[E-rundbrief] Info 732 - Israel - Wehrdienstverweigerinnen

Mo Sep 29 13:22:41 CEST 2008

E-Rundbrief - Info 732 - War Resisters' International (GB): ISRAEL: 
three women conscientious objectors in prison.

Bad Ischl, 29.9.2008

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ISRAEL: three women conscientious objectors in prison

co-alert

conscientious objectors need our support

ISR14951-14952-14953-290908

War Resisters' International, London, 29 September 2008

Three women conscientious objectors are presently serving prison time in
Israel for refusal to enlist. Omer Goldman (ISR14951), Tamar Katz
(ISR14952), and Mia Tamarin (ISR14953), all three signatories of the
2008 High School seniors' refusal letter, reported at the military
induction base on 22 September 2008, and refused to enlist.

Omer Goldman, 19, from the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat HaSharon, was
sentenced to 21 days in prison on 22 September. In her declaration of
refusal she stated:

     "I refuse to enlist in the Israeli military. I shall not be part of
an army that needlessly implements a violent policy and violates the
most basic human rights on a daily basis.
     Like most of my peers, I too have not dared to question the ethics
of the Israeli military. But when I visited the Occupied Territories I
realized I see a completely different reality, a violent, oppressive,
extreme reality that must be ended.
     I believe in service to the society I am part of, and that is
precisely why I refuse to take part in the war crimes committed by my
country. Violence will not bring any kind of solution, and I shall not
commit violence, come what may."

CO Omer GoldmanOmer is due to be released from prison on 10 October,
although due to the Jewish High Holidays an earlier date of release is
also possible.

Tamar Katz and Mia Tamarin were both given a conditional sentence of 7
days in prison on 22 September, and were kept at the induction base. On
the next morning, they were sentenced to five days of confiment to base.
On 28 September, both were then sentenced to 14 days in prison for
refusing to enlist.

Mia Tamarin, 19, from Tel Aviv had appealed to the so-called Conscience
Committee before, but her application had been rejected, as the Comittee
members were left "insufficiently convinced". In her declaration of
refusal, Mia Tamarin stated:

     "I have no doubt that I should be serving my country, I have been
doing so in many ways from a very young age, and intend of course to
continue doing so, not out of compulsion but fully and truly of my own
will. I cannot become part of an organization the purpose of which is to
fend off violence by violence, because it stands unequivocally contrary
to everything I believe in and to my whole life. There always is
another, non-violent option, and it is this option that I choose."

Tamar Katz, 19, from the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat HaSharon, declared in
her declaration of refusal:

     "I refuse to enlist in the Israeli military on conscientious
grounds. I am not willing to become part of an occupying army, that has
been an invader of foreign lands for decades, which perpetuates a racist
regime of robbery in these lands, tyrannizes civilians and makes life
difficult for millions under a false pretext of security.
     I oppose the anti-Palestinian policy of attrition and the
oppression, not because I prefer the Palestinian society to the Israeli
one, but out of an understanding that this policy has led us down a
dead-end road politically and to immorality, forced especially on
soldiers stationed in the Occupied Territories. I am not willing to
become on of those holding the gun pointed indiscriminately at
Palestinian civilians, and I do not believe that such actions could
bring any change except ever more antagonism and violence in our region."

Tamar Katz and Mia Tamarin are due to be released on 10 October, the
same day as Omer Goldman. Due to the Jewish High Holidays, and earlier
date of release is also possible.

War Resisters' International calls for letters of support to Omer
Goldman, Mia Tamarin, and Tamar Katz:

Omer Goldman's prison address (note the different surname, as listed in
official documents) is:

       Omer Granot
       Military ID 5398532
       Military Prison No. 400
       Military Postal Code 02447, IDF
       Israel
       Fax: +972-3-9579389

       Mia Tamarin
       Military ID 5399776
       Military Prison No. 400
       Military Postal Code 02447, IDF
       Israel
       Fax: +972-3-9579389

       Tamar Katz
       Military ID 5396326
       Military Prison No. 400
       Military Postal Code 02447, IDF
       Israel
       Fax: +972-3-9579389

War Resisters' International calls for letters of protest to the Israeli
authorities, and Israeli embassies abroad. An email letter can to
Israels Minister of Defence Ehud Barak can be sent at
http://www.wri-irg.org/co/alerts/20080929a.html.

War Resisters' International calls for the immediate release of
conscientious objectors Omer Goldman, Mia Tamarin, Tamar Katz, and all
other imprisoned conscientious objectors.

Andreas Speck
War Resisters' International
Archives of co-alert can be found at http://wri-irg.org/news/alerts

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