To Military Prison, Instead Of Gaza

To Military Prison, Instead Of Gaza

Israeli Conscientious Objector Natan Blanc To be imprisoned this morning

Today, Monday November 19th, Natan Blanc, a 19 years old Israeli from old Haifa, will show up at the recruitment bureau, inform officers there of his refusal to serve in the IDF, and will likely be sent immediately to the military prison. His act of conscientious refusal is directly connected to the current situation and the army's acts in Gaza. He took this decision even before hearing the terrible news of five women and four children being killed today by a single Israeli Air Force bomb:

I began thinking about refusing to join the Israeli Army during the 'Cast Lead' operation in 2008. The wave of aggressive militarism that swept the country then, the expressions of mutual hatred, and the vacuous talk about stamping out terror and creating a deterrent effect were the primary trigger for my refusal.

Today, after four years full of terror, without a political process [towards peace negotiations], and without quiet in Gaza and Sderot, it is clear that the Netanyahu Government, like that of his predecessor Olmert, is not interested in finding a solution to the existing situation, but rather in preserving it. From their point of view, there is nothing wrong with our initiating a 'Cast Lead 2' operation every three or four years (and then 3, 4,5 and 6): we will talk of deterrence, we will kill some terrorist, we will lose some civilians on both sides, and we will prepare the ground for a new generation full of hatred on both sides.

As representatives of the people, members of the cabinet have no duty to present their vision for the futures of the country, and they can continue with this bloody cycle, with no end in sight. But we, as citizens and human beings, have a moral duty to refuse to participate in this cynical game. That is why I have decided to refuse to be inducted into the Israeli Army on the date of my call-up order, November 19, 2012.

Natan Blanc

ENDS

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