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War is The problem Not the Solution

DON'T GO TO THEIR WAR
My young brother Eliyahu
Before you go to the next war,
think of the previous war or let me tell you
how Grandfather on Mom's side pulled out
all his teeth, anything so as not to go to Their war.
My young brother Eliyahu,
don't go to their war - Yitzchak Laor, 1978. [The poet was one of the first IDF reservists jailed in the early seventies for his refusal to serve in the occupied territories].

By ISHAI MENUCHIN
New York Times, Dec 16, 2007.
"Twenty years ago, when I was first inducted into the Israeli Army, to serve as a paratrooper and officer for four and a half years, I took an oath to defend Israel and obey my commanders. I was young, a patriot, probably naïve, and sure that as a soldier my job was to defend my home and country. It did not occur to me that I might be used to carry out an occupation or asked to fight in military engagements that are not essential for the defense of Israel.

It took me one war -- the Lebanon war -- many dead friends, and some periods of service in the occupied territories to find that my assumptions were wrong. In 1983, I refused to serve in acts of occupation, and I spent 35 days in military prison for my refusal. Today, as a major in the reserves of the Israel Defense Forces, I still defend my country but I will not participate in a military occupation that has over the decades made Israel less secure and less humane. The escalating violence is evidence of this truth."