'I did not want to spread more hatred and fear'
1) The Independent: Tair Kaminer: Israeli teenager jailed for refusing to do military service because of Palestinian territories occupation;
2) +972: Dozens protest in support of Israeli conscientious objector;
3) +972: Protest for conscientious objector outside IDF prison;
4) Gush Shalom: Why I Refuse – Tair Kaminer’s statement;
Conscientious objector Tair Kaminer is greeted by supporters outside the Tel Hashomer induction base, Ramat Gan, Israel, January 10, 2016. Photo by Oren Ziv/Activestills.org
Tair Kaminer: Israeli teenager jailed for refusing to do military service because of Palestinian territories occupation=
Caroline Lucas raised ‘concern’ about her imprisonment in the House of Commons
By Lizzie Dearden, The Independent
January 29, 2016
A 19-year-old Israeli woman who refused to do compulsory military service as a protest against the occupation of the Palestinian territories has been released from jail – but could return within days.
Tair Kaminer’s case has been the subject of fierce debate in Israel, driving calls for reform to laws punishing conscientious objectors, while seeing her labelled as a “traitor” by others.
Before being sent to prison for 20 days earlier this month, she said her experience volunteering with the Israeli Scouts helping children traumatised by the Israel-Gaza conflict made her unable to accept conscription.
“I saw children (in Sderot) growing up in a warzone,” Ms Kaminer told Israel Social TV.
“I saw the effect on them – the fear and sometimes, the hatred. I realised I did not want to take part, not to contribute to further hatred and fear and not to take part in the occupation.”
Protesters have held regular demonstrations outside her prison and training bases for conscripts, while the Mesarvot campaign group is taking support messages from around the world.
Amnesty International Israel opposed the sentence, which was also raised in the Houses of Parliament, where Caroline Lucas brought an early day motion on 19 January noting MPs’ “concern”.
The Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion wrote: “With tensions high in Israel, this is a particularly difficult time to be a conscientious objector … (we call) on the Government to request the Israeli authorities to accept the conscientious objection of Israeli citizens who do not wish to bear arms against a civilian population under military occupation.”
The statement, supported by 19 MPs from parties including Labour, the Conservatives, Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru, called for legal exemptions for conscientious objectors and the “immediate and unconditional release” of Ms Kaminer and other prisoners of conscience.”
Supporters said Ms Kaminer was released on Wednesday and Russia Today filmed her emotional reunion with her parents.
Solidarity protesters and family members protest for Israeli conscientious objector Tair Kaminer, Prison 400, central Israel, January 23, 2016. The protest was organised by new group Mesarvot, Refusers. Photo by Oren Ziv/Activestills.org
Her father, Micha Kaminer, told the broadcaster: “I think it is a stupid move by the government and the military authorities to force people to serve in contradiction to their beliefs.
“A girl declares that she has a conscience opposing the occupation and she wants to do an alternative service is being put in jail – that’s just outrageous.”
Ms Kaminer could be jailed many more times if she continues to refuse conscription, with the next term reportedly starting as soon as Sunday, when she is due to report to a training base.
Each refusal to enlist is normally met with a prison term of up to a month, which is repeated until the IDF grants an official discharge.
Recent cases have seen conscientious objectors jailed up to 10 times, for almost 180 days each.
Calling military service a “political decision”, Ms Kaminer previously said that she aspires to peace, quality and security for everyone living in Israel and the Palestinian territories but that compulsory military service was not the way to ensure it.
“When I look at all of these children, and the next generation on both sides and the reality in which they grow up, I see only more trauma and pain,” she said. “Military jail frightens me less than our society losing its humanity.”
Military service is compulsory for all Israeli citizens over the age of 18, with the exception of groups including Arab Israelis, Orthodox women and anyone unable to serve for medical reasons.
Arutz Sheva reported that police complaints have been launched against Ms Kaminer alleging that she is “inciting” others to dodge the draft.
The Israeli Embassy in London has not yet responded to The Independent’s request for a comment.
Dozens protest in support of Israeli conscientious objector
By Haggai Matar, +972
January 10, 2016
Tair Kaminer is expected to be sentenced to a month in military jail for refusing to enlist in the IDF. Kaminer: ‘Military jail frightens me less than our society losing its humanity.’
Approximately 40 demonstrators accompanied Israeli conscientious objector Tair Kaminer to the Tel Hashomer induction base on Sunday, where she is expected to be sentenced for her refusal to enlist in the Israeli army.
