United States Military Protest
Updated 2024-08-29
2024-08-21 Former Israeli and Palestinian Fighters Join With US GIs to Call for Peace in Gaza A group of former fighters from Palestine and Israel plus active duty U.S. GIs announced last week why they decided to stop participating in war and urged U.S. military members to tell Congress to stop funding Israel’s genocide in Gaza via the ” Appeal for Redress v2.”
The online news conference was organized by Veterans For Peace and featured a former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) special forces member, a young Israeli who just finished 85 days in jail for refusing to join the military, a former Hamas youth activist, and three active-duty U.S. military members who are awaiting discharge as conscientious objectors.
Elik Elhanan is a former special forces soldier in the IDF who, from 1995-98, served in south Lebanon, the West Bank, and Gaza. In 1997, his 14-year old sister was killed by a suicide bomber in Jerusalem. He joined Courage to Refuse in 2002, co-founded the Israeli-Palestinian group Combatants for Peace in 2005, and now serves on the board of American Friends of Combatants for Peace.
Sofia Orr, 19, spent 85 days in an Israeli military jail for refusing to join the Israeli Defense Force. Granted conscientious objector status and released in June, she wrote in her statement of refusal: “I refuse to enlist in order to show that change is needed and that change is possible, for the security and safety of all of us in Israel-Palestine, and in the name of empathy that is not restricted by national identity… I want to create a reality in which all children between the Jordan River and the [Mediterranean] Sea can dream without cages.”
Ahmed Helou, now 52, lives in the West Bank and is a member of Combatants for Peace. He said: “I was born to a refugee family that was forced to flee from their home in 1948. “At 15, I was invited to join a group called Hamas, to fight for the freedom of my people. It was 1987, the First Intifada. I threw rocks and made Palestinian flags. In 1992, I was sentenced to seven months in an Israeli military prison as a political detainee. When my parents visited, they told me about the Oslo process and I couldn’t stop thinking about how we could have another life.”
USAF Senior Airman Larry Hebert said: “As an active duty servicemember who joined believing our military was a force for good in the world, I’m horrified by the position of the United States government to fully support the genocide and occupation of civilians in Palestine.
USAF Senior Airman Juan Bettancourt said: “After 311 days, the death toll is appalling: nearly 41,000 innocent lives brutally taken, the majority women and children. Excruciating reports estimate a devastating total of 186,000 deaths, with almost 93,000 more suffering from severe injuries. Stories of widespread sexual violence, merciless executions, torture, and an endless list of war crimes flood the news, and yet our government remains apathetic to the suffering of Palestinians and the cries of millions calling for a lasting cease-fire and justice. As conscientious objectors, as advocates for peace and human rights, as service members with a shred of moral decency left in us, we adamantly refuse to be accomplices in this genocide.
USAF Second Lt. Joy Metzler said: “As an active duty service member, I have been told repeatedly that military strength is the only way to counteract the threats we face in the world. But once again we see that violence, this time perpetrated by the Israeli government, only leads to death and destruction in an ever growing conflict.
Mike Ferner, special projects coordinator for Veterans For Peace, said: “It is highly significant that former fighters from Israel and Palestine have joined American GIs to say, ‘War is not the answer.’ https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/israeli-palestinian-fighters-peace
2024-06-23 Two US military airmen seek to become conscientious objectors over Gaza war Two active members of the United States Air Force wish to leave military service and become conscientious objectors over Washington’s support for the Israeli military in Gaza.
Larry Hebert and Juan Bettancourt say they no longer wish to serve in the US military due to its role in the war, which has killed more than 37,400 Palestinians, mostly children and women. They have officially requested, through an existing procedure in the military, to become conscientious objectors, people who refuse to participate in military service on ethical or moral grounds.
Hebert, a senior airman on active duty in the US Air Force, told Al Jazeera there is a long history of conscientious objectors from the US, including in protest against the wars in Vietnam and Iraq. He said he hopes to highlight that becoming a conscientious objector is an option for other active-duty US soldiers. He says he’s speaking for himself – not the military – and could not see what is happening in Gaza without protesting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHfkzWdid20
2024-04-11 Veterans for Peace with Larry Hebert, Active Duty Airman on Hunger Strike for Palestine Larry Hebert was able to join the show for this in-depth discussion of his hunger strike in support of Palestine and against the Biden foreign policy of Biden’s unconditional support of Israel’s genocide on Gaza. We missed our initially established interview time because Larry was directed to go to Walter Reed Army Hospital for blood work and a mental evaluation. After being cleared, he talked to us from the grounds of the US capital. We talked about his hunger strike, his protest, his frustration that Aaron Bushnell’s self-immolation generated more of a response in the Middle East than it did in the US, and his disillusionment about the US Military. We finish with Eddie Mack and The Sound of War https://soundcloud.com/user-55976759/41124-veterans-for-peace-with-larry-hebert-active-duty-airman-on-hunger-strike-for-palestine
2024-04-04 Palestinian Writer Susan Abulhawa, Journalist Prem Thakker + Larry Hebert & Ann Wright Palestinian novelist, poet and activist Susan Abulhawa reports back from her recent trip to Gaza where she observed the fallout of Israel’s genocidal war first hand. After that, journalist Prem Thakker talks about the attacks on Al Shifa and his interactions with the State Department’s spokesperson Matthew Miller. Then active duty Senior Airman Larry Hebert and Anne Wright join to talk about Larry’s hunger strike for Gaza which was inspired by Aaron Bushnell.
Susan Abulhawa is a Palestinian American writer and human rights activist. She is the author of Mornings in Jenin, which was translated into 32 languages and sold more than a million copies, The Blue Between Sky And Water and Against the Loveless World. She is the founder of Playgrounds for Palestine and the executive director of Palestine Writes (palestinewrites.org/).
Prem Thakker is a politics reporter at The Intercept, and is a former reporter at The New Republic. His work has also appeared in The American Prospect, Washington Monthly, CNN podcasts, and his newsletter Better World. You can find him on Twitter ( twitter.com/prem_thakker ), Instagram, and TikTok.
Air Force Active Duty Air Force Larry Hebert Stationed at Naval Station Rota, Spain Larry Hebert is a 26-year-old active duty senior airman in the United States air force stationed at Naval Station Rota, Spain. He is on hunger strike calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. His actions were inspired by Aaron Bushnell.
Ann Wright is a 29 year US Army/Army Reserves veteran who retired as a Colonel and a former US diplomat who resigned in March 2003 in opposition to the war on Iraq. She served in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia and Mongolia. In December 2001 she was on the small team that reopened the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. She is the co-author of the book “Dissent: Voices of Conscience.”https://soundcloud.com/katie-halper/gaza-is-a-horror-film-palestinian-writer-susan-abulhawa-journalist-prem-thakker-on-al-shifa-hunger-strike-with-larry-hebert-ann-wright
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