On the last day of the school year in Israel, June 19th, a letter from teens announcing their refusal to enlist in the Israeli army was distributed in thousands of copies across several schools around the country. The letter, titled “We refuse!” has by now more than 120 signatures from high school students who are intended for military service.
Full text of the letter “We Refuse!”
We, teenagers slated for conscription in the Israeli Army, hereby refuse to take part in its crimes and to serve the dictatorial government’s interests.
We were all raised on the myth that Israel acts only in self-defense. The education system terrifies us from a young age, making us believe there is “no choice” and that we must forever live by our swords. Our schools prepare us for the army by instilling a militaristic worldview. Preparing for military tests and conversations with soldiers are a daily part of our high school lives. But the truth is, joining the army isn’t inevitable. Nobody’s born a soldier. And like any other choice, joining the army has its repercussions.
Over the past two and a half years, we have been subjected, through social media platforms and the news, to difficult and violent content from October 7th. But what began as a response to that terrible massacre has developed into a cruel campaign of extermination of the people of Gaza, of incomprehensible scale. And what are the results of the army’s actions? According to data the IDF accepts, more than 72,000 people in Gaza have been killed since the beginning of the war, many of them women, children, and even babies. And despite the so-called “ceasefire,” the genocide, ethnic cleansing, and war crimes still continue.
Recently, we witnessed a sharp rise in violence by both settlers and the army throughout the West Bank. This isn’t a new phenomenon. For decades, Israel has used the army to oppress the Palestinian people, annex territories, and commit violence against Palestinians living in the West Bank – all as part of the country’s project of ethnic cleansing. The army attacks, kills, and arrests people without trial, including kids our age. The only thing that differentiates us is that they were born on the wrong side of the line.
Think: are these the actions of a “defense force”?
The endless wars take a heavy toll on us all: they inflict physical and mental wounds that will last for the rest of our lives. We are living between runs to the bomb shelters and announcements of fallen soldiers.
Are you willing to become part of the statistics?
Are you ready to make such a sacrifice in the name of a cynical, dictatorial government that trades in human lives to strengthen its rule?
What about you?
