AN EXCEPTIONAL LETTER BY AN IMPRISONED YOUNG IDF
OBJECTOR.
Itamar
Shachar
Objector Itamar Shachar, aged 20, from the town of
Carmiel, was sentenced on
11 July to 28 days in prison, due to his refusal to serve
in the Israeli
army. In the letter below, written shortly before his
arrest, Itamar
explains in detail the motives behind his act of
objection. Despite it is
relatively long, we bring the letter here in full:
29 June 2002
I, Sgt. Itamar Shachar, military ID 7015440, hereby
declare that I am no
longer willing to continue my service in the Israel
Defence Forces (IDF).
The acts perpetrated by the army in the last two years in
the West Bank and
the Gaza Strip are immoral and illegitimate. The wounding
and killing of
hundreds of innocent civilians; the denial of medical
treatment, education
and livelihood to millions of human beings; the acts of
deportation,
demolition of houses and uprooting of trees - all these
are acts that cannot
be tolerated. It is certainly inadmissible that I would
take part in these
acts or be a part of the body that perpetrates them. The
policy of
occupation, colonisation and oppression practiced by the
governments of the
State of Israel are the cause of the bloodbath in our
region, the main
victims of which are civilians on both sides. Therefore,
if we wish to live
here in dignity, freedom and peace, we must struggle
against the occupation
that brings calamity on both peoples, and refuse to
follow any order that
might assist the perpetuation of the occupation.
The way I see it, the State of Israel, like any other
country, has the right
to maintain a popular armed force, which would be
activated to protect the
lives of the county's citizens when no other alternative
is available. As
someone who has the will and ability to contribute to
such an armed force, I
was enlisted in August 2000 to perform combatant service
in the IDF. Two
months after I was conscripted, in late September 2000,
the current violent
events in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank have erupted,
and since then I
spend many long months stationed in the area of the
colonies known as "Gush
Qatif", in the Gaza Strip.
In the course of these months I came to know first-hand
the everyday
realities of the occupation: the delays and humiliating
examinations at
roadblocks; the shameful exploitation of Palestinian
labourers by the
settlers who took away their lands; the settlers
themselves, who are willing
to sacrifice the physical and mental well-being of their
children in favour
of material benefits or fanatic religious beliefs; the
deafness of the
military system to the needs of the population at its
mercy; and the
psychological process that 18-year-old children undergo
when they are
suddenly given the power to dominate other human beings.
It is precisely
this acquaintance with the circumstances that led me to
the conclusion that
it is impossible to act morally in a reality based on
occupier-occupied
relations. At first I thought that it would be possible
to try and make this
reality somewhat less ugly, but eventually I understood
that the only way
for the common soldier to protect the well-being of
everyone concerned,
Palestinians and Israelis, is to refuse to take part in
the apparatus of
occupation.
After discussing the issue with my military commanders
and following several
months in which I was not stationed in any position in
the army, I was
eventually assigned to be a tutor in an intelligence
platoon in a rookie
base in the Negev area. I innocently thought that in this
position I will be
solely required to contribute to the protection of
Israel's citizens, and I
was glad to receive a function in which I might affect
the worldview of
soldiers who are just beginning their military service.
But I soon found out
that even this function directly assists in perpetrating
the apparatus of
occupation.
In April 2002, shortly after I was stationed in my new
position, the Israeli
army, under orders from the government, commenced a
series of barbaric
attacks on the centres of Palestinian population in the
West Bank, in which
all basic moral norms, expressed not only in
international covenants, but
even in Israel's own laws and in the moral code of the
IDF itself, were
systematically violated. In war too there are rules that
should not be
broken, and in April 2002, the most grave war crimes were
perpetrated not
only in practice, by the soldiers in the field, but also
by the senior
command and the political leadership, which imposed
flagrantly illegal
orders on the combatant forces. These events increased
the doubts I had all
the time: how can I be in the ranks of a body, a
considerable portion of the
actions of which these days constitute acts of terror
against innocent
civilians?
The name "Defensive Shield" was a cover for the
systematic destruction of
the physical and human infrastructure of Palestinian
civil society. This
operation destroyed most of the chances for
reconciliation between the two
peoples in the visible future. Now, when beyond the Green
Line there remain
only physical destruction and broken, hungry and
depressed people, Ariel
Sharon can easily support his claim that there is no
partner for peace on
the other side.
My act of refusal is not purely altruistic: I do not only
refuse only
because of the human rights violations perpetrated
against the residents of
the West Bank and Gaza Strip (although I view this to be
a sufficient reason
to refuse in its own right). I also refuse to serve in
the army in order to
benefit the society to which I myself belong. The fates
of the two nations
are bound with each other, and the assault against the
Palestinian people
causes some of them to resort to illegitimate means, to
attack innocent
Israeli citizens, to the point that fear becomes a
central part of our daily
routine. 35 years of occupation turned our society into a
violent and racist
society, a society, wide parts of which are ruled by
poverty and ignorance.
As if this were not enough, we assassinate with our own
hands the last
chance of attaining peace in this region. If we do not
find a way, as the
members of the ruling nation, to allow the Palestinian
people to exercise
its legitimate rights, we will find ourselves in an even
gloomier situation
than the one we have already reached.
In my opinion, a decent and moral person should only
agree to serve in the
army of her or his country under two conditions:
1. The army would only serve to
protect the life and freedom of the
citizens of the State and not any other cause.
2. The State and its security
forces shall perform each and every one of
their actions in accordance with the basic laws of
morality, stemming from
the equality in value of all human beings, as expressed
in international
covenants, such as the Geneva Conventions, protecting
civilians in times of
war and the United Nations' Universal Declaration of
Human Rights.
In view of the clear violation of these conditions by the
Israeli government
and its army, and considering the fact that at present,
every function
within the IDF involves assisting an immoral and
illegitimate policy,
bringing calamity to the entire region, I hereby declare
that beginning with
the coming week I no longer consider myself to be a
soldier in the IDF,
committed to performing the orders of the military. Once
the above
conditions are followed in a reasonable way, I will be
again willing to put
myself at the service of the citizens of the country
where I live in any way
required.
Itamar Shachar is due to be released from prison on 5
Aug. and it is very
likely that he will be imprisoned again afterwards. His
prison address is:
Itamar Shachar
Military ID 7015440
Military Prison No. 6
Military postal code 01860, IDF
Israel.
Letters of support for Itamar can be sent to this e-mail
address:
mailto:itamarsh@aquanet.co.il.
New Profile – Movement for the Civil-ization of
Israeli Society
POB 48005, Tel-Aviv 61480, Israel
E-mail: mailto:newprofile@speedy.co.il
Voice box: ++972-(0)3-516-01-19
Website: http://www.newprofile.org/
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