The demonstrators held signs chanted against the occupation at the entrance to the base. Some of them organized a short performance, in which they wore IDF uniforms and pledged their loyalty to the state while their their eyes, ears, and mouths were covered.
Kaminer, 19, recently finished a year of national service with the Israeli Scouts (“Tzofim”) in the southern development town of Sderot. There she volunteered with children who suffer from trauma due to multiple wars in Gaza and continual rocket fire on the city. “The children I worked with grew up in the heart of the conflict and have had extremely difficult experiences from a young age, experiences that caused them to feel hatred, which can be understood, especially when it comes from young children,” Kaminer wrote in a statement several days ago.
“Like them, many children who grow up in Gaza or in the West Bank, in an even more difficult environment, learn to hate the other side,” she continues. “They, too, cannot be blamed. When I look at all of these children, and the next generation on both sides and the reality in which they grow up, I see only more trauma and pain. And I say enough! That is why I refuse: so that I do not take an active part in the occupation of the Palestinian territories and the injustices that the Palestinian people face under occupation, so that I do not take part in this circle of hate in Gaza and Sderot.”
Kaminer also writes that she aspires to peace, equality, democracy, and security for all people who live in Israel/Palestine, emphasizing the security of those whose security tends to be forgotten — Palestinians and Israeli residents of the western Negev Desert. “They convince us that the army has nothing to do with politics, but serving in the army is a political decision. Military jail frightens me less than our society losing its humanity.”
The protest, which was organized by a new group called “Mesarvot” (“Refusers” in Hebrew), included anti-occupation activists, Druze conscientious objectors, anarchists, communists, and others. Participants also included members of the Kaminer family, including Tair’s cousin, Matan Kaminer, who served two years in military prison for his refusal to enlist 13 years ago (full disclosure: I served in prison alongside Matan and a number of other friends for refusing to enlist in the military. Matan and I remain friends until this day).
Kaminer is expected to be sentenced to a month in military jail. (Update, 10 p.m.: Kaminer was sentenced to 20 days.) She will then be released and return to the induction base where she will be required to enlist once again. Should she refuse, she will be sentenced to another month in jail. This process repeats itself ad nauseam until the army decides to officially discharge her. Over the past few years, a number of conscientious objectors have been sentenced up to 10 times in this vicious cycle.
Protest for conscientious objector outside IDF prison
Conscientious objector Tair Kaminer is being held in an Israel army women’s prison for refusing to take part in the occupation.
Text by Haggai Matar, Photos by Oren Ziv/Activestills.org
January 10, 2016
Roughly 80 left-wing activists protested in support of jailed conscientious objector Tair Kaminer outside the IDF’s Prison 400 on Saturday.
Two weeks ago Kaminer informed the army that she is refusing to serve because of the ongoing military occupation, and was sentenced to 20 days in the women’s military prison. Kaminer is expected to be released this coming weekend, after which she will once again likely refuse to serve and be sentenced to another period in prison.
Two other young Israeli refuseniks are expected to refuse to serve in the coming weeks, the first on January 31.
Outside Prison 400 on Saturday the activists sang, beat drums and used a PA system to ensure the prisoners heard them. They called for Kaminer’s release and all political prisoners, among them Ezra Nawi, Guy Batavia, and Nasser Nawaj’ah — who were arrested in relation to a right-wing hidden camera stunt, two of whom have since been released to house arrest — along with administrative detainees, with an emphasis on Palestinian journalist Muhammad al-Qiq, who has been on hunger strike for some 60 days.
A woman holds a sign reading ‘Free the political prisoners’ at a protest in solidarity with Israeli conscientious objector Tair Kaminer, Prison 400, central Israel, January 23, 2016. Photo by Oren Ziv/Activestills.org
The demonstrators also expressed hopes that everyone in the military prison be released to their homes and families soon. Guards were seen watching the protest from over the prison walls.
Activists from “Yesh Gvul” and “Refusers,” Kaminer’s family and others took part in the solidarity protest.
Kaminer, 19, recently finished a year of national service with the Israeli Scouts (“Tzofim”) in the southern development town of Sderot. There she volunteered with children who suffer from trauma due to multiple wars in Gaza and continual rocket fire on the city. “The children I worked with grew up in the heart of the conflict and have had extremely difficult experiences from a young age, experiences that caused them to feel hatred, which can be understood, especially when it comes from young children,” Kaminer wrote in a statement several days ago.
