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-Caveat Lector-
x ** TOP_VIEW ** x
The Bigger Picture
7.7.02
Why he WON'T serve in Sharon's brutal army of oppression
** From The Guardian UK: "Why I won't serve Sharon"
-- 'By branding any criticism of the suffering he inflicts on the
Palestinians as anti-semitic, Sharon is enlisting something sacred for
the vile colonial and expansionist ends he pursues. People in Britain,
Jews and non-Jews alike, should not lend a hand to such a despicable
attempt to desecrate the memory of Jewish suffering, and to use it to
justify the oppression of another people.' -- Shlomi Segall, IDF reserve
staff sgt.
= = = = = = = =
[Reserve staff sergeant Shlomi Segall is one of 467 IDF soldiers and
officers who have signed a letter stating that they refuse to serve in
the illegally occupied territories any more. Segall argues that Sharon
is provoking Palestinian suicide attacks and then cynically using them
to oppress the Palestinian people and destroy Palestinian culture. It is
with an almost palpable sense of relief that Segall announces he will no
longer collaborate with this shameful project. It is neither
anti-Semitic nor anti-Israeli to speak up against the occupation, Segall
argues: it is both proper and necessary. - JN]
Why I won't serve Sharon
Shlomi Segall
Friday July 5, 2002
The Guardian
It is remarkable how easily one learns to live with occupation. When I
was born, the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories was
already three years old. When I became 18 the occupation was still in
full force, only by then the Palestinians had had enough of it. That was
the first intifada. I was there, along with many others, ready to serve
as the iron fist to crush the Palestinian resistance. Elsewhere people
our age contemplated going to university or travelling around the world,
but I and many young Israelis found ourselves in the narrow alleys of
Jebaliya and other refugee camps. We should have known better, but
almost without exception we didn't.
Nearly eight years later I was still serving in the occupied
territories, this time as a reserve soldier. I was manning a roadblock,
stopping Palestinians from entering Israel en route to their low paid
jobs in the Israeli "slave market". I remember talking to a friend,
trying to justify why I'd collaborated with a policy that denied a
Palestinian father the only means of bringing food to his children.
No more. No more excuses. We members of Courage to Refuse, reserve
soldiers who have vowed not to serve in the occupied territories, will
not set foot beyond the 1967 line unless it is in civilian clothes and
as invited guests.
Ariel Sharon will tell you that Israel is fighting a war for its
survival against a bloodthirsty enemy. Not so. Sharon and his cronies
are fighting a colonial war to keep their pet settlement project in
place, to perpetuate the Israeli occupation and the subjugation of the
Palestinian territories. It is a one-sided war with a not-so-covert
purpose of destroying any hope of a Palestinian homeland and independent
national life.
Any suicide attack within Israel, deplorable as it is, is used by
Sharon as a pretext for inflicting ever-increasing misery on the 3.5
million inhabitants of Palestine. And if suicide attacks are not
forthcoming, you can count on Sharon to provoke them with his so-called
"targeted killings", which usually leave alleged terrorists unharmed but
often leave women and children dead.
In this so-called war, any pretext is used to inflict a second Nakba
(the catastrophe of 1948) on the Palestinians. Just look at the wanton
destruction of the Palestinian ministry of culture, the bureau of
statistics, the ministry of education; look at the destruction of such
national symbols as the Palestinian international airport and the Voice
of Palestine radio station, not to mention the shameful episode of
Arafat's virtual house arrest. All this is aimed not at some terrorist
infrastructure but at the basic foundations of a society struggling to
attain independence and develop its future from under the Israeli army
boot. This is something conscientious Israelis are no longer willing to
take part in.
Sharon's strength is in turning Israeli society into an obedient herd.
He did that remarkably well 20 years ago, leading us into Lebanon. No
more. Sharon should know that he cannot count on us to fight his war any more.
True, today we don't have the 400,000 Israelis who swarmed the streets
in protest, sending Sharon home after the terrible massacre of Sabra and
Chatila. But when Sharon looks over his shoulder he no longer sees an
entire enlisted Israeli society mobilised behind him; he sees 467 combat
soldiers and officers who are not willing to take part in this colonial
campaign and more than 80 conscientious objectors, jailed by the state
they so faithfully served.
In the refuseniks, Sharon sees dangerous determination, he sees the
unherding of the herd. And he is afraid. University lecturers who
support us are threatened with dismissal, artists who sympathise with us
are boycotted. Sharon and his generals won't admit it, but they are
afraid of us - the privates, the sergeants and the corporals.
Although Sharon and his government are the elected and legitimate
representatives of the state of Israel, he and his generals do not
represent the basic values that Israelis, Jews and Arabs, stand for. So
to criticise the current government of Israel is not to attack the
people of Israel, and it is definitely not anti-semitic. It is not up to
Sharon, the "hero" of such human catastrophes as Kibya (1953), Sabra and
Chatila (1982), and Jenin (2002), to tell anyone what it is and is not
to be Jewish.
By branding any criticism of the suffering he inflicts on the
Palestinians as anti-semitic, Sharon is enlisting something sacred for
the vile colonial and expansionist ends he pursues. People in Britain,
Jews and non-Jews alike, should not lend a hand to such a despicable
attempt to desecrate the memory of Jewish suffering, and to use it to
justify the oppression of another people.
[Shlomi Segall is a reserve staff sergeant in the Israeli paratroopers
and a member of Courage to Refuse.]
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
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