WORLD WORLDWIDE UK UNITED KINGDOM EUROPE - news journal UPDATE - (en) UK, ACG, Jackdow #21 - Israeli's War Resisterts (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 According to Israeli law, every citizen aged 18 or older who is Jewish,

Circassian or Druze is required to serve in the military. Men are
expected to serve for a minimum of 32 months, while women are expected
to serve for 2 years. Military service is considered a fundamental part
of Israeli national identity. ---- But since the 1980s and the Lebanon
War, numbers of conscientious objectors are growing and according to
Israeli Refuser Solidarity Network (refuser.org) war-time refusal in
Israel at this scale is rare, unseen in decades. In the month of January
alone, 130 open letters were published by army reservist threatening to
refuse military service. These threats are felt by the Israeli
Government and ministers are calling for the letter's signatories to be
jailed immediately. Refuser.org states: "As our collective movement
grows, the Israeli state knows that it holds the potential to grow and
cripple the military by force, and it is now responding. Since the
letter's release, nearly 35 more Israeli soldiers have come forth and
joined the valiant call to refuse service".

Numbers of young conscription refusers is also rapidly growing. Many of
them don't go public or are so called grey refuseniks - people who claim
to have mental health or general health issues to avoid being drafted
and the possibility of serving jail time. But some went public and are
using their high profile to bring attention to the cause of
conscientious objectors and war refusers. Among them are:

Tal Mitnick (then 18 years old), sentenced in 2023 to 30 days in prison
for refusing to serve in the army in protest "against the war in Gaza."
He was the first Israeli conscientious objector to be imprisoned since
the war against Hamas began. He served a total of 185 days in prison.
Itamar Greenberg (18) sentenced in total to 195 days in prison for
refusing to take part in the occupation and massacre. Since his release
he continued with his anti-war activism. Iddo Elam and Soul Tsalik (18)
sentenced to 30 days were inspired by Tal Mitnick. Neta Lannes Arbela
was sentenced to 30 days. Sofia Orr (18) spent 85 days in jail for
refusing mandatory military service in protest of the war in Gaza. Ben
Arand who refused in April 2024 and was released after 95 days. Yuval
Moav and Orian Mueller who refused alongside Greenberg; Mueller was
released after 60 days, while Moav served sentence of 125 days.

The latest public refuser is Ella Kaidar (18) sentenced in March to 30
days in prison which yet could be extended. There is a solidarity
campaign for her at dezerter.org.

As refuser.org says: "The Israeli military's daily operations depend on
reservists. They are the fighter pilots that drop American bombs on the
Gaza Strip, the intelligence and logistics that make it all possible
behind the scenes. The Israeli military cannot carry out its wars
without them. That is why our movement is so potent: war refusal can
bring the country to a standstill, no less. Historically, this is how
wars are stopped in Israel."

There are also growing numbers of regular anti-war and anti-government
street protests in Israel with tens of thousands of people attending
including protests outside prisons demanding the release of all
imprisoned conscientious refusers.

Sources: refuser.org and dezerter.org

https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2025/04/14/palestine-antimiltarist-jackdaw-special-out-now/
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