Ares
7th July 2010, 11:00 AM
I refuse to take part in the war crimes committed by my country. Violence will not bring any kind of solution, and I shall not commit violence, come what may.
Omer Goldman, age 19, Tel Aviv
First Prison Sentence: 22nd Sept. - 10th Oct. 2008 (18 days)
Second Prison Sentence: 12th - 24th Oct. 2008 (10 days)
Omer Goldman, has had to confront the values of her own family. She is the daughter of the former deputy head of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service and who is still considered one of the most powerful men in the Israeli security system. Omer, without her fathers permission visited a Palestinian town in the West Bank and at a check-point, alongside Palestinians, her supposed enemies, was fired upon by Israeli soldiers, We were sitting by the roadside talking and soldiers came along and after a few seconds they received an order and fired gas grenades and rubber bullets at us. Then it struck me, to my astonishment, that the soldiers were following an order without thinking. For the first time in my life, an Israeli soldier raised his weapon and fired at me.
Although, not surprisingly, her father does not support her decision to refuse, he still supports her as a daughter. He and I have very similar characters. I, too, fight to the end for what I believe in. But we are opposites ideologically.
In her declaration of refusal she stated:
I refuse to enlist in the Israeli military. I shall not be part of an army that needlessly implements a violent policy and violates the most basic human rights on a daily basis.
Like most of my peers, I too have not dared to question the ethics of the Israeli military. But when I visited the Occupied Territories I realized I see a completely different reality, a violent, oppressive, extreme reality that must be ended.
I believe in service to the society I am part of, and that is precisely why I refuse to take part in the war crimes committed by my country. Violence will not bring any kind of solution, and I shall not commit violence, come what may
Listen to her statement and others here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmCcTSyowhY&feature=player_embedded
Omer Goldman, age 19, Tel Aviv
First Prison Sentence: 22nd Sept. - 10th Oct. 2008 (18 days)
Second Prison Sentence: 12th - 24th Oct. 2008 (10 days)
Omer Goldman, has had to confront the values of her own family. She is the daughter of the former deputy head of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service and who is still considered one of the most powerful men in the Israeli security system. Omer, without her fathers permission visited a Palestinian town in the West Bank and at a check-point, alongside Palestinians, her supposed enemies, was fired upon by Israeli soldiers, We were sitting by the roadside talking and soldiers came along and after a few seconds they received an order and fired gas grenades and rubber bullets at us. Then it struck me, to my astonishment, that the soldiers were following an order without thinking. For the first time in my life, an Israeli soldier raised his weapon and fired at me.
Although, not surprisingly, her father does not support her decision to refuse, he still supports her as a daughter. He and I have very similar characters. I, too, fight to the end for what I believe in. But we are opposites ideologically.
In her declaration of refusal she stated:
I refuse to enlist in the Israeli military. I shall not be part of an army that needlessly implements a violent policy and violates the most basic human rights on a daily basis.
Like most of my peers, I too have not dared to question the ethics of the Israeli military. But when I visited the Occupied Territories I realized I see a completely different reality, a violent, oppressive, extreme reality that must be ended.
I believe in service to the society I am part of, and that is precisely why I refuse to take part in the war crimes committed by my country. Violence will not bring any kind of solution, and I shall not commit violence, come what may
Listen to her statement and others here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmCcTSyowhY&feature=player_embedded