Breaking Ranks
Refusing to Serve in the West Bank and Gaza Strip
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by Ronit Chacham
The Other Press
Due/Published
February 2004, 176 pages,
paper
ISBN
1590510992
New in paper (S04) In a series of conversations, nine members of the Israeli Defense Force tell why they refused to serve in the West Bank and Gaza. The "Refuseniks" describe their risky moral decision against the background of what is perhaps the most volatile conflict in the world today: the Israeli-Palestinian struggle. Their individual choices and their collective activism have generated intense debate in Israel and the international community, from the leading Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz to a segment on 60 Minutes. In a sociocultural mosaic of the Refusenik movement and the political context in which it arose, these men describe their individual family backgrounds and beliefs. Dedicated to the welfare of their country and its cultural heritage, they outline their concerns for the future of Israel. As they tell their stories of personal struggle, they also raise the disturbing and highly controversial issue of human rights abuses in the occupied territories. These personal accounts offer new perspectives on some entrenched ideas about the situation in the Middle East. The testimony in Breaking Ranks is essential background for a full understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In this time of grave crisis in the Middle East, with no solution in sight to repair the utter collapse of the peace process, these voices offer a message of hope in their commitment to their society and nation. "In Breaking Ranks, we hear the voices of men who have refused to participate in the atrocity-producing situation of military occupiers. We learn of their admirable personal struggles in overcoming psychic numbing and recognizing the pain and humiliation they and others were inflicting. Their actions have extraordinary significance for the State of Israel, for the Palestinians, and for the rest of us as well." -- Robert Jay Lifton |
