Omar Saad is a young guy belonging to the Palestinian Arab Druze community. This community, in contrast to Arab society in large, was the target of a decision by Prime Minister Ben Gurion in 1956 that forced them to serve in the Israeli army. following this decision, mobilization orders were sent to all Druze citizens in deployment age. That decision was faced with serious resistance from the Druze community for many reasons. The main reasons were: refusing to fight against their own people and demanding to be treated just like the rest of the Palestinian Arab society in Israel. (* To read more on this issue follow the reference below)

After we appealed to Adalah and the media exposure, the army authorities has set aside the order, and claimed it to be a "misunderstanding". 

After being sentenced for the sixth time, Omar issued a public statement, as follows: 

To be honest, I did not expect better than that, an occupying authority that 
put on trial the Druze Sheikhs because of their visit to their holy sites in 
Syria, and prosecute members of the Arab Parliament for their political 
activities, and an occupying authority that kills youth with cold-blood, and 
detain women and children, cannot be respected or trusted. 
I Omar Zahr Eldin Mohammad Saad declare again; I will not serve in the 
Israeli military army, even if they arrest me sixty more times." 

In his refusal deceleration Omar wrote: 

"I refuse that because I am pacifist, and I hate any kind of violence, and I 
believe that the army institute is the top of physical and psychological 
violence, and since I received your order for making the checking procedures 
my life changed completely. I became very nervous and my thoughts were 
dispersed. I remembered thousands of hard images, and I could not imagine 
myself wearing the military uniform and participating in suppressing my 
Palestinian people, and fighting my Arab brothers. I reject enlisting to the 
Israeli army or to any other army, because of national and moral reasons. I 
hate oppression, and I reject occupation." 

You can read the full declaration here 

His prison address is: 

Omar Saad 
Military ID 08143090 
Military Prison No. 6 
Military Postal Code 01860, IDF 
Israel 
Fax: ++972-4-9540580 

Since the prison authorities often block mail from reaching imprisoned 
objectors, we also recommend you to send them your letters of support and 
encouragement via e-mail to: messages2prison@newprofile.org (messages will be printed out and delivered during visits. 
 

Recommended Actions 

First of all, please circulate this message and the information contained in 
it as widely as possible, not only through e-mail, but also on websites, 
social networks, conventional media, by word of mouth, etc. 

Other recommendations for action: 

1. Sending Letters of Support 

Please send Omar letters of support to the prison address above and via 
e-mail to:  messages2prison@newprofile.org 

2. Letters to Authorities 

It is recommended to send letters of protest on the objectors' behalf, 
preferably by fax, to: 

Mr. Moshe Ya'alon, 

Minister of Defence, 
Ministry of Defence, 
Hakirya, 
Tel-Aviv 61909, 
Israel. 
E-mail: s...@mod.gov.il or pniot@mod.gov.il 
Tel.: ++972-3-6975220 
Fax: ++972-3-6962757   

Copies of your letters can also be sent to the commander of the military 
prison at: 

Commander of Military Prison No. 6, 
Military Prison No. 6 
Military Postal Code 01860, IDF 
Israel 
Fax: ++972-4-9540580  

Another useful address for sending copies would be the Military Attorney 
General: 

Denny Efroni, 
Chief Military Attorney 
Military postal code 9605, IDF 
Israel 
Fax: ++972-3-569-45-26 

It would be especially useful to send your appeals to the Commander of the 
Induction Base in Tel-HaShomer. It is this officer that ultimately decides 
whether an objector is to be exempted from military service or sent to 
another round in prison, and it is the same officer who is ultimately in 
charge of the military Conscience Committee: 

Gil Ben Shaul, 
Commander of Induction Base, 
Meitav, Tel-HaShomer 
Military Postal Code 02718, IDF 
Israel. 
Fax: ++972-3-737-60-52 

For those of you who live outside Israel, it would be very effective to send 
protests to your local Israeli embassy. You can find the address of your 
local embassy. 

Here is a generic sample letter, which you can use in sending appeals to 
authorities on the prisoners' behalf. Feel free to modify this letter or 
write your own: 

Dear Sir/Madam, 

It has come to my attention that Omar Saad (military ID 08143090), a 
conscientious objector to military service, has been imprisoned for the 
sixth time for his refusal to become part of the Israeli army, and is held 
in Military Prison no. 6 near Atlit. 

The imprisonment of conscientious objectors such as Saad is a violation of 
international law, of basic human rights and of plain morals. The repeater 
imprisonment of conscientious objectors is an especially grave offence, as 
it means sentencing a person more than once for the same offence, and has 
been judged by the UN working Group on Arbitrary Detention to constitute a 
clear case arbitrary detention. 

I therefore call for the immediate and unconditional release from prison of 
Omar Saad, without threat of further imprisonment in the future, and urge 
you and the system you are heading to respect the dignity and person of 
conscientious objectors, indeed of all persons, in the future. 

Sincerely, 

3. Letters to media in Israel and in other countries 

Writing op-ed pieces and letters to editors of media in Israel and other 
countries could also be quite useful in indirectly but powerfully pressuring 
the military authorities to let go of the objectors and in bringing their 
plight and their cause to public attention. 

Here are some contact details for the main media outlets in Israel: 

Ma'ariv: 
2 Karlibach st. 
Tel-Aviv 67132 
Israel 
Fax: +972-3-561-06-14 
e-mail: editor@maariv.co.il 

Yedioth Aharonoth: 
2 Moses st. 
Tel-Aviv 
Israel 
Fax: +972-3-608-25-46 

Ha'aretz (Hebrew): 
21 Schocken st. 
Tel-Aviv, 61001 
Israel 
Fax: +972-3-681-00-12 

Ha'aretz (English edition): 
21 Schocken st. 
Tel-Aviv, 61001 
Israel 
Fax: +972-3-512-11-56 
e-mail:  letters@haaretz.co.il 

Israel Hayom: 
2 Hashlosha st. 
The B1 Building 
Tel-Aviv 
Israel 
e-mail:  hayom@israelhayom.co.il 

Jerusalem Post: 
P.O. Box 81 
Jerusalem 91000 
Israel 
Fax: +972-2-538-95-27
e-mail: news@jpost.co.il or letters@jpost.co.il 

Radio (fax numbers): 
Kol-Israel  +972-2-531-33-15 
and  +972-3-694-47-09 

Galei Zahal  +972-3-512-67-20 

Television (fax numbers): 
Channel 1   +972-2-530-15-36 
Channel 2   +972-2-533-98-09 
Channel 10   +972-3-733-16-66