[lbo-talk] Israeli conscientious objector organization, "Courage to Refuse", shuts down after 3 years

Bryan bryan at indymedia.org.il
Sun Jul 31 09:45:05 PDT 2005


The most centrist of the Israeli consientious objector organizations, and one which only counts officers, called "Courage To Refuse", apparently closed down their offices. (http://www.seruv.org.il/english/default.asp)

But, don't worry, the long established Israeli conscientious organizations such as Yesh Gvul (http://www.yeshgvul.org.il/english/) and New Profile (http://www.newprofile.org/default.asp?language=en) are still around and will continue to exist (and hopefully grow over the long term.)

Bryan

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Left-wing refusenik movement shuts down after 3 years

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/606885.html

By Lily Galiliy, Haaretz Correspondent

The left-wing refusenik movement Courage to Refuse (Ometz Lessarev) shut down its offices Sunday and laid off its only paid employee.

The movement was established in January 2002 and stirred great public interest when some 50 officers and soldiers from combat units staged Israel's first en-masse orders refusal. The move was highly critical of the occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and its reprecussions.

At its peak the movement had 600 signatures by army personnel opposed to Israel's occupation. Refusenik air force pilots and elite unit soldiers who refused to serve in the territories also joined the movement's ranks.

More than a year ago the movement entered an ideological crisis. In the last few weeks its leaders concluded the media is no longer interested in the movement and decided to shut down its operation.

David Zonenstein, one of the movement's founders stressed that talks are already being held with other organizations to formulate a stance for "the day after the disengagement."



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