Israel Genocide Resisters
Updated 2024-08-26
Standing Together Our message is simple: There is another way. We have seen our country launch countless wars and military operations only to end up in the same position. Israel’s policy of attempting to destroy Hamas’ military capabilities every few years has only led to Hamas getting stronger. No military operation has ever produced lasting safety and security for Israelis – let alone for Palestinians. The occupation of the West Bank and the blockade on Gaza must end – not only because it is brutal and oppressive for Palestinians – but also because it does not guarantee any long-term safety for Israelis. We know that a negotiated peace agreement is the only way to ensure freedom, equality, and safety for both peoples. As a progressive grassroots movement, we are focused on building the political will in Israeli society to reach a political solution by building a mass movement of Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel who truly believe that such a shared future is possible. We call for an urgent ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, to bring back the hostages and save the lives of innocent people in Gaza. https://www.standing-together.org/2023war
2024-08-01 ‘We don’t care enough’ about Palestinian lives, says former IDF paratrooper Serving as an IDF reservist in Gaza, Yuval Green says he witnessed destruction, looting and a desire for revenge by fellow soldiers, and will no longer serve. He describes his experience to Bianna Golodryga. In an earlier statement to ABC News responding to Green, the IDF said its actions “are based on military necessity,” and any misconduct by soldiers “will be arbitrated, and significant command measures will be taken”. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/we-don-t-care-enough-about-palestinian-lives-says-former-idf-paratrooper/vi-BB1r2vMk?
2024-04-10 Breaking the Silence: Israeli Army Veterans Tour U.S. & Canada to Speak Out Against Occupation Democracy Now! speaks with two former Israeli soldiers who are members of Breaking the Silence, an anti-occupation group of Israeli army veterans. The group’s education director, Tal Sagi, describes growing up in a settlement and joining the military without understanding what occupation was. “We’ve been told that this is security and we have to control millions of lives and we don’t have other options,” says Sagi, who says Israeli society is not open to ending the occupation. “We’re trying to say that there are other options.” We also speak with Breaking the Silence deputy director Nadav Weiman about why the group is touring U.S. colleges and calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. “We stood in checkpoints. We raided homes. We attacked Gaza from the air. We fought from the ground,” says Weiman. “So, when you bring reality, you bring real conversation about the occupation, and you bring real conversation about Gaza.” Transcript: https://www.democracynow.org/2024/4/1… Democracy Now! is an independent global news hourhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUW7Ds4hWhM
2024-03-19 Meet the Israeli “traitors” standing against the war in Gaza While opposition to Israel’s conduct in Gaza is voiced around the world, in Israel support for the war is still strong, but we speak to one of only two people imprisoned for refusing to serve in the army. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told his fellow politicians they need to stand united against the United States, as it cautions against an offensive in Rafah. Mr Netanyahu has sent a delegation to the US to discuss Israel’s planned military operation in Gaza’s southern city, where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHAE9C0qJB8
2024-01-23 In ‘Solidarity With the Innocent in Gaza,’ Israeli Refusenik Gets 30 More Days in Prison “I don’t see myself as the hero or anything while people are being massacred every day in Gaza,” said 18-year-old conscientious objector Tal Mitnick. Undaunted after spending nearly a month behind bars for his conscientious objection to Israel’s war on Gaza, 18-year-old refusenik Tal Mitnick on Tuesday reported for an additional 30 days of military detention. “My refusal is an attempt to influence Israeli society and to avoid taking part in the occupation and the massacre happening in Gaza,” Mitnick told+972 Magazine last month. “I’m trying to say that it’s not in my name.” “I express solidarity with the innocent in Gaza. I know they want to live,”
As Common Dreams reported last month, Mitnick entered the Tel Hashomer enlistment center on December 27 with other members of the Mesarvot Network—a group of young conscientious objectors—and announced his refusal to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), citing the war on Gaza and Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. https://www.commondreams.org/news/tal-mitnick
