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Jorg Laskowski graphic for 2001 Prisoners for Peace pack

Prisoners for Peace 2001

Third edition: 22.11.2001
  1. Editorial
  2. Focus on Israel and the Palestinian autonomous territories
  3. Delivering the message, loud and clear
  4. Prisoners for Peace Honour Roll 2001
  5. Action for Prisoners for Peace Day
  6. The Intifada: from violence to more violence
  7. History of the Prisoners for Peace list

Editorial

Andreas Speck

When, in summer 2001, War Resisters' International decided to highlight the situation in Israel and Palestine for this year's Prisoners for Peace, there was no 11 September, no "war on terrorism". There was "just" a completely stuck peace process, and increasing violence: from both the occupying Israeli forces, and in the Palestinian response to this occupation. And there was a slowly growing movement of conscientious objectors in Israel. More than enough reasons for a Prisoners for Peace focus.

All this became even more important after 11 September. As Andrew Rigby points out below, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict lies at the heart of the present "war on terrorism". It is because of this that the US administration made some minor attempts to "unstick" the peace process, in order to form a broad coalition for their war. And it is because of this that we never questioned our decision to highlight this region after 11 September.

While Sergeiy Sandler from the Israeli organisation New Profile looks at the struggle of Israeli COs, and at their political relevance in a highly militarised society, Marwan Darweish criticises the Palestinian Authority for turning a grassroots intifada into a low-level war. This violence might suit those in power on both sides, but it certainly disempowers those struggling for nonviolence and a solution based on dialogue.

Although our focus this year is on Israel-Palestine, we don't forget the many Prisoners for Peace all over the world. Our Honour Roll is certainly far from being complete, but all of those on the list - and many others - deserve our solidarity and support.

Andreas Speck works at the international office of the War Resisters' International.

Focus on Israel and the Palestinian autonomous territories

Andrew Rigby

When Osama Bin Laden threatens that there will be no security for the USA until "we live it and see it in Palestine" he is striking a chord that resonates throughout the Arab (and Muslim) world.

When he refers to Israeli tanks "wreaking havoc in Palestine - in Jenin, Ramallah, Rafah and Beit Jala" he is invoking the symbol of Arab shame and American hypocrisy, for there can be little doubt that the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory and the murderous behaviour by which it is maintained is not only tolerated by the USA but is made possible by American aid and support. In the words of the Jordanian foreign minister, "To succeed in combating terrorism we have to address the root cause ... We all know the main source of grievance is the despair that prevails with the failure to satisfy the national rights of Palestinians." Unless the Palestinians are acknowledged as people with human rights, the world will face more fear and terror.

Dual realities

As I write my mind goes back to a Palestinian friend, a gentle family man. In 1991, at the time of the war against Iraq, he and his friends would go up on the roof of their house and cheer as the Scud missiles flew over from Iraq targeted on Tel Aviv. Why? Because now the Israelis would feel some of the pain and fear that was part and parcel of everyday life for Palestinians. When I last saw him two years ago he was worried because his teenage son, Saeb, had become involved with youth activities at the local mosque and he feared he might be recruited into one of the Islamic political movements opposed to the Oslo peace process.

Living less than 50 kilometres away from Saeb's home is 18-year-old Yair Halper who, on 17 October, was imprisoned for refusing to enlist in the Israeli army. In his statement Yair affirmed "As a pacifist I object to any army universally, no matter where it is, who operates it or what purposes it serves. Furthermore I object to service in the Israeli Defence Forces in particular for political reasons. [...] I see the Israeli army as a mechanism that hosts everything I oppose in its ranks. Every soldier contributes in his/her way to the perpetuation of not only the complete disregard of Palestinian human rights, but also to the continuing fortification and confirmation of Military Israel. [...] I will not join a system that does not value human rights and that continues to rape, control and occupy the Palestinian territories."

It could be that in a year or so, if things do not change, Saeb might walk into a pizza house somewhere in Israel, with explosives strapped to his body, stand next to Yair and detonate the bomb. Another martyr, another victim, another act of terror. I pray it will not happen. But if it does I shall understand what drove Saeb to commit such an act: this is what some people feel compelled to do when they are forced to live their lives in humiliation, shame and anger, unacknowledged as a human being with rights, and unaware of any alternative beyond surrender and violent resistance.

