Jews against violence on Palestinians call Israelis to refuse military draft

By Turgut Alp Boyraz

JERUSALEM (AA) - Several Jewish people against the violence on Palestinian people have called on Israelis to resist the mandatory military draft.

While women have two-and-a-half years and men have three years of mandatory military service in Israel, tens of people are prosecuted every year in the country for refusing to join the armed forces.

There are two Jews currently serving time in jail for refusing to join the military because they do not support Israel's occupational policies. One of them is Eran Avid, the other one chose to remain anonymous, according to refuser support network Mesarvot.

Maya Hadasi, one of the few people who refused to serve, said, "One of the main functions of the Israeli army is to maintain the occupation of the Palestinian people, and I don't want to take part in such an organization that uses force to do those things."

About civilians killed in Israeli army attacks on Gaza, she told Anadolu Agency, "As a human being, I feel terrible for what's happening. I think this is yet another piece of evidence that you can't occupy and oppress other people in a sustainable way."

Hadasi stressed that the war is not a game, adding, "It's not two states and two militaries fighting each other. It's very clear that there's a civil population [Palestinians] and they have been under a very long occupation and blockade."

"I urge Israeli citizens to not join the army and also those who are in it now, I call on you to stop doing what you're doing and join those who want to solve this in a humane, political way," she added.

Hilel Garmi, another Israeli citizen who refused mandatory military service, said t Israeli army's entire target is to create a good place for the Jews, regardless of what happens to the Palestinians, adding they are creating a hierarchy between Jews and Palestinians.

"I don't want to serve an organization [the Israeli army] whose entire aim is to create a hierarchy. That's obvious, without even mentioning the extreme violence that Israel is using to execute this hierarchy plan and Judaization of the entire (Palestinian) land," he said.

"Almost every military operation Israeli is launching (against the Palestinians) confirms my decision. I can't call on anyone not to join the army because it's a very serious crime in Israel. I call on the entire Israeli public to resist in any non-violent way they can."

Garmi urged all Israeli soldiers who took part in the war to try to think for themselves about what they're doing in this war and why this war is happening and to not take for granted everything that comes out of the officers' or army spokesmen's mouths.

Another Israeli, Atalya Benabba, said the incident in Gaza maker her "very angry," adding the policy of the Israeli government is "so cruel, dehumanizing" and not seeing the Palestinians as human beings is depriving them of fundamental rights.

"So I think I made the right choice by not joining the Israeli military. It's a terrible bombing. Gaza is one of the most densely packed places in the world. I want to fight against that. I don't want to be a part of it. I'm also happy that I'm not taking part now," she said.

"Teenagers that are being put in (military) uniforms and are being given guns, they're responsible for what they do and they need to be conscious of what they are doing, but the biggest responsibility is on the Israeli government," Benabba told.

"I think in Israel there is a lot of propaganda (spread) through the media and through news outlets and we see this now. There are videos on what happened in Al-Aqsa, but these are nowhere to be seen in the Israeli media, nobody shows them," she added.

"So the Israeli public doesn't have a full scope of knowledge. The general public, their knowledge about what's happening is through the news. They just don't know, there are just so many things happening that they aren't aware of," Benabba concluded.

*Written by Ovunc Kutlu in Ankara