petition again unfair treatment of IDF draft resisters

["David Raban" <draban@pob.huji.ac.il>]

petition against unfair treatment of IDF draft resisters

Dear friends,

Here is a brief  summery about the draft resisters currently in jail,
followed by an international petition, to be published around December 6th.
    Please consider signing it and distributing it to your friends.

Thank you,

David Raban,
New profile.

 Summery of cases:

Israeli draft resisters - young people of military age who decline army
service on moral and/or political grounds - are being sentenced to repeated
imprisonment in a systematic effort by army authorities to break their
spirits.

 As of Nov. 24 2002:

Jonathan Ben-Artzi has been sentenced for the fifth time in a row, to a
term of 28 days, making a total of 126 days in jail. 

A Hebrew University student of physics & mathematics, Yoni is a pacifist,
and refuses to serve in the army for reasons of non-violence. He applied to
the "conscience committee" for exemption but was turned down.  He then
applied to the Supreme Court, which sent him back, for the third time to
the committee. Again, his objections were denied, and he applied again to
the Court, but the judges declined to intervene.

Other draft resisters:

Uri Yaakobi has been sentenced 5 times to a total of 105 days.  Uri is one
of nearly 300 signatories of the "High School Seniors' Letter", in which
youngsters shortly to be conscripted for army service placed Prime minister
Sharon on notice that they would take no part in the oppression of the
Palestinian people.

 Dror Boimel has received 4 sentences totalling 91 days; Dror too is a
signatory of the Seniors' Letter.

 Yoni Yehezkiel, yet another signatory, has just received a 4th sentence,
bringing him to a total of 84 days.

 Haggai Matar has received 2 sentences totalling 42 days. Haggai is among
the moving spirits behind the Seniors' Letter.

 Each of the above, like other draft resisters expected to face sentencing
shortly, is motivated by his own personal beliefs. Whether or not we share
their views, we find it intolerable that military courts subject them to
this systematic ill-treatment merely because they act on their principles,
while the self-same military justice system exhibits boundless leniency
towards Israeli settlers in the occupied territories who commit crimes of
physical violence against Palestinians, and IDF soldiers who kill or injure
innocent civilians.



PETITION:

We the undersigned,



Protest at the unfair treatment of IDF draft resisters;

Call for an end to repeat jail sentences on the identical charge;

Demand the immediate release of all jailed resisters;

Urge the authorities to make adequate provision for inductees who refuse to
enlist on grounds of Principle.



To sign the petition please go to the following link
<mid://00000014/=>http://www.shministim.org/english_letter.htm/eng_azoma.htm



We plan to publish the petition as a paid advertisement.  Contributions
should be sent to:

Yesh Gvul - PO Box 6953, Jerusalem 91068 Israel

Please specify that the money is for the petition.