On Sun, Sep 22, 2024 at 9:00 AM Shimri Zameret | Refuser Solidarity Network <[email protected]> wrote:
> Ending the war is within reach. A growing number of refusers have stopped > such wars in the past > View this email in your browser > <https://mailchi.mp/refuser/resisting-war-and-apartheid-from-within-the-green-line-to-the-west-bank-gaza-18112448?e=c06ebb8df7> > > Dear Dennis, > > Shimri here. I am a war refuser, I spent 21 months in an Israeli prison at > the age of 18, and today I serve on the board of Refuser Solidarity > Network, supporting others who refuse. *In the past few weeks we are > seeing an unprecedented wave, hundreds of soldiers that are refusing the > war in Gaza. Such waves ended Israeli wars against the Palestinians at > least twice in the past.* Refuser Solidarity Network is aggressively > supporting these groups, providing financial, legal and organizational > help. We have done so for over 20 years, and will continue to do so in the > weeks and months to come, until this war ends. You can help us and the > refusers groups end this war. > <https://refusersolidarity.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=766e8a32ffe12bdef97341bb9&id=c3d8e5704a&e=c06ebb8df7> > RSN Chairman of the Board Shimri Zameret, second from right, stands among > fellow Israeli draft refusers amidst the Second Intifada, 2003. > > I am writing this to tell you some of the stories of these new refuser > groups. *Refusal Solidarity Network is proud to be the only international > group supporting this wave of resistance.* Beyond funding for lawyers, > for press and social media campaigns, we are helping them to build an > infrastructure of mentorship and support, often provided by older military > refusers to the new refusers. We are helping them build a community of > resistance to the war. Refusers numbers are currently growing > exponentially, and if they continue to grow, they will end this war (as > refusal movements have done in the past). It’s our moral duty, therefore, > to both Palestinians and Israelis, to help these new refuser groups in any > way we can. > Support Gaza War Refusers > <https://refusersolidarity.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=766e8a32ffe12bdef97341bb9&id=be685c4944&e=c06ebb8df7> > > I want to tell you a bit about these groups, although we will no doubt > tell you more about them in the coming weeks and months, as they take shape > and continue to expand and take action. > > One such group includes over 40 reserve soldiers “(Michtav Hamiluimnikim”) > who signed a public letter declaring refusal to military service shortly > before the invasion of Rafah, a large city in the Gaza Strip. They were > interviewed widely by mainstream press in Israel and the world, including > a front page story in Haaretz daily, an interview to the Guardian and the > Washington Post, and a long CNN piece. Another group of soldier refusers is > being organized as I write this, a refusal statement calling to end the > war. Invitations to sign their new refusal letter are circulating widely on > social media and whatsapp groups, as well as face-to-face in anti-war > vigils across Israel. *While the number of signatories of this new > refusal statement is not public yet, it is already clear this will be one > of the biggest groups of soldiers refusing in Israel’s history. And they > need our help. > <https://refusersolidarity.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=766e8a32ffe12bdef97341bb9&id=60e4b3f27c&e=c06ebb8df7>* > Support Gaza War Refusers > <https://refusersolidarity.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=766e8a32ffe12bdef97341bb9&id=c54757dcbd&e=c06ebb8df7> > > Another group we are supporting is AniSiravti (“I refused” in Hebrew), a > new initiative of older reserve refusers who are running social media > campaigns with video statements of past and present soldiers declaring > their refusal of the occupation, apartheid and war on Gaza. Last week, a > member of the group, a middle school teacher and former military refuser > called Ofer Shor, was targeted by the mayor of the city where he lives, an > ultra-nationalist politician which wrote a letter to the Israel’s Education > Ministry trying to get Ofer fired from the school where he works because a > video of Ofer published online on the group’s page stated that he would > refuse today, as he has done in the past. After the incitement by this > right-wing politician, Ofer was met with riots and threats to his safety by > students and teachers at his workplace. *With > <https://refusersolidarity.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=766e8a32ffe12bdef97341bb9&id=48122e8949&e=c06ebb8df7>your > backing > <https://refusersolidarity.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=766e8a32ffe12bdef97341bb9&id=7bd828be4f&e=c06ebb8df7>, > Refuser Solidarity Network is supporting the campaign AniSiravti is running > in support of Ofer, a campaign involving legal action, social media and > press actions, a campaign protecting Ofer and amplifying his courageous > act. * > > As someone who researches and teaches strategy of social change and war > resistance in the University of Michigan, I know that historically, such > waves of refusal were front and center of war resistance movements that > ended Israeli wars and Israeli atrocities (This happened at least twice: in > 1982, helping to end the Israel-Lebanon war and in 2002-3, helping to end > the second Intifada). Reservists are the backbone of the Israeli military, > having been called up in great numbers to fuel Israel’s war effort: reports > suggest that the majority of Israel’s over 400,000 reservists have been > called up for service since the war’s outset. The Israeli army relies on > reservists on all fronts: from ensuring the army’s day-to-day functioning > to flying Israel’s warplanes in order to bomb the Strip. *The army cannot > carry on with business as usual without them, which is why theirs is such a > powerful act of resistance, an act we should support.* > > If you read all the way to the end of this email, I want to say a few > words about the most effective kind of support you can give the refusal > movement. The best kind of support is one that, like the Refuser Solidarity > Network, is there for the long haul, for years and decades to come. *Even > small monthly plans are what helps us and the Israeli refusal movement to > plan and work for the long term, for the long years it will take not just > to end this war but end Israeli rule over the Palestinians. This is our > goal and we will, eventually, achieve it. *So please set up a monthly > support plan if you don’t already have one. And please consider increasing > the level of your gift if you already have a plan. I am asking this so > directly because, with all honesty, this unprecedented war and wave of war > refusal is forcing Refuser Solidarity Network to fundraise and spend more > money than ever before. *We truly need your help to end this war.* > > > In solidarity, > > Shimri Zameret > Chairman of the Board > Refuser Solidarity Network > > > > > > > Support Gaza War Refusers > <https://refusersolidarity.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=766e8a32ffe12bdef97341bb9&id=ce69f2a764&e=c06ebb8df7> > > If someone forwarded you this email, sign up here > <https://refusersolidarity.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=766e8a32ffe12bdef97341bb9&id=85ee4746ed&e=c06ebb8df7>to > receive these updates regularly > > *Refuser Solidarity Network (RSN) is an international network supporting > the refusers. RSN send these regular refusers updates - **You can > directly contact us at [email protected] <[email protected]>* / Want to > change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences > <https://refusersolidarity.us12.list-manage.com/profile?u=766e8a32ffe12bdef97341bb9&id=fb775d5082&e=c06ebb8df7&c=f295139fc6> > or unsubscribe from this list > <https://refusersolidarity.us12.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=766e8a32ffe12bdef97341bb9&id=fb775d5082&t=b&e=c06ebb8df7&c=f295139fc6> > > *Copyright © 2020 Refuser Solidarity Network,Inc. * 712 H ST NE PMB > 98277, Washington, DC 20002*.* > [image: Facebook] > <https://refusersolidarity.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=766e8a32ffe12bdef97341bb9&id=579ec10be4&e=c06ebb8df7> > [image: Website] > <https://refusersolidarity.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=766e8a32ffe12bdef97341bb9&id=a2be0e661e&e=c06ebb8df7> > [image: Instagram] > <https://refusersolidarity.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=766e8a32ffe12bdef97341bb9&id=5aafc62835&e=c06ebb8df7> > [image: Twitter] > <https://refusersolidarity.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=766e8a32ffe12bdef97341bb9&id=961b9cd07b&e=c06ebb8df7> > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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