“Like them, many children who grow up in Gaza or in the West Bank, in an even more difficult environment, learn to hate the other side,” she continues. “They, too, cannot be blamed. When I look at all of these children, and the next generation on both sides and the reality in which they grow up, I see only more trauma and pain. And I say enough! That is why I refuse: so that I do not take an active part in the occupation of the Palestinian territories and the injustices that the Palestinian people face under occupation, so that I do not take part in this circle of hate in Gaza and Sderot.”
Kaminer also writes that she aspires to peace, equality, democracy, and security for all people who live in Israel/Palestine, emphasizing the security of those whose security tends to be forgotten — Palestinians and Israeli residents of the western Negev Desert. “They convince us that the army has nothing to do with politics, but serving in the army is a political decision. Military jail frightens me less than our society losing its humanity.”
Why I Refuse – Tair Kaminer’s statement
Posted on Gush Shalom website
January 2016
My name is Tair Kaminer, I am 19. A few months ago a ended a year of volunteering with the Israeli Boy and Girl Scouts in the town of Sderot, on the Gaza Strip border. In a few days, I will be going to jail.
An entire year I volunteered in Sderot, working with children living in a war zone, and it was there that I decided to refuse to serve in the Israeli military. My refusal comes from my will to make a contribution to the society of which I am a part and make this a better place to live, from my commitment to the struggle for peace and equality.
The children I worked with grew up in the heart of the conflict, and went through traumatic experiences from a young age. In many of them, this has generated a terrible hatred – which is quite understandable, especially in young children. Like them, many of the children living in the Gaza Strip and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in an even more harsh reality, learn to hate the other side. They, too, cannot be blamed. When I look at all these children, at the next generation of both sides and the reality in which they live, I can but see the continuation of trauma and pain. And I say: Enough!
For years now there’s no political horizon, no peace process anywhere in sight. There’s no attempt of any kind to bring peace to Gaza or to Sderot. As long as the violent military way holds sway, we will simply have further generations growing up with a heritage of hate, which will only make things even worse. We must stop this – now!
This is why I am refusing: I will not take an active part in the occupation of the Palestinian Territories and in the injustice to the Palestinian people that is perpetrated again and again under this occupation. I will not take part in the cycle of hatred in Gaza and Sderot.
My draft date was set for January 10th, 2016. On that day I will report to the Tel Hashomer Induction Centre, to declare my refusal to serve in the military – and my willingness to do an alternative civil service.
In conversation with some people I care about I’ve been accused of undermining democracy, though my refusal to abide by the laws which were enacted by an elected Parliament. But the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories live under the rule of the Government of Israel, though they had no voice whatsoever in electing that government. I believe that as long as Israel continues to be an occupying country, it will continue moving further and further away from from democracy.Therefore, my refusal is part of the struggle for democracy – not an anti-democratic act.
I have been told that I am avoiding my responsibility for the security of Israel. But as a woman who regards all people as equal – and all their lives as equally important – I cannot accept the security argument as applying to Jews only . Especially now, as the wave or terror continues, when it becomes clear and evident that the military cannot ensure protection to the Jews, either. It is very simple – one cannot create an island of security in the midst of an oppressive occupation. True security can be created only when the Palestinian people live in freedom and dignity, in their own an independent state alongside Israel.
There were those who worried about my personal future in a country in which performing military service is held to be of supreme importance in the fabric of daily social intercourse. Caring for my future prospects, they suggested that I do serve in the army, regardless of my opinions – or at least that I don’t make my refusal public. But through all the difficulties and worries, I chose to declare my refusal openly, for all to hear. This country, this society, are too important to me – I cannot and will not agree to keep silent. That was not the way I was brought up – to care only for myself and my private concerns. The life I had until now has been about giving and social responsibility, and such I want it to continue.
Even if I must pay a personal price for my refusal, this price will be worthwhile if it to helps place the occupation on the agenda of Israeli public discourse. Far too many Israelis don’t directly feel the occupation, and they tend to forget about it in their daily lives – lives that are eminently safe in comparison with those of Palestinians, or even of the Israelis who live in the Western Negev (Gaza border area) . We are told that there is no way other than the violent military way. But I believe that this is the most destructive way, and that there are others. I wish to remind all of us that there does exist an alternative: negotiations, peace, optimism, a true will to live in equality, safety and freedom. We are told that the military is not a political institution – but the decision to serve in the military is a highly political one, no less so than the decision to refuse.
We, the young people, must understand the full implications of such a choice. We need to understand its consequences for our society. After having deliberated these issues, I took the decision to refuse. I am not scared of the military prison – what truly frightens me is our society losing its humanity.