Haggai Matar, Refusenik, Speaks in Madison, Wisconsin (Audio and Video)

Haggai Matar, Israeli Army "Refusenik", Speaks in Madison

On Monday night, 18-year-old Israeli citizen Haggai Matar spoke at the First Unitarian Society in Madison. Matar is part of a growing movement of "refuseniks", Israelis who refuse to serve in the military to enforce the occupation of Palestine. He faces prison time in July for his refusal.

Watch the talk in high-bandwidth real video:
Part one / part two

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Or listen to the talk: MP3 audio / real audio

Reposted from IMC-Israel: Today in Israel, there is no greater moral or democratic act than conscientious objection to serving in the Occupied Territories. Those who claim that objection comes from ideological and political motivations are indeed correct, because the military oppression of the Palestinians is indeed the heart of the issue. Objection is the step which works to fix the democratic regime in Israel - and not by subversion from underneath, but by repair (and not mere undermining) of the foundations for legitimacy on which Israel is founded.