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Topic: Refuseniks

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	Refusenik (Soviet Union) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Refusenik (Hebrew: מסורב, transliterated: mesorav; or: אסיר ציון, transliterated: asir tzion, literally means: Prisoner of Zion) or Otkaznik (Russian: отказник, from "отказ", English equivalent: refusal, rejection) was an unofficial term for individuals, typically but not exclusively Soviet Jews, who were denied permission to emigrate abroad by the authorities of the former Soviet Union.
		A leading proponent and spokesman of the refusenik movement during the 1970s was Natan Sharansky.
		Refuseniks included Jews who were desiring to emigrate on religious grounds and Jews seeking to emigrate to Israel for national/Zionist aspirations and relatively secular Jews desired to escape an undercurrent of the state-sponsored anti-Semitism.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Refuseniks (605 words)

	Refusenik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		The word refusenik entered English language as a part of the Cold War lexicon to refer to those who were refused certain human rights, notably forbidden to emigrate.
		Refusenik (Soviet Union): Jewish citizens of the former Soviet Union who were refused permission to emigrate.
		Refusenik (Israel): Israelis who refuse to serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) under certain conditions.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Refusenik (204 words)

	What Israeli Refuseniks?
		"Refuseniks" are those Israeli reserve soldiers and officers who have signed a letter declaring their refusal to serve in the territories.
		Now, one might argue that "refuseniks" — who agree to join the Israeli army but who refuse to participate in "illegal incursions" into the territories — are distinct from those who dodge the draft altogether and should therefore be considered differently.
		Consider that the refuseniks' indictment of the state of Israel appeared in Yedioth Ahronoth, the country's largest newspaper, in the middle of a bloody war.
	www.nationalreview.com /comment/comment-seeman041902.asp (594 words)

	The Refuseniks (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-31)
		By the early 1980's there were thousands of refuseniks in the USSR (4).
		Many of the more active members in the refusenik community were imprisoned, and their persecution was known worldwide.
		The refuseniks succeeded in bringing attention to their cause and were the subject of much international attention towards the plight of Soviet Jewry (4).
	www.georgetown.edu /users/lg56/refuseniks.htm (172 words)

	Commentary Magazine - The Jews of Hope, by Martin Gilbert (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-31)
		For the refuseniks, the rule of law is nonexistent.
		...the daughter of a prominent refusenik family was made to stand in front of her class while her teacher accused her of being an "agent of Zionism...
		...Refuseniks who have attained high military positions, including decorated war heroes, are demoted to the lowest possible rank, and hounded by the media...
	www.commentarymagazine.com /Summaries/V79I6P73-1.htm (1738 words)

	Refuseniks provide a glimmer of hope (by Faisal Kutty) - Media Monitors Network
		A friend of mine who recently spoke on a panel on the Israeli-Palestinian issue suggested that one of the problems faced by Palestinians is that they have been unable to universalize their plight.
		The Refuseniks appear to have also energized the Four Mothers movement — a group of military mothers who believe that the Occupation is unjust.
		He also urged people, wherever they lived, to put pressure on their elected officials to end military aid to Israel, particularly from the U.S. He concluded by reminding the audience that criticizing Israeli policies is not the same as anti-semitism.
	www.mediamonitors.net /faisalkutty2.html (1481 words)

	Courage to Refuse - Press
		"Soldiers are dying because of the settlers," shouted the refuseniks.
		However, Yair, a member of the Sayeret Matkal group, said the refuseniks are planning sharper measures and that additional military groups are preparing to come out and declare their refusal.
		The real refuseniks are the leaders of the state, who perpetrate war crimes.
	www.seruv.org.il /english/article.asp?msgid=111 (648 words)

	The struggle of the refuseniks - Salon (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-31)
		But the Israeli public is deeply conflicted over the refuseniks: Although the hard-line administration of Ariel Sharon still commands high poll numbers, between 20 and 25 percent of the population sympathizes with the objectors.
		The refuseniks' tales illustrate the growing harshness of the occupation since the outbreak of the intifada.
		The sacrosanct status of the Israeli military, and Mofaz's claim that the refuseniks were acting out of political motivations, has forced the activists to move carefully.
	www.salon.com /news/feature/2002/02/15/army/index_np.html?x (1099 words)

