suffering of the Palestinian people and their subjugation is the cause of violent resistance. Israel's public will never be safe as long as the Palestinian nation is under occupation. There is no military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - only peace will ensure life and security for Jews and Arabs in this country.
The Israeli government frequently boasts that Israel is "the only democracy in the Middle East. The occupation is a complete contradiction to this claim. Can a government that controls the lives of millions of people who did not take part in elections be called a democracy? Can military rule of a civilian population be considered anything other than a dictatorship?
The Israeli Army claims that it is the most ethical army in the world. However, time and again reality proves that occupation and ethics cannot stand together. When young armed men are sent on policing missions in the midst of occupied disenfranchised persons, when the government attempts to repress the struggle of the disenfranchised for independence by force - the stage is set for the injury of civilian population and committing of war crimes. Those who carry out such actions are not exceptions or bad apples. The occupation is the cesspool from in which such actions fester. The occupation has led the Israel Army to breach international treaties, UN decisions, and recommendations of the international court, and even Israeli law, time and again.
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