Hello good people and organizations
A request after the explanation-
We are the "Shministim Letter" (also known as the "seniors' letter"), a group of youth in Israel.
We decided to refuse to serve in the Israeli army (IDF), for reasons such as the policy of occupation and oppression in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
All boys and girls in Israel must join the army after graduating from high school by law, except those who have mental or health problems. Orthodox Jewish people are easily exempted, and pacifists should be exempted as well. Many people lie in order to get out; they pretend to be religious (mostly girls) or crazy.
We, as conscientious objectors, are not recognized by the army as pacifists or as having a "real" reason to be let off, because our refusal to serve is considered 'political'.
Therefore, we choose to tell the army the truth - what we think about the governments immoral policy, about the illegal acts of the IDF being done in our name.
Refusing to serve in the army is a crime in Israel. Therefore, we are being sent to military prison: one of the girls in our group, Or Ben-David, has already been in prison for 47 days and was sentenced for another term of 34 days, each time for the same reason: "refusing an order to become a soldier"
We ask you to help us to arrange demonstrations that will take place simultaneously in different locations, including the one that will be in Israel when Or is in jail.
The demo will take place on January 9th.
We suggest non-violent protest in front of Israeli embassies and consulates in different places around the world.
If you would like to arrange such a demo, or if you know someone who will, please contact us: shministim10@gmail.com
We'll be happy to answer your questions and help you to organize.
You can also read more about us at www.shministim.com
Thank you for your time.
Happy holidays,
Shministim Letter 2009-2010