	Refuseniks (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-31)
		Refuseniks uses stunning archival footage, still photos and interviews to document the stories of Israeli men and women who refuse to serve in the military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
		Refuseniks is a moving portrait of men and women who were willing to risk imprisonment to take a stand against the occupation by refusing to serve.
		Men and women who came to believe that this stand was crucial to their own humanity and to the future of their country.
	www.refuseniks.org (89 words)

	Women's WORLD
		We support them all." Menuhin relates that lately every time he reports on refuseniks who go to jail, he is asked whether they are among the signatories of the officers' and soldiers' letter, and when he replies in the negative, the media lose interest.
		The refuseniks' letter has indeed put the left into a trap; it can no longer ignore the phenomenon, which is not about to disappear from the public arena.
		In recent weeks refuseniks have been summoned to a series of talks with their division commanders, who try to persuade them to change their minds.
	www.wworld.org /programs/middleEast.asp?ID=138 (2297 words)

	Arutz Sheva - Israel National News
		Indeed, these “refuseniks” have been in the limelight lately more than ever due to a group of IAF pilots who took it upon themselves to sign a letter stating that they would refuse to carry out any more missions in the “occupied territories” (translation Judea, Samaria and Gaza).
		The way these “refuseniks” see it, if these Jews want to live over the Green Line, it is their problem and they will have to defend themselves and not rely on the Israeli army to protect them.
		Those “refuseniks” are in effect saying to those Jews, “You are not a part of us; what happens to you is your problem, not ours.” They are not just refusing to carry out a particular command, but denying this group of close to 300,000 citizens the basic right of military protection.
	www.israelnationalnews.com /article.php3?id=2917 (2419 words)

	The Courage Of Teenage Refuseniks A Beacon Of Hope By Avi Shlaim
		O utside the courtroom, in an impromptu press conference, the refuseniks declared that they were proud of their actions and that they could continue to challenge the occupation until it ends.
		Young and inexperienced as they are, the refuseniks instinctively grasp the truth of Karl Marx's dictum that a people that oppresses another cannot itself remain free.
		Supporters of the five have prepared a petition to be sent to Sharon, stating that his government is jailing them for their convictions, and calling on him to set them free.
	www.countercurrents.org /pa-shlaim230304.htm (1156 words)

	Saga of the Court-Martials, by Adam Keller
		What the young refuseniks had to do was endure patiently three or four consecutive one-month prison terms; when they had accumulated 90 to 100 days behind bars the army almost invariably brought them before an "incompatibility committee" — which almost invariably granted them a swift and unceremonious discharge.
		At the end of 2002, the current crop of refuseniks were left to deduce its termination from the stark fact that they continued to be imprisoned again and again, far beyond the 100-day limit.
		These 'Messengers of Satan' had little in common with the refuseniks — except that they landed on the same desk of "severe disciplinary problems" — and in both cases, the decision was to take drastic measures, rarely used before: disbandment in the one case, court-martials in the other.
	members.tripod.com /~other_Israel/courtmartials.html (2900 words)

	Yesh Gvul in 2003 (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-31)
		Refuseniks: During 2003, 78 persons - soldiers, reservists and recruits for military service were jailed for refusal to take part in the occupation.
		Refuseniks' "trade union": We have kept up our traditional monthly vigils at the military prisons where refuseniks are incarcerated.
		Torches were lit by social activists and refuseniks and a member of the ISM; the ceremony ended on a lighter note with an informal rock-and-rap concert that delighted some 2000 spectators.
	www.jfjfp.org /news48/48gvul.htm (1153 words)

	COMD: Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft
		In recent months, a growing number of Israeli soldiers dubbed "refuseniks" are refusing to serve in the occupied Palestinian territories.
		As Israeli peace group Yesh Gvul ("There Is a Limit!") notes, "Refuseniks do not evade the consequences of their challenge to legal authority: defiance of the military hierarchy is overt and direct, accepting the painful personal consequences.
		While the IDF is generally considered fairly lenient with conscientious objectors, many of the refuseniks have been jailed or otherwise penalized for their decision not to serve.
	www.comdsd.org /article_archive/refuseniks.htm (936 words)

