---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 19:39:59 +0200
From: Bryan Atinsky <bryan@indymedia.org.il>
Subject: There are now over 1000 Israeli Army Refusniks!!
Two reserve officers of the Israeli navy have been jailed for refusing
service in the occupied territories.
Capt. (res.) Shahar Tzur (30), formerly of the missile boat section, was
jailed for 28 days. Tzur is married, a resident of Haifa and a student of
architecture at the Technion. He is a signatory of the "Courage to Refuse"
declaration.
Major (res.) Piki Ish-Shalom of Jerusalem, formerly of the submarine unit,
was also sentenced to 28 days for refusing service in the territories.
Both men are held at Military Prison No. 6 (Military Postal Number 03734,
IDF, Israel).
In support letters, please specify ID numbers: Tzur - 5067698 Ish-Shalom
- 4609194
Calls of support to Tzur's wife Hagar - to 972.4.8283627
The navy is not generally associated with the occupation, but it should be
recalled that IDF navy patrol boats maintain a strict blockade on the port
of Gaza, hunting Palestinian fishing boats as they put out to sea. Nearby
naval shore stations effectively reinforce the occupation forces in the
Gaza Strip.
In addition to the two naval reservists, David Pearlman has been sentenced
to 14 days for refusing to serve in the territories, though declaring
himself willing to undertake other duties such as patrolling the border
fence.
Details of Pearlman's case and pictures (he works in community theatre)
can be found at http://indymedia.org.il/article/18173 which also reports
that the army has issued a directive to unit commanders to jail any
soldier overtly proclaiming refusal to serve in the territories.
Currently there are 363 signatories on the "Courage to Refuse"
declaration. Close to 500 soldiers have already refused in practice, as
well as a further 400+ signatories respectively on the refusal declaration
sponsored by Yesh Gvul, and on last year's letter to Sharon from high
school students warning that they too will refuse to take part in the
campaign of repression when they are called up this year.
There is some overlap between these various categories, nevertheless we
can safely assert that:
THE OVERALL NUMBER OF REFUSENIKS NOW EXCEEDS ONE THOUSAND !!!
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