Breaking the cycle of violence

Something has to be done to break the cycle of violence and retribution in Israel/Palestine. If the downward spiral is not reversed then it will envelop us all. We see how the people of the USA are living with new fears since September 11. The threat of violence permeates and contaminates all dimensions of life.

Look at the Israelis. While they inflict pain and suffering on their neighbours, they themselves live in trepidation, uncertain about the future. They dream of security, but they are too timid to seek it on anything but their own terms. They lack the courage to let go of their domination of the Palestinians, too afraid to face up to the fact that they can never enjoy security so long as they deny their neighbours what they claim for themselves.

One struggle

This is why we must herald the courage of young people like Yair Halper who dare to go against the mainstream, people who by their prophetic actions point to an alternative future in the Middle East - one based on the acknowledgement of equal human rights for all in the region. Their struggle is, in a very real sense, our struggle. Because peace in the Middle East is a prerequisite for peace throughout the world.

If the wound that is Palestine is not healed it will fester and poison the lives of us all sooner or later. (As Michael Ignatieff recently remarked, "To ask what victory in the war against terror means is to ask what peace between Palestinians and Israelis requires."

Andrew Rigby is the Director of the Centre for the Study of Forgiveness and Reconciliation at Coventry University, Britain.

Delivering the message, loud and clear

CO activist Sergeiy Sandler reports on the rising tide of objection to military service in Israel during the second intifada.

Thirty-two people is a small number. A demonstration with thirty-two participants would hardly be worthy of the word. But since October 2000, thirty-two people were imprisoned or otherwise penalised in Israel for refusing to perform military duty on conscientious and political grounds.

Thirty-two may not be such a small figure after all. It is even rather large if we compare it to the figure for the preceding year - only three. It is also not that small because it actually represents a greater number. It is estimated that several hundred people were interviewed this year by the two committees set up to examine cases of conscientious objection (CO).

Under Israeli law CO status exists for women only. Men are practically always rejected by their committee - which is made up exclusively of military personnel, and so most will reach prison in the end.

Druse objectors

Yesh-Gvul, an organisation supporting selective political objectors, reports that it has received some 250 calls from objectors, most are reserve soldiers specifically refusing to be sent to the Palestinian Occupied Territories on political grounds.

Most of these objectors do not end up in prison, because at some stage the army decides to station them within Israel's recognised borders. However, some have still been penalised, including six junior officers.

The Druse Initiative Committee, promoting objection to military service in the Druse religious community, estimates that only 50% of all Druse men end up serving in the military. Many members of the Druse religious community, who are drafted by the Israeli army, refuse to serve in an army fighting against their own, Palestinian, people.

Druse objectors are required by the military authorities to spend exceptionally long periods of time behind bars before they are discharged from the army. One Druse activist lately remarked that his own village, with a few thousands residents, has already accumulated some 500 years in military prison.

A growing movement

The growth in the number of declared objectors marks the arrival of a new generation of Israeli citizens, more independent in their thought. 62 of these young people, aged 15-18, signed a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stating their intention to refuse to participate in the oppression of the Palestinian people.

"We protest before you, against the aggressive and racist policy pursued by the Israeli government and its army, and inform you that we do not intend to take part in the execution of this policy", they wrote. The letter was published on 2 September and has received widespread public attention. More youths have since added their signatures.

Finally, according to data obtained by the feminist antimilitarist movement New Profile, only 44% of Israeli youths complete their mandatory three years of military conscription. Service in the reserves, still legally mandatory for all men in Israel, is now only performed by a small minority. New Profile views these facts as clear evidence of a broad and growing movement of draft resistance in Israel, most of which is taking place out of public sight. Declared objection is merely the tip of the iceberg.

Of course, not everyone who abstains from military service does so on conscientious grounds, or shares the moral and political positions presented by declared conscientious objectors. Still, it appears most Israelis, even some of those who voice support for the gravest war crimes, fail, in the end to support these crimes with their actions. In abstaining, they are voting with their feet and their sheer numbers make theirs a significant role.