	Israeli Refusenik Soldiers
		Three Israeli refuseniks, left to right: Ron Gerlitz, a software engineer now living in Cupertino; Ofer Shorr, a translator married to a UC Berkeley graduate student; and Ishai Rosen Zvi, a visiting scholar in Berkeley's Near Eastern Studies department.
		Courage to Refuse and Yesh Gvul ("There is a limit")— the organization of the refuseniks and the network that supports them in their stance — were also cosponsors.
		Although the refuseniks' official numbers represent but a fraction of the 1.3 million Israeli males fit for military service — Israeli law does not recognize conscientious objection for men, it does allow it for women — they are making their influence felt in lecture tours like this one.
	www.berkeley.edu /news/media/releases/2003/03/13_refuseniks.shtml (1860 words)

	Guardian Unlimited \| The Guardian \| It's because they fear us, say teenage refuseniks jailed by Israeli army
		But as the teenage refusenik reports to a military prison today, he says he will draw comfort from the judges' description of him as a threat to the survival of Israel.
		The five are not typical of Israeli youth, nor of the broader refusenik movement.
		But the five are confident that their trial will backfire by encouraging, not deterring, the growing ranks of refuseniks.
	www.guardian.co.uk /international/story/0,3604,1117485,00.html (715 words)

	Aljazeera.Net - Israeli refuseniks reap leaders' abuse (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-31)
		The latest additions to the list of refuseniks, however, are considered particularly significant because of the elite status of the Air Force and its combat pilots in Israeli society.
		Unlike their fellow refuseniks in the army who believe their mere presence in the OPT is unethical, the pilots are refusing to carry out a specific operation: the "targeted killings", a euphemism for extra-judicial assassinations of suspected political activists and guerrillas.
		The Israeli refusenik movement is comprised of officers inclined towards refusal, in principle if not in practice, and got its start during the Lebanon War.
	english.aljazeera.net /NR/exeres/EB1DEDBD-B65E-4CA2-B8B8-2394FC66E7AF.htm (1398 words)

	Saga of the court martials
		These `Messengers of Satan' had little in common with the refuseniks › except that they landed on the same desk of ``severe disciplinary problems''› and in both cases, the decision was to take drastic measures, rarely used before: disbandment in the one case, court-martials in the other.
		Not that it stopped him from selecting the primary targets for court-martial › two refuseniks perceived as ``ring-leaders'', of whom ``an example'' was to be made by court-martials carrying the maximum penalty of three years' imprisonment.
		In February and early March, the unfolding refusenik court-martials provided an extra reason for anxiety about the coming Iraq War: the possibility that the trials would reach their climax while the Israeli and international press › and even the international anti-war movement › had little or no attention for anything but Iraq.
	www.israelblog.org /Articles/Saga_of_the_court_martials.html (2917 words)

	MediaGuardian.co.uk \| Media \| Digital 'refuseniks' face £300 bill
		Digital 'refuseniks' may have to spend more than £300 to convert their television sets, video recorders and aerials to be able to carry on watching TV after the analogue signal is switched off, according to Ofcom research.
		In addition, the study concludes that of the 2.5m digital refusenik households, 2% 50,000 homes - would also need to replace their aerial, at a cost ranging from £20 to £165, with an average of £125.
		It says the £572m estimated cost of switching over refuseniks households to digital will account for 2% of UK consumer spending on home entertainment kit between 2008 and 2012, which is forecast to be around £30bn.
	media.guardian.co.uk /site/story/0,14173,1636894,00.html?gusrc=rss (562 words)

