One of this year’s Shministim (courageous high school leavers who refuse to be drafted into the Israeli Army) will be speaking in London this weekend. Or Ben David has been jailed for her refusal to serve three times, not including a pre sentence detention of 7 days. She will talk about the reasons for their refusal to serve as soldiers in an army of occupation, and the impact of the decision on themselves and their families, before other engagements in Leicester, Edinburgh (at the Scottish Parliament), Bristol and Hampshire. From Or’s
testimony: “I refuse because I want to make a difference. I want all
those Palestinian youths who have lost hope to see that there are
Israelis who care and who make a different choice. I want all those of
my friends who became soldiers or who are about to become soldiers to
see that things don’t have to be the way they are…” |