Capt. (res.) Shahar Tzur (30), formerly of the missile boat section, was jailed for 28 days. Tzur is married, a resident of Haifa and a student of architecture at the Technion. He is a signatory of the "Courage to Refuse" declaration.
Major (res.) Piki Ish-Shalom of Jerusalem, formerly of the submarine unit, was also sentenced to 28 days for refusing service in the territories.
Both men are held at Military Prison No. 6 (Military Postal Number 03734, IDF, Israel).
In support letters, please specify ID numbers: Tzur - 5067698 Ish-Shalom - 4609194
Calls of support to Tzur's wife Hagar - to 972.4.8283627
The navy is not generally associated with the occupation, but it should be recalled that IDF navy patrol boats maintain a strict blockade on the port of Gaza, hunting Palestinian fishing boats as they put out to sea. Nearby naval shore stations effectively reinforce the occupation forces in the Gaza Strip.
In addition to the two naval reservists, David Pearlman has been sentenced to 14 days for refusing to serve in the territories, though declaring himself willing to undertake other duties such as patrolling the border fence.
Details of Pearlman's case and pictures (he works in community theatre) can be found at http://indymedia.org.il/article/18173 which also reports that the army has issued a directive to unit commanders to jail any soldier overtly proclaiming refusal to serve in the territories.
Currently there are 363 signatories on the "Courage to Refuse" declaration. Close to 500 soldiers have already refused in practice, as well as a further 400+ signatories respectively on the refusal declaration sponsored by Yesh Gvul, and on last year's letter to Sharon from high school students warning that they too will refuse to take part in the campaign of repression when they are called up this year.
There is some overlap between these various categories, nevertheless we can safely assert that:
THE OVERALL NUMBER OF REFUSENIKS NOW EXCEEDS ONE THOUSAND !!!
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