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| SELECTIVE REFUSAL | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Selective refusal" is a uniquely Israeli concept, though sporadic protests on similar lines have been recorded in other armies. Selective refusal 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. Refuseniks do not duck the consequences of their challenge to legal authority: defiance of the military hierarchy is overt and direct, accepting the painful personal consequences. This willingness to pay the price imbues the refuseniks' protest with a moral and political effect out of all proportion 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 then 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 moves towards 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. Those who have refused to serve in the occupied territories, have found Yesh Gvul at their side, offering support and assistance. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| THE DICTATES OF CONSCIENCE Capt. (res.) Itai Haviv received a 21-day sentence for refusal on March 14 2002. Itai wrote: BLACK FLAG 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. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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