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Israeli Consulate Rally: International Conscientious Objectors' Day:
Date:
Thursday, May 15, 2003
Time:
12:00 PM
-
1:00 PM
Event Type:
Protest
Organizer/Author:
www.refusersolidarity.net
Location Details:
Israeli Consulate
456 Montgomery Street
May 15 International Conscientious Objectors' Day:
Free the Israeli Refuseniks!
End the Occupation!
Free Illegally Detained Palestinians!
Join us on May 15, 2003 for a Rally
and Press Conference in front of
Israeli Consulates Internationally!
In San Francisco:
May 15, 2003
456 Montgomery Street
12 Noon
Israeli Conscientious Objectors proclaim,
"We will no longer help to dominate, expel, starve and humiliate an entire people."
The Situation:
The U.S. war on Iraq and the escalating violence in Palestine are all part of
the same ongoing war waged for economic gain and political control at the
price of enormous human suffering. The conscientious objector
movement links
Palestinians, Israelis, Jewish Americans, youth, and the antiwar
movement;
uniting and strengthening our movement with the power of a young
person's
refusal to fight an unjust war.
Israeli reservists and high school seniors are refusing to serve in
the
Occupied Territories and oppress the Palestinian people. Some are
refusing to
serve in the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) altogether.
It is estimated that since the 29th of March 2002, 15,000
Palestinians have
been detained, 5,270 of whom remain in prison. Of these, 1,140
Palestinians
are under administrative detention meaning they have not had a trial,
and are
imprisoned without charges being brought against them. 224
Palestinian
children are currently held in Israeli prisons and detention centers
inside
Israel and in the West Bank (B'tselem, The Israeli Information Center
for
Human Rights in the Occupied Territories).
Israeli Conscientious objectors have declared, ¡°We will no longer
help to
dominate, expel, starve and humiliate an entire people." Yet, for
this they
are being abused and imprisoned and their democratic rights denied.
In Israel, six refuseniks are awaiting trial in late May in front of
a
military court. They face three-year prison sentences. In addition,
six new
objectors have just recently been jailed.
On April 1, 2003, U.S. marine Stephen Funk publicly declared his
conscientious
objection to the war on Iraq, "I refuse to kill¡ it is impossible to
achieve
peace through violence." Calls to the GI Rights Hotline have doubled
since
2002.
The refusenik movement is growing and subsequently these peace
activists are
being treated with harsher and harsher consequences.
Their courage, their willingness to speak out publicly at great risk
to
themselves, has breathed new life into the Israeli peace movement.
But
conscientious objectors in Israel, the U.S. and throughout the world
urgently
need our support. Join us in sending a message to the Israeli and
U.S.
governments that we will not stand by while the brutality of
occupation
continues and those who call for peace are imprisoned.
----------
Join us, refuseniks and local peace activists, in bringing our
petition to
Israeli consulates on May 15, International Conscientious Objectors'
Day:
We demand, that all refuseniks be immediately freed!
We demand, that Israel recognize conscientious objection as a
democratic
right,
We demand, a full and unconditional withdrawal of Israeli troops from
the
Occupied Territories.
We demand, the release of all illegally detained Palestinians.
These actions in the United States have been sponsored by:
* Revolution Youth
* Yesh Gvul
* A Jewish Voice for Peace
* Global Exchange
* International Solidarity Movement Support Group
* TIKKUN Community
* Middle East Children's Alliance
* War Resisters League West
* Bay Area United for Peace and Justice
* Not In Our Name- Bay Area
* Refusenik Parents' Forum
* Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors
* Tzedek
* Freedom Socialist Party
* Socialist Organizer
* Bay Area United Against War
For Resources & Updates on the May 15th protest action, please visit:
www.refusersolidarity.net
&
www.wri-irg.org
Added to the calendar on Tue, Feb 3, 2004 10:24AM
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