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The Refusenik Movement is that of Jewish Israeli individuals currently opposed to military service, either comprehensively or directed into the West Bank and Gaza, in an attempt to promote diplomacy over military action and defense over territorial expansion. The movement is divided to 3 groups: Pacifists, who oppose the existence of any military, Israelis who refuse to serve in the Occupied Territories, and those who refuse to take part in actions seen as contrary to International Law.
The first Refusenik in Israel was a lawyer in 1954 who claimed to be a pacifist. Later, a famous letter by high-school seniors was sent to Golda Meir in 1970, stating the students' reservations from serving in the military. 'Yesh Gvul' directly translated as "There is a limit/border," was the first major Refusenik organization, established in 1982, with 3,000 signatories refusing service in Lebanon.
Today the number of Refuseniks has decreased, though the number of 'high-profile' refusals have increased, forcing the media, and the international community as whole, to recognize the Movement.
Pacifists and Conscientious Objectors hope comprehensively to defer away from military action and aggression on a broad scale to move, both politically and spiritually, toward a decrease in future violence world-wide. These Refuseniks oppose military action and force on any level and though they often share a common goal (e.g peace) with other Refuseniks, often site a broad ideological motivation for their actions. These Refuseniks are often sent to prison, oftentimes for life as their parole is contingent upon their participation in the IDF, or, less often, given an undesirable discharge of some sort. This can come as a Psychological Discharge which frequently carries an unwanted stigma in Israeli society, preventing the individual from success in conventional employment, or a Medical Discharge that can, and often does, require ongoing, generally unnecessary, and extremely painful medical examinations and tests to determine any underlying physiological foundation for the individual's actions.
Selective Refusal, however, refers to the refusal of service specifically against the West Bank, Gaza, or Palestinians or refers to a refusal against any military action proven illegitimate in International or Israeli law. "Selective refusal" is a uniquely Israeli concept, though sporadic protests on similar lines have been recorded in other armies. The concept applies the principles of civil disobedience, as pioneered by Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr., to a military context. Conceding the legality of universal military service, it stresses the right and duty of every soldier to scrutinize the orders he receives, and reject duties he finds morally or politically repugnant. Unlike pacifism or conscientious objection, selective refusal recognizes circumstances when force is legitimate, as in defense against external aggression, or in pursuit of national liberation from foreign tyranny. But it rejects the abuse of military might for unworthy ends, such as wars of aggression, or violent subjugation of a civilian population.
Selective Refuseniks do not evade the consequences of their challenge to legal authority. Defiance of the military hierarchy is overt and direct, carrying often painful personal consequences, which the Selective Refuser accepts as a sacrifice toward a higher moral authority. This willingness to the cause of Human Rights above that of their lives and bodily sanctity, imbues the Refuseniks' movement with a moral and political mark compelling disproportionate to their number.
As well as inspiring the broad peace movement, refusal directly impacts policy makers, who must take into account that the army is no tame "military machine" and its soldiers are not mere robots. On the admission of the former IDF chief of staff, the rash of refusals was a key factor in inducing the army command to call off the 1982-84 Lebanon war. Numerous refusals during the first intifada helped convince Israeli leaders they could not crush the Palestinian uprising by military means, leading to recognition of the PLO and substantially more diplomatic moves toward a political solution. In the 2nd "intifada" (uprising) hundreds of reservists have refused assignments, and over a hundred have been imprisoned. Also, for the first time, significant numbers of young conscripts have also declined to take part in the campaign of repression.
Capt. (res.) Itai Haviv received a 21-day sentence for refusal on March 14 2002. Itai wrote:
As an IDF combat officer, I have served all over the West Bank and Gaza Strip. I am not naive. At times you must kill to survive. On behalf of the state of Israel, I have chased children who threw stones at me. I've patrolled refugee camp alleyways. I've banged on their metal doors in the small hours of the morning. I've probed mattresses for propaganda material. I've heard babies crying. I've hauled people out of bed to erase slogans daubed on walls. I?ve imposed curfews. I've dealt with Palestinian flags fluttering from power pylons. I've halted vehicles. I've impounded ID cards. I've carried shackled prisoners in the back of my jeep. I've fired at rioters. I've halted hundreds of vehicles at road blocks. I set up a lookout on the roof of a cake shop on Gaza's main street. The routine of occupation. Every day. Every hour. 35 years.
I believed it was a war of no-choice. After all, we had left no stone unturned in our pursuit of peace.
We have built over 100 settlements, sending 200,000 settlers to live there. We have lost soldiers, children, mothers. All for the sake of national security. For peace. To stop the next suicide bomber. For 35 years, a black flag has flown over our heads, but we refused to see it.
No more.
LinksIsraeli Refuser Solidarity Network
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