Emma Clancy, Sydney
Rotem Mor is a young Israeli refusenik (conscripts who refuse to serve in the military to protest the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza) who is currently on a speaking tour around Australia. On July 9, he addressed the 35th national conference of the socialist youth organisation Resistance.
Five years ago, Mor was conscripted into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and served for a year and a half. He told the Resistance conference that young men and women in Israel are conscripted into the army when they reach 18.
"While I was serving, the second intifada [Palestinian uprising] broke out, and even though I'd never been very strong in my beliefs or support for what the IDF was doing from the start, this really made me think about what I was involved in, even if mine was just a small role. I refused to serve after a year and a half because I could see and relate to the suffering, and my experience showed me that being in the army was not the right thing to do."
Since refusing to serve in the IDF, Mor has been working with other young Israeli refuseniks who collaborate with Palestinians. They have organised joint demonstrations of Palestinians and Israelis against Israel's Apartheid Wall.
Mor described the particular social stratification of Israeli society. "Israel is similar to other class societies, where people's social position is determined by their race, gender and wealth. But first and foremost, it's religion — you can only be a first-class citizen if you're Jewish."
He explained to the conference the role that the Israeli military plays in reinforcing sexism. "The military is a tool that keeps women as lesser citizens in Israel: men will always get the best positions, the recognition and status, and there's also a culture of sexual harassment in the military that's accepted by the society because the military officers involved are excused from what they've done on the basis that they're serving their country."
He went on to say that when Ehud Olmert took over from Ariel Sharon as Israeli PM, he "had small hopes that he would be different — but where I come from, small hopes mean something big. But he's just the same as Sharon, one person can't break the system that Israel is based on."
Mor said of the Israeli offensive in Gaza: "Reading the reports from Gaza can really break your spirit, break your heart — it's difficult to comprehend that much suffering and pain."
When asked by a conference participant about his opinion of the Palestinian resistance tactic of capturing Israeli soldiers such as Gilad Shalit, Mor said he "felt sad for him and his family — it's not something I want anyone to go through. But we always have to remember that Palestinians are being kidnapped every day by the Israeli
army, hundreds of them, from their homes at night, or at the checkpoints — kidnapped without trial, and they can call it 'arrest' because Israel has lots of guns, lots of power and a big bureaucratic system.
"When you have no army and you have no bureaucratic system, and you capture a soldier, it's called an act of terror. But this happens on a daily, massive scale in a systematic way to the Palestinian people ...
"When you put on a uniform and you take up a gun and you say I am going to work to achieve my political aims in this way, then you should expect to be shot at, kidnapped, expect yourself to experience torture, because these are the same things that you expect yourself to do [to others]. You should expect all kinds of hell, because that's what you're preparing to carry out against others."
[Rotem Mor will be speaking in various cities in the next few weeks. Check the Activist Calendar on p23 for details, or visit <http://www.resistance.org.au>.]