|
To
date, 272 officers and soldiers of the Israeli army have signed
the initiative
to refuse to serve the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinians,
while
thousands of other Israeli citizens have expressed their support.
Those that
have signed are not pacifists nor are they particularly radical.
They are well-
trained combat officers and soldiers who are no longer willing
to take part in
the crimes being committed against the Palestinians.
In
their letter, which has
raised a great deal of public debate within Israel and
beyond, the soliders state that:
"We,
combat officers and soldiers who have served the State of Israel
for
long weeks every year, in spite of the dear cost to our personal
lives, have
been on reserve duty all over the Occupied Territories, and were
issued
commands and directives that had nothing to do with the security
of our
country, and that had the sole purpose of perpetuating our control
over the
Palestinian people. We, whose eyes have seen the bloody toll this
Occupation exacts from both sides... We, who sensed how the commands
issued to us in the Territories, destroy all the values we had
absorbed while
growing up in this country... We, who understand now that the
price of
Occupation is the loss of IDF's [Israeli Army] human character
and the
corruption of the entire Israeli society... We shall not continue
to fight beyond the 1967 borders in order to dominate, expel,
starve and humiliate an entire people."
While
critics claim that these soldiers are only a small fraction of
those
serving in the army reserves, the initiative of these brave reservists
has
succeeded in bringing the horrors of the Occupation to the front
pages of the
newspapers, radio and TV talk shows, as well as in the street
and in living
rooms all over Israel. The chilling personal accounts of the reservists
have
served to shatter the silence and the ignorance of the Israeli
public. This is
even more crucial considering that Sharon has been quoted as saying
that
Israel is restricted in its response to Palestinian violence because
"The world
today is not the same as as it was 50 years ago. It is another
world. The
media is everywhere. Every event is seen around the globe within
seconds."
Perhaps around the globe, but not necessarily within Israel, and
in this lies
the importance of those that have decided to refuse to serve in
the territories.
No
longer can people claim that they were not aware of what is happening:
the daily humiliation of the Palestinian civilian population,
the senseless
deaths of infants, children and teenagers, the daily abuse of
basic human
rights, the indignities that Palestinian civilians face at the
hands of Israeli
soldiers at the various checkpoints and blockades throughout the
Occupied
Territories. No longer can the actions of the IDF be swept under
the carpet or
ignored as "isolated incidents". For too long, the majority
of the press in
Israel has supported the official positions of the government
and the army,
thus maintaining the status quo, and neglecting their role as
watchdogs of
society. Indeed, these reservists have succeeded in providing
a wake up call
for the Israeli public in general, and the Israeli left in particular.
Over the past
few weeks, tens of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets
to protest
against the Occupation, to speak out against the violence and
to call for a
return to the negotiating table with the purpose of ending the
Israeli
Occuption, once and for all.
As
was clearly shown by his address to the nation last night, Sharon
and his
cabinet are incapable of drafting any kind of clear and positive
political
strategy, nor are they capable of seeing beyond the next few hours.
With an
unprecedented 10.2% unemployment within Israel, a 17% redcution
of
immigration to Israel and a drastic decrease in foreign direct
investment in
2001, the government must realize that it has to choose between
"Occupation and Prosperity" as noted in a recent editorial
in Ha'aretz
newspaper. The Occupation is not only
corrupting Israeli society and values but it is also pushing Israel
towards
economic disaster.
The
only way to move forward is for Israel to rid itself of the Occupation,
to
withdraw to 1967 borders, to dismantle the illegal settlements
and to
wholeheartedly support a free, sovereign and independent Palestinian
state.
This will guarantee the prosperity of both Israelis and Palestinians
alike.
Sam Bahour is a Palestinian-American
living in the besieged Palestinian
City of Al-Bireh in the West Bank.
Michael
Dahan is an Israeli-American political scientist living in
Jerusalem.
|