Visible resistance

As for the declared conscientious objectors - in terms of numbers they may be a marginal group in Israeli society, but they lead the way for many others. Every act of conscientious objection is a living and publicly visible antithesis to that would-be consensus surrounding the army as an institution and to the criminal policies implemented by the Israeli army in Palestine.

Every person who refuses to serve in the army, by his or her very refusal to automatically back the decisions of the generals in the army and in government, joins the political struggle against militarism in Israeli society.

Moreover, the message delivered by the act of conscientious objection reaches beyond the limits of Israel, and first and foremost to Palestinian society. Conscientious objectors, especially those imprisoned for their beliefs, serve as a living and well-noticed proof to our allies in the Palestinian society that there still are people in Israel with whom they can cooperate towards reaching a common moral and political vision.

Thirty-two conscientious objectors were tried, almost all imprisoned, since the intifada began. In fact, this is not such a small number after all.

Sergeiy Sandler works with New Profile
New Profile, PO Box 48005, Tel Aviv, 61480 Israel (email ghiller@haogen.org.il; http://www.newprofile.org).

Prisoners for Peace Honour Roll 2001

How the list works

Armenia

On 12 September 2001, Gevork Palyan, a Jehovah's Witness, was sentenced to one year imprisonment for refusing military service on religious grounds. Although Armenia announced an amnesty in summer 2001, which freed many Jehovah's Witnesses imprisoned for conscientious objection, new sentences occurred since. On 12 September, 13 Jehovah's Witnesses were still imprisoned or in penal colonies due to their refusal to perform military service: Khachatur Zakaryan, Amayak Karapetyan, Arman Atanyan, Vahan Mkroyan, Armen Yeghiazaryan, Vladimir Kiroyan, Vladimir Osipyan, Edgar Bagdasaryan, Aram Shahverdyan, Vachagan Hovhannisyan, Karen Vardanyan, Samvel Vardanyan and Karapet Harutyunyan. Four more awaited trial and a further five are living at home on condition that they report regularly to local police.

Finland

In Finland there still exists a very extensive conscription system (over 90% of male citizens will be called up to military service) and the number of total objectors has been rising in recent years. In 1999 totally 56 total objectors announced their refusal, which is the highest number since Jehovah's Witnesses were exempted from conscription (in 1987). The number will probably be even higher this year. This growth is partly explained by the aggravation of problems in the civilian service system (the service period of conscripts was shortened in 1998, but civilian service period has remained unchanged) but not entirely: the "unconditional" total objection, which protests against the conscription system as such, seems to be growing noticeably too. On 1 October 2001 there were 22 imprisoned total objectors in Finland.

The following ten total objectors, who will be imprisoned on 1 December, have permitted us to distribute their prison address.

Germany

Israel

In 2001 more and more reservists and conscripts refused to serve in the occupied territories, and some principled COs refused to serve at all - all together 32 since October 2000 (see article). They mostly receive sentences of 21 or 28 days, and receive a new call-up after their release. Check the WRI website (http://wri-irg.org) for updates.

Korea, Republic of

There are presently around 1500 Jehovah's Witnesses in prison for conscientious objection. About 500 are jailed each year for an average of 3 years. More information is available from:

Solidarity for Peace & Human Rights, 152-053 402-ho yunyoung-building, 1127-33 guro3-dong gurogu, Seoul, Korea, tel. +82-2-851 9086, fax 851 9087, email peace@jinbo.net

Puerto Rico

There have been over one thousand people arrested for participating in civil disobedience actions at the US military base on Vieques, or in support of Vieques, most of them got a short prison sentence or were fined, only very few remain in prison now, although this number might go up because of a new round of civil disobedience actions. Check the WRI website for updates.

State of Spain

Although conscription is not enforced any longer, some insumisios are still in prison.

All imprisoned for "insumision" (total objection) in the barracks; declaring their total objection after entering the military barracks.

United States of America

Action

Sending cards and letters

Remember-next year it could be you...

Support our future work

Send contributions to: War Resisters' International, 5 Caledonian Road, London N1 9DX, Britian (tel +44 20 7278 4040; fax 7278 0444; email office@wri-irg.org).

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Online version

See this site for all four language versions of the PfP 2001 pack.