	Support for Refuseniks
		The refusenik community has grown dramatically in the past months, and now comprises more than 1,000 conscientious objectors, twenty-nine of whom are currently serving time in military prison.
		Considering that the average sentence of a reserve soldier is twenty-eight days, the number of refuseniks who have been in prison since the outbreak of the second intifada is about 100 and not merely the twenty-nine who are currently incarcerated.
		Their ad was formulated in such a way as to lead the reader to believe that the refusenik supporters intend to give preferential treatment to students with whom they agree politically, while punishing those with whom they don't.
	www.thenation.com /doc/20020520/gordon20020509 (575 words)

	Refuseniks
		Although many refuseniks were highly educated, they often had to accept whatever jobs were offered them (for example, cleaning streets at night) to avoid being arrested as "parasites" (a Soviet classification for any able-bodied person unemployed for two months).
		The refuseniks themselves served as the leadership of the Russian Jewish revival that started after the 1967 Six-Day War.
		With the rise of Gorbachev's policy of glasnost (greater openness and freedom), most of the longest-waiting refuseniks were permitted to leave, after having spent many of what should have been the most productive years of their lives unemployed, in fear of arrest, and under constant attack by their peers and neighbors.
	www.us-israel.org /jsource/History/Human_Rights/refuseniks.html (749 words)

	The Head Heeb: Refuseniks
		If refuseniks on the left can legitimately decide which government policies to support and which orders they will follow, then so can the refuseniks on the right.
		As I understand the refuseniks' point of view-- though perhaps I do so wrongly-- the overriding consideration is the personal ethical obligation not to be a party to evil.
		In major demonstrations the refusenik groups are asked to move to the back, so the cameras won't see them, to avoid identification with them.
	headheeb.blogmosis.com /archives/026099.html (3151 words)

	Israeli Refuseniks Sentenced To One Year In Jail
		"...the five [refuseniks] said that their sentence will not deter the refusenik movement and expressed their wonder at how soldiers who carry out "war crimes" are given lenient sentences while they are sent to prison for matters on conscience."
		The judges wrote in their ruling that the sentence was to serve as a warning to others, especially in light of the recent spate of elite reservists refusing to serve in the territories.
		After leaving the court Sunday, the five said that their sentence will not deter the refusenik movement and expressed their wonder at how soldiers who carry out "war crimes" are given lenient sentences while they are sent to prison for matters on conscience.
	www.rense.com /general47/refus.htm (394 words)

	Israeli AG, Mazuz, says refuseniks may be 'positive phenomenon'
		She and her Yahad colleague MK Roman Bronfman have already submitted a bill that would allow refuseniks for reasons of religion, faith and conscience to choose alternative national service instead of military service.
		And the Courage to Refuse group said "the attorney general has joined a large and respectable group of leading legal authorities and public figures who understand that refusal to serve is founded on morality, caring, and love of the country.
		In view of the concern in the army and the military's sharpened response to refuseniks, the attorney general's utterance, from the heart of the Israeli establishment, is all the more unexpected.
	www.fromoccupiedpalestine.org /node.php?id=1243 (895 words)

	ZCPortal - Academic Refuseniks
		Today, Israeli and Jewish scholars are academic refuseniks and find themselves banned and boycotted by publicly-funded academic institutions supposedly dedicated to the free and unfettered pursuit of knowledge.
		This is not only wrong and is in violation of the ideals and rights enshrined in the American Constitution, it also is reminiscent of the early years of the Nazi regime in Germany when one of the first restrictions against Jews was to ban their participation in all scholarly, academic and professional institutions.
		This offer is available to academic refuseniks in any field of scholarly or scientific endeavor regardless of your political beliefs or the methodologies employed in your articles.
	www.zcportal.com /2003/0103/refuseniks.asp (672 words)

	spiked-politics \| Article \| Israeli Defensive Force
		But listening to Dan and other refuseniks, it seems that the broader refusenik movement is less a collective stand against Israeli policy than a collection of diverse and personal 'issues' with different aspects of army strategy.
		Some refuseniks seem to be washing their hands of Israel's war and its aggressive tactics, rather than challenging the government or the military.
		Deserters are different to refuseniks, in the sense that they refuse to serve in the army without making an issue of it and without voicing concern with military tactics.
	www.spiked-online.com /articles/00000006DB53.htm (2340 words)

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