Group of Israeli soldiers refuse to participate in oppression of Palestinians
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 1/26/2002

A group of 52 Israeli army officers and reservists announced, in a petition published Friday they refuse to take part in the "oppression and occupation of Palestinians."

"We will continue to serve in the army as long as it is to defend the state of Israel but not in tasks of oppressing and occupying Palestinians," the group wrote in their petition.

This is the time that such a petition is published since the second Intifadah broke out in September 2000.

The signatories stress that the territories of the West Bank and Gaza strip are not part of Israel and ultimately settlements which have been established there will be dismantled. Therefore, we will not continue to fight for them, they said. We will not either continue to fight beyond the green line between Israel and the Palestinian territories with the aim of oppressing, expelling, starving and humiliating a whole people, the text underscores.

According to Israeli pacifist movement "Yesh Gvul," as many as 200 Israeli soldiers, mostly reservists, have refused to join their unit in the territories occupied since the start of the Intifadah.

Previous Stories:
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  Sharon threatens to strike the Palestinians wherever they exist   (1/24/2002)
  Human rights violations by Israel in occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip, PA territories   (1/23/2002)

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