The Intifada: from violence to more violence

Marwan Darweish

On 28 September 2001 the Palestinians commemorated the first anniversary of the second Intifada with more people killed and injured adding to the already hundreds of deaths and the thousands injured during this year.

The characteristic of this Intifada in contrast with previous Palestinian confrontations with the Israeli occupation is the extraordinarily high number of civilian casualties within both the Palestinian and Israeli societies. This was due to an excessive use of violence during the first year of this Intifada.

It has been argued that the use of arms by Palestinians and the use of live ammunition by the Israeli forces causing many deaths and injuries has terrified many people deterring them from joining popular protest.

Militarisation by the PNA

After the first four months the uprising took a turn away from popular grassroots protest to a sporadic armed struggle and later to low level guerrilla tactics including suicide bombing.

It must be clearly acknowledged that there is no symmetry between the occupier and the occupied; the relationship is one of that between oppressor and victim. The violence of the powerful Israeli occupation army using live ammunition, tanks and helicopter gunship and finally F-16 Fighter Jets, demonstrates who is the military power.

The militarisation of the Intifada by Palestinians has clearly been ineffective in fighting Israel, a strategic mistake miscalculation and distinctly counterproductive given the military might of the Israeli retaliatory measures.

The militarisation of the uprising provided the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) security forces with the opportunity to prove their significance, particularly as they had not been paid for few months due to a lack of funds. In January 2001, for the first time, the PNA security forces executed two Palestinians for their collaboration with the Israeli intelligence service. This again serves to highlight their crucial role in maintaining order.

The empowerment of the security forces in Palestinian society over civil and political movements has given them the upper hand, and a seemingly free hand to abuse their power. This has undermined the democratic process by excluding many sectors within Palestinian society from actively participating in the uprising.

This exclusion of civil society organisations has impacted on the participation of women and secular organisations and has shifted power in favour of religious groups. In fact, the PNA has been putting enormous pressure on NGOs and tightening its control through the introduction of laws and regulations. Since the Oslo agreement in 1993 political parties have been sidelined, leaving the PNA to make decisions on all aspects of Palestinian life.

Nonviolence and empowerment

The use of armed confrontations with the Israeli army represents a failure to learn from the past, most recently the 1987 Intifada. Nonviolent action during the first Intifada stripped Israel of its military power over the Palestinian civilians and caused serious damage to the image of Israel internationally.

The grassroots participation and the formation of popular committees was a source of empowerment for the whole population. The mutual support system established in local neighborhoods to face the hardship of the closure imposed by the army proved invaluable and inspirational in the security and confidence they provided for people living the intifada day to day.

In contrast the corruption within the PNA ranks and the public mistrust towards the Palestinian leadership has created an atmosphere of apathy and feelings of hopelessness. The PNA has failed to convince the public of their transparency or accountability. However, Israel has collaborated with this trend and a close eye needs to be kept on the dubious economic cooperation between the PNA officials and former Israeli military personalities.

Internationals working in Palestine are some of the few to call for nonviolent action against the Israeli occupation. Over the past year they have arranged some very successful, if small scale, actions. And in many situations Palestinians and Israelis from the Peace Camp organised sit-ins and other protest activities. My own experience of these actions has been that they are very powerful and render the army completely powerless. Their attempts to use sound bombs, tear gas and physical violence against protesters were chaotic and pathetic. My observation is that there is a great potential for the use of nonviolence training and the development of strategies for nonviolent actions.

Since 11 September

The reaction of the PNA to the events of 11 September has been to distance itself from the attack and to publicly condemn it. However, in the Palestinian streets, like in many other Muslim countries, anti American feelings are being expressed and a few demonstrators in the Gaza strip have been killed by the Palestinian security forces.

More voices in the world have called for recognition of the Palestinian grievances and their right for self-determination and the establishment of Palestinian state. But, as after the Gulf War, the Palestinians and other Arab countries are suspicious of US motives - and exactly what their support will mean for the future of Palestine - until they see the US actually take some action against Israel.

There is no doubt that there is no military solution to Palestinian-Israeli conflict and that the only way forward is through negotiations. However, this dialogue must recognise the Palestinians need for freedom and justice and the Israelis need to live in security.

Marwan Darweish has been working in peace education and inter-community dialogue for a number of years.

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