For many years, UK mainstream media reporting on the events within Israel has tended to give the impression of a population almost entirely supportive of on-going military operations by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in Gaza and the West Bank.
A neutral observer would have been hard-pressed to find any coverage of opposition to the occupation of Palestinian lands, or to military conscription from within Israel itself. Dissenting voices have barely been reported in the Western media – even more so, understandably, since the horrific killings and abductions of Israeli civilians on 7 October 2023 by Hamas and jihadi fighters.
Within Israel, the reality has been rather different. There have always been individuals and groups opposed to the militarisation of society who have campaigned against the occupation of Palestinian lands. It has been increasingly difficult in recent years for their voices to be heard, and for the young men and women who have resisted compulsory military service it has taken enormous courage. Their stance has often led to imprisonment, and to being ostracised by friends and family.
The Refuser Solidarity Network
Mattan Helman, executive director of the Refuser Solidarity Network, has lived through just such an experience himself, and is especially well attuned to understanding the challenges facing those who refuse to serve in the armed forces.
Very far from the stereotype of a vehement campaigner, Helman is a thoughtful, gentle and softly spoken man who was born and brought up in HaOgen, a small kibbutz in central Israel.
Until the age of 12 he was unaware that he was somehow different, and “not Jewish”. Orthodox Judaism practises matrilineal descent, and as Helman’s mother was Dutch he was unable to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah alongside friends and contemporaries.
“When I was told this, I started to look at things more as an outsider. I realised that while Israel claims to be the home of the Jewish people, that idea doesn’t extend to others who live there and have Israeli citizenship. I could really feel that, so I began to view the country more critically”, he explains.
Personal experience of refusing to join the army
As a member of Hashomer Hatzair, a Zionist and socialist youth movement that both his grandfather and father had belonged to, Helman learnt about the occupation of Palestinian lands for the first time in his teens. “I was a bit shocked, as we hadn’t been taught about this at all at school, and I thought – how are we the ones doing this?”
Reading the testimonies of soldiers who had served in the IDF, Breaking the Silence, he realised that when he was 18 he would have to join the army. “I didn’t want to do that. I didn’t want to be killing people just because they were different from me.”
He had no idea of how to resist, but during the 2014 Gaza War, the case of Udi Segal, a 2014 refuser, was widely publicised in Israel, and Helman decided that he would follow his example. Segal’s pronouncement that: “You cannot realise peace when another people is being oppressed” is one that he has taken deeply to heart.
At the astonishingly young age of 16, Helman went public with his determination to become a refuser and suffered the consequences. “I was thrown out of Hashomer Hatzair, and my mother and my brother, who was in the army, were strongly against my decision.”
He points out the contradictions inherent in the socialist pro-peace foundation of the kibbutz and the very militaristic views of the community that he lived in. “That’s the result of very little being published in the Israeli media about the various military operations in Gaza and the West Bank over the years”, he explains. “In general people are brain-washed.”
“The awareness of what is going on in Gaza now is very limited. Much is censored by the military. If people see what is published in the international media, the message is: ‘They are only saying this because they are antisemitic’.”
Supporting those against the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land
The Refuser Solidarity Network was created in 2003 to support those who were against the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and those campaigning against mandatory military service. Refusers also declined to use any of the exemptions available to Israeli citizens wanting to avoid the draft, such as on the grounds of religious belief, or psychological and physical problems. Their refusal was a very deliberate political statement which was almost certain to lead to imprisonment.
Helman came to know people in the network after his own experience of being sent to a military prison for 110 days after he refused to join the IDF. Asked about this experience, he falls silent for a while. He then describes the feeling of being entirely cut off from the world, of questioning his own decision – “Why am I here, am I having any impact, is it worth it?” He also reveals that he suffered some fairly brutal treatment.
Helman is still dealing with the psychological after-effects and is determined that those currently in the same situation should receive support. “Mesarvot supported me and others and they had a buddy system that the Refuser Solidarity Network also helped with. It’s so important that someone who understands what you are going through is there to support you, and we are looking to see how we can support refusers emotionally better.”
A growing movement of hope for peace
There is a small but growing wave of refusers in Israel, and Helman is convinced that a new wave is imminent. It does take enormous courage, and many are understandably deterred by the reaction that they face. “Criticising Israel, refusing to participate or showing support for refusers often leads to persecution”, Helman has written in a recent Refuser Solidarity Network newsletter. He has been personally targeted by right-wing media channels and political groups.
Asked how people can support the Network, he says: “In many ways – by posting on social media, writing letters of support to refusers in prison, or coming to Israel and volunteering to be a protective presence in the West Bank.”
He is reluctant to say what the best outcome of the current situation in Gaza might be. “I can’t speak for millions of Israelis and Palestinians, only for myself, but we have to try for something that will work for everyone. Freedom for everyone.”
It is a tragedy that that outcome seems so very far away at the moment. Helman and the Refuser Solidarity Network are at least striving to provide a vision of a different world in which peace might be possible.
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