October 12th, 2009 — 12:15 pm
A new group of Shministim has formed. Their letter of refusal, has already been signed by 88 young Israelis.
Learn more about the Shministim of 2010 here: http://www.shministim.com/
Join the Shministim 2010 facebook group.
Read what Haaretz has to say about them:
12th graders tell Netanyahu: We refuse to serve in IDF (Haaretz, Oct 12, 2009)
If you read Hebrew, you an check out these additional news items:
שמיניסטים סרבנים 2009: “לא נשתתף בדיכוי”
Shministim refusers of 2009: We will not take part in the oppression (Ynet, Oct 12 2009)
מכתב השמיניסטים: “צה”ל הוא צבא הכיבוש”
The Shministim letter: The IDF is an occupation army (Walla, Oct 12, 2009)
ה88 בני נוער לנתניהו: מסרבים לקחת חלק במערכת הצבאית
88 young people to Netatanyahu: We refuse to serve in the IDF (Haaretz, Oct 12, 2009)
October 11th, 2009 — 06:23 pm
Here is what the press is saying about the tour:
“An elderly women in the audience who identified herself to the speakers as a Holocaust survivor thanked Wind and Mishly for their presentation, saying, if other young people use the way you do, we would live in a much better world.” – The Brandeis Hoot
“Maya, she’s infectious. I think she’s genuine in terms of her desire to see her own country well. I think if Israel is well, I think Palestinians will also be well, I think America will be well,’ said Michael Bitar, a Palestinian-American who attended the talk.” -The Indypendent Continue reading »
October 9th, 2009 — 03:48 pm
Read the text of the remarks delivered by Sahar Vardi, Yuval Ophir-Auron, and Omer Goldman at the Ashley Kriel Memorial Lecture Hall at the University of Western Cape in South Africa.
October 8th, 2009 — 10:34 am
By Thomas Good – October 12, 2009
Shministim is a Hebrew word meaning twelfth graders — but it means much more than that in the context of Israeli society and the occupation of Palestine. Continue reading »
October 7th, 2009 — 08:49 pm
By Sydney Levy
Are Israeli youth allowed to speak about their views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Not always.
Some believe that the ideals of Israeli democracy and free speech stop at the border. Take the example of the young Israeli conscientious objectors — the Shministm — currently in speaking tours both in the United States and in South Africa.
Here’s Dan Klein, the North America campus director for StandWithUs, speaking to the JPost on the issue:
“I definitely understand that Israelis have the right not to agree with their government. That`s fine. Every citizen in a democracy has that right. But you take that up in your country. Once you take that abroad, what does that gain you?”
I do not understand the distinction he makes. Maybe Dan believes that news and information stop at the border, at any border. Or maybe he ignores the fact that the Shministim have already gathered a great deal of international attention while they were still in Israel: over 60,000 letters of support and counting, over 53,000 hits on their short film in Youtube, and a great deal of media attention in a good number of countries around the world.
Continue reading »
September 28th, 2009 — 02:16 pm
By Tim Shenk
Anyone who has visited the West Bank in the last 40 years has gone past a good number of Israel Defense Force (IDF) soldiers. Toting automatic rifles and dressed in combat fatigues, they are a constant presence at hundreds of checkpoints, controlling the flow of people throughout much of the occupied territory.
Continue reading »
September 26th, 2009 — 12:33 am
Three Shministim — Yuval Ophir-Auron, Omer Goldman, and Sahar Vardi — are coming to South Africa!
Here’s the info we’ve got, courtesy of the South African End Conscription Campaign (ECC) and the Open Shuhada Street Campaign:
“Twenty five years ago the End Conscription Campaign (ECC), one of the movements connected to the United Democratic Front, began its campaign to end the conscription of white males into the South African Defence Force (SADF). It was composed of conscientious objectors who believed that the wars the SADF was fighting were immoral and instead preferred to go to jail rather than be conscripted. The ECC is celebrating its 25th Anniversary at the end of October. To highlight the fact that young people whose countries are involved in conflict are today taking a similar moral stand, the organisers have invited conscientious objectors from various countries, including Eritrea, the USA and Israel. Continue reading »
September 25th, 2009 — 06:26 pm
Here’s what Margaret Brown, from Sabeel-Hawaii, had to say:
These young women, more than any of the numerous speakers Sabeel has co-hosted, really seemed to speak to the Jews of various persuasions in the audience. I saw Jewish acquaintances in the audience who have never come to anything we have offered on Palestine/Israel, including talks by Jewish or Israeli speakers. There’s something very non-threatening about being lectured to by a couple of brilliant and sincere 19 yr olds who have risked so much. George Hudes, the founder of our local tiny JVP chapter, said that even one of his acquaintances who is on the AIPAC board had said he was impressed with Maya and Netta’s presentation.
Continue reading »
Apart from their piercing analysis and insightful conclusions about the occupation, a powerful aspect of Maya and Netta’s presentation is their appearance, which matches up with who they are. This is what struck me before they even arrived on the University of Arizona campus. Their youth and relative privilege resembles any given college student on any given college campus. Therefore it’s hard to discredit them before they even speak, which is so often a difficulty in and of itself when imploring a compassionate critique and invoking justice on the subject of Palestine, the U.S., and Israel.