Working on my freedom
Saul Williams posted the following question on his Facebook page:
Hey Israeli kids! Quick Question: What would happen if you refused to serve the mandatory time in the military that you are all required spend ?? I initially was gonna type a fiery “Free Palestine!” after reading todays headlines, before it struck me that if you’re all forced to serve in the military then maybe you’re not quite free yourself….Thoughts?
He repeated and rephrased it after the usual trenches were dug:
So my question is posed, once again, to Israeli kids: What’s up? Are you really comfortable serving in your military mandatorily?
I just want to know why the headlines are never “A Generation Of Israeli Kids Refuse To Fight.”?
To which he received this amazing response from Ulli Rozenshtrom:
To answer your question, army service is madatory at the age of 18 (or when you finish 12th grade) for 3 years for males and 2 to 3 to females. This includes being in the reserves untill you are 45.
There are several ways to avoiding army service. Pacifism - pretty rare. Requires standing before a committee that decides if you are a “true” pacifist (if you declare you would defend yourself against physical violence, you are dubbed “selectively pacifist) and denied. There is one appeal if the comity doesn’t approve you for girls, and no appeal for boys (they can try and appeal to the supreme court). Most male objectors that choose this route end up in jail for several months.
Declaring yourself as religious - The ultra orthodox jewish boys are not obliged to serve in the army as long as they study in a Yeshiva. Not really a draft-dodging option for boys. For girls, the demand of Yeshiva does not exist and many secular girls declare themselves ultra-orthodox and avoid service that way.
Medical (including psychiatric) - a very common way to dodge the army is to be found mentally ill. This is one of the more popular option.
I’m not a kid anymore, but 10 years ago I had to decide whether or not to join the army. It was clear to me that I cannot be a part of the occupation. To be placed in situations in which I would have to do things I am not willing to do. I also decided not to lie (“act” for the mental health officers and get a medical relief).
It was a very difficult time. For a good part of a year I had to report weekly at some army base (I was officially drafted, but not a soldier yet. A civilian that belongs to the army) to stand before committees, psychologists and different bureaucrats. I had a towel and a toothbrush in my backpack whenever I’d go there. Army prison was a very likely option I avoided only by being very respectful while being very resolute. A hard task for a kid. I ended up being relieved of duty because I rationally convinced the psychiatrist that even though I have no mental pathology, I’d probably have if I’m drafted. So it was through a special committee and my release forms don’t say “medical” or “psychiatric”.
In the company I keep, it is not uncommon to not have served in the army, but it is in no way the norm. And I keep very liberal company.
There is a strong massage that whoever does not serve in the army is a second rate jewish citizen (of course you could be worse, you could be not-jewish). Officers visit highschools to give lectures, children are very accustomed to military presence and symbolism (My dad would go for a month of reserves every year when I was young). In most of Jewish israel, it is considered somewhat shameful to not have served.
When Saul spoke about how we have to change our “definitions” for identity, or disregard them, and not just perpetuate the existing, I was thinking “I dodged the army, and I’m studying to be a teacher”. So I’m not very shameful. :)
I’m working on my freedom, but am having serious thought about raising kids here. Thinking maybe it shouldn’t be in a place so militaristic, until they grow old and strong enough to be able to cope with it.
Thanks for the words and music. Come back to Israel, talk to strangers.
Ulli went on to say this:
Thanks, but I’m in no way a role model. There are people who do way more, the go for the Pacifist stamp on their release, and the road to that goes through prison.I would just like to refer to the issue of indoctrination to make a greater point. Israel has a very “strict” narrative as a society. While the freedom of speech is upheld here very well, very few listen.
Children start learning about the holocaust in some abstract way as early as kindergarten (there is a country-wide siren for a minute of silence during the memorial day, so this is actually mandatory so they don’t freak out from the siren).
It is very clear to most young Israelis who are the “good” guys and who are the “bad”. The army and the question of “where will you serve” takes a very big part of the teenagers life (the first process of evaluation starts at 16, they draft at 18). As a result of this, the most common argument for patriotism is basically fear. “They’ll get us again if we’re not strong”.
Kids joining the army, on the large part, are doing so because they believe they are protecting their families. They are good people. Some very humane individuals serve in the Israeli army. I’d say, MOST of the non-career soldiers are people that any 18-21 year old in the western world would strongly identify with.
Things _are_ messed up here. In ways too complex to discuss in this alienated textual form (maybe if I were a poet I could do something). But people are people. They are innately good.
That goes for those commandos that bordered the ships as well. I have no doubt in my mind that they shot because they were endangered. In some parts of the israeli army, you can find trigger happy psychopaths (same as any army), but not in this particular units. The guys that serve there are the kind that but for their indoctrination, you’d want dating your sisters.
Of course, I don’t blame the protesters much either. If commandos drop on you in the middle of the night, grab a stick, go for their guns.
The blame is with whoever decided to take this course of action to maintain the blockade (which personally, I don’t want maintained, but, is legitimate in international law).
Israelis are reverting to a porcupine sort of mentality.
The world is attacking Israel vigorously (for good reason) but these attacks only serve to make Israelis listen less, doubt their army less, identify with the thinking that violence is the only possible course, and turning them more nationalistic.