2024-01-17 Gideon Levy on How Israel’s Press Is Failing to Cover the War’s True Toll We speak with acclaimed Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, columnist for Haaretz and a member of its editorial board, about how the Israeli media has covered the war on Gaza, the genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice and more. Levy says the domestic Israeli media all but ignores the Palestinians being killed, focusing mostly on its own soldiers and the families of hostages. “The Israeli average viewer doesn’t see Gaza at all,” he says. “They are betraying our first mission: to tell the full story.” Levy also says there are growing questions about the IDF’s response to the October 7 Hamas attack that cannot wait until the end of fighting in Gaza. That includes intelligence failures in the lead-up to the attack, as well as reports of troops killing Israeli civilians when they opened fire on homes taken over by Hamas militants. Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1GxgrJEuSs
2024-01-12 “They Want to Silence Us”: Knesset Member Faces Expulsion for Backing South Africa Genocide Case Israeli Knesset member Ofer Cassif is being threatened with expulsion from Israel’s legislature after he signed a petition supporting South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, accusing it of acts of genocide. Cassif says the impeachment is based on an antidemocratic law that suppresses free speech. “They want me and my friends to shut up,” he says of the government’s persecution of dissenting legislators. “We’ve been against the war from the beginning because we are against bloodshed.” Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JyoiYgo-dg
2024-01-10 Israeli Journalist SLAMS Netanyahu’s Brutal Assault On Gaza Israeli Journalist Gideon Levy spoke with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour about Israel’s brutal bombing on Gaza. Ana Kasparian discusses on The Young Turks. “During an interview with CNN International’s Christiane Amanpour Tuesday, Israeli Journalist Gideon Levy slammed the Netanyahu government for setting no limits to the bombing campaign in Gaza, and for now simply “killing for the purpose of killing.” Levy writes a weekly column for Haaretz a liberal Israeli newspaper and he has won human rights awards for reporting on Palestinian suffering.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSqYjOFGNgE
2023-12-27 Israeli Teen Jailed for Refusing to Take Part in Army’s ‘Criminal Attack’ on Gaza A young Israeli man was sentenced Tuesday to 30 days behind bars for refusing to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces as it wages a genocidal assault on Gaza, a war the teen condemned as “a revenge campaign… not only against Hamas, but against all Palestinian people.”
Tal Mitnick, an 18-year-old from Tel Aviv, entered the Tel Hashomer enlistment center with other members of the Mesarvot Network—a group of young conscientious objectors—and announced his refusal to enlist in the IDF, citing the war on Gaza and Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. “I believe that slaughter cannot solve slaughter,” he said outside the base. “The criminal attack on Gaza won’t solve the atrocious slaughter that Hamas executed. Violence won’t solve violence. And that is why I refuse.” https://www.commondreams.org/news/conscientious-objector-israel
2023-12-20 YOU CAN HELP THE ISRAELI WAR RESISTANCE MOVEMENT AT THIS CRITICAL TIME To an outside observer, Israeli public debate appears solid. There seems to be an overwhelming consensus supporting an open-ended war on the Palestinians of Gaza in revenge for the horrors of October 7. The reality is different. Many Israelis, including some directly impacted by the Hamas attack, believe that there is no military solution and that the only way out of this terrible situation is an immediate ceasefire followed by prisoner exchange. They want to speak out, but are hard pressed to find a stage. That’s why we established Voices Against War, which we told you about in our last update.
Since the outbreak of the war, an active anti war movement has come together in Israel, composed of a variety of individuals and groups. Our Israeli partners in the struggle against the occupation are central to this movement, and all of them have intensified their war resistance actions. Organizing these activities is harder now than ever: A crackdown on dissent is in progress, and arrests of nonviolent protesters are a daily occurrence.
Now, more than two months since the outbreak of the war, there appears to be no end in sight. Repression of dissent has only increased. More than ever, Israelis working to end the war need your support. https://www.refuser.org/refuser-updates
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