I was surprised to hear that many of the people in this group had not even gone to the Palestinian territories until the beginning of their teenage years. The West Bank or Gaza are roughly only 50 miles away from any place in Israel. For those of us who grew up going on 8 hour road trips, it is hard to believe that they had never seen the land that was only 1 1/2 hour drive from their homes! Mia, one of the refuseniks, admitted that at age 19, being in Bethlehem on this Saturday was her first time ever in the Palestinian territories!
Many of them spoke of their first encounter in the Palestinian territories. They realized the disparity between the two situations. I was surprised by the passion of these people to help those other than themselves. Many people in their early teens are more focused on their own personal lives, but these teens, once they learned about the situation in the Palestinian territories, became activists from a young age. As they learned more, they realized the integral part the Israeli military plays in perpetrating the policies of Israel, which promote continued occupation of the Palestinian territories. Many of them had thought of refusing to join the army, but because of the pressure in society did not really consider doing it on their own. It was not until they were brought together through a group called Shministin. Shministin was organized by previous refuseniks to give new generations support and the courage to go against society and refuse to join the army.
More enlightening than the journeys of each refusenik to the point of refusing the army was their description of the effect it had on them in Israeli society. The expectation that an Israeli joins the army upon graduating in high school is immense. Sahar, age 18, said "our education system is built to grow soldiers". Refusing the army goes against everyone's expectations of them in society. These refuseniks will not receive educational benefits or employment advantages throughout their lives. All of them stated, however, that the reactions of their family and friends has been the worst effect. Mia, who refused to join the army because of her belief in pacifism, was forced to leave her home because her father could no longer deal with the tension between the two. Others told about friendships in which they could no longer talk about politics or war or their friendship would end. They talked about the military being the uniting factor in Israeli society
One question posed from the audience asked if these refuseniks would be able to teach their children their views which challenge Israeli society and the occupation of the Palestinian territories. They surprisingly responded saying that they would not want to "brainwash" their kids with their own beliefs as they had felt "brainwashed" by Israeli society. Their decision to refuse to join the army was brought about by the fact that they were encouraged to question, discover what was going on around them for themselves, and make their own decisions. They would like to encourage all people to question and not just to absorb what people around them say. I was surprised by the maturity of this statement, because I also believe that it is by questioning and discovering the truth that peace and reconciliation will truly occur between Palestinians and Israelis
One of the most touching moments of the evening was when a Palestinian young adult got up to thank the refuseniks for coming to Bethlehem to speak to them. He said that it had been his experience that if he would be in close proximity to 6 Israeli young adults, they would have been pointing a gun at him. He was honored by the fact that he now had the opportunity to sit in a room with 6 Israeli young adults and have a conversation with them in which they were all relating as equals in humanity.
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