Elite Israeli soldiers refuse to serve..

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Elite Israeli soldiers refuse to serve..
2
Mon, 12-22-2003 - 8:16am

in territorites.


http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/12/22/israel_commando031222



The Israeli army said it would dismiss 13 members of a top commando unit who refused to serve in Palestinian areas unless they changed their minds.


The Sayeret Matkal unit members' refusal is part of a growing trend among Israeli soldiers opposed to the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The 13 reservists sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Sunday saying they wouldn't remain silent about the country's military activities in the territories. The reservists said the occupation deprives "millions of Palestinians of human rights."

Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon told Army Radio Monday that those who signed the letter could be thrown out of the army.

However, Yaalon himself has criticized the government's tough policies toward the Palestinians. In October, he said Israeli measures could lead to desperation and result in a humanitarian crisis.



Last week, the army convicted five recruits on charges they refused to serve in the military for political reasons. They are to be sentenced on Tuesday and could each be sentenced to as much as three years in jail.

Earlier this year, 27 reserve and retired pilots wrote a similar letter, refusing to take part in air strikes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The action by the pilots and elite commandos has sparked heated debate in Israel.


 Israeli army refuseniks condemned.


>"Thirteen reservists from the elite Sayeret Matkal unit wrote to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon saying they would not be part of a "rule of oppression"."<


>"Several hundred reserve soldiers have been sent to prison for refusing to serve in the West Bank and Gaza, but the statements from pilots and commandos carry special weight because of their elite status."<


Quotes from........


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3339785.stm


 

cl-Libraone

 


Photobucket&nbs

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Mon, 12-22-2003 - 8:28am

Will Fence Solve Israel's Woes?



>"It's not often that President Bush, Yasser Arafat and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan agree on anything. But right now, they are all united against a massive construction project being undertaken by Israel -- a fence designed to keep Palestinian suicide bombers out of Israeli cities. "<



>"The controversy is not over Israel's right to defend itself from terrorism, but how it's doing it. In this case, the struggle is over exactly where it's building this fence."<


>"His fence cuts deeply into the West Bank. It puts dozens of Jewish settlements and large chunks of Palestinian land on the Israeli side of the fence. But the fence being built today doesn't only cut through Palestinian land. It cuts through Palestinian lives.

In the West Bank town of Qalqilya, home to 40,000 Palestinians, the fence is a wall 30 feet high on the side of the city that faces Israel. The wall also goes all around the town, closing it off from other Palestinian villages in the West Bank, which was not at all the idea when the fence was first conceived.

Now, if the residents of Qalqilya want to leave, there's only one exit: an Army checkpoint. And they're not allowed to drive their cars through.

They've literally been moved back in time. Unemployment is 60 percent today, and a third of the shops have closed."<


 


Photobucket&nbs

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-25-2003
Mon, 12-22-2003 - 4:29pm
<>

It works in Gaza. Why not the West Bank?

I think it's the best thing that could happen given the situation, and will force Palestinians to either build their own working government & economy or negotiate with Israel to be a responsible participant in theirs.



Renee