PEACE NEWS DEC 1995
WHOSE IS THIS LAND?
Supporters of nonviolence
might rejoice, some of them
indeed do: Zionist settlers
with the latest automatic guns on their
shoulders ha@ve committed themselves
to nonviolence.
"This is Our Land" is a movement which
calls for "nonviolent passive resistance".
In a quarter-pa@e newspaper ad, they say
that it is ''a popular movement which
adopted the princi@les of the passive
struggles of Martin Luther King and Ma-
hatma Gandhi" and "explicitly calls for
nonviolent resistance in the face of police
brutality which is well-documented."
This is Our Land "condemns all violent
acts" including the assassination of
prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. But the
statement goes on to call on the new
government "not to take advantage of
this act in order to break to pieces the
legitimate opposition, but to support the
essential principles of civil rights in a
democratic society@"
The ad concludes with its main thesis,
reflecting a curious understanding of
what sort of nonviolence is being in-
voked:
"Peace should be made with brothers ...
at first."
Historic treason
Another example of the "use of nonvio-
lence" is the new phenomenon of partial
resistance among the right. Its counter-
part on the left was Yesh Gvul ("There is
a limit"), the movement of conscripts
who objected, on the grounds of their
unwillingness to be part of an occupation
arrny, to service in the occupied territo-
nes.
Yesh Gvul still exists as a movement
despite objections from Israel's biggest
and most influential peace movement-
Peace Now-to any form of resistance
against military service. Peace Now had
argued that "for the sake of democracy",
no sort of CO was acceptable; they also
warned that right-wing COs might
emerge and point to Yesh Gvul as justi-
fying their action.
A reserve soldier, Yehoshu'a Reager ap-
peared to confirm these fears with a l=E9tter
sent to the Yitzhak Rabin, in his function
as defence minister, earlier this year. On
writing paper bearing the letterhead
Lives and Exists for Israel's Kingdom [a
forceful religious expression] he an-
nounced his refusal to answer his reserve
call-up, explaining that "the IDF under
your leadership has become a defeated
army whose aim is no more to defeat our
enemies but to provide ... calm which
would facilitate the government of Israel
in executing its historic treason."
He was sentenced to 35 days in military
prison.
Death of the Father
The show continues. Even the week of
mourning for the murdered prime min-
ister has shown the effects of mass brain-
washing. Children, youth, and adults
spoke of the loss of rhe Father. Having
been ra@sed in a system both semi-theo-
cratic and "secular", the fact that an ob-
serving Jew murdered the secular (but
omnipotent) prime minister was a true
shock. They cried out against violence.
They sang the only pacifist peace song in
Hebrew. But they didn't understand
what they sang, at least not in the way
that it might relate to their forthcoming
military service obligations-due, for
many of them, in the next few months.
Nevertheless, some moves towards the
implementation of Oslo 2 have been
made during this week in the West Bank.
Everything is relative, even the perform-
ance.
The Pacifist Movement in Israel and Palestine
(lMCWR-I/P), PO Box 28046, IL-61280 Tel
Aviv-Jaffa, Israel
FREEDOM PRESS
http://www.lglobal.com/TAO/Freedom