Canada.’ World

Yesh Gvul urges support for Israeli ‘refuseniks’

When Israeli reserve army captain Meir
Amor refused to serve in the occupied terri-
tories, it cost him 21 days in jail.

But the young officer is unrepentant, and
with fellow “refusenik” Peretz Kidron is
travelling North America to raise support
for soldiers who refuse to become part of
the military brutality in the West Bank and
Gaza.

Amor and Kidron, the latter now a jour-
nalist who reports for U.S. National Public
Radio, told a Vancouver meeting spon-
sored by Jews for a Just Peace on Monday
that some 650 reservists have signed a
pledge not to police the six-month
“intifada” — uprising — by Palestinians
in the occupied territories.

Forty-one reserve army members, “from
captain to corporal,” have refused to partic-
ipate, although they are generally commit-
ted to Israel’s defence and are not pacifists,
Kidron said.

“What has brought all these people to say
‘yesh gvul’ is an understanding that this is
not what the army was intended for,” he
declared.

“Yesh Gvul” is the name of the organiza-
tion that provides financial and legal sup-
port for jailed refuseniks and their families,
who receive no veterans benefits. The
Hebrew term means “there is a limit,” and

the organization calls for Israeli withdrawal
from the territories and negotiations with its
people leading to a Palestinian state.

Amor said his seven-month term of duty
during the 1982-85 incursion into Lebanon
— he spent the winter of 1984 in the Bekaa
Valley — convinced him that what he was
not doing was serving Israel’s interests.

He said he lost 32 friends and acquain-
tances in the invasion which cost the lives of
650 Israeli soldiers.

When Amor, a graduate sociology stu-
dent at Tel Aviv University, was called up
active duty in the territories early this year,
he refused, and was sent to prison for a
21-day term.

The older Kidron describes himself as an
“early refusenik.” He witnessed the bulldoz-
ing of a decades-old grove of almond trees
belonging to Bedouin — nomadic Arabs
— in the Rafah area while serving as a
reserve private in 1972.

“T was politically aware before that, but if
there were any remnants of belief in the
myth that Israel was ‘making the desert
bloom,’ this incident utterly destroyed those
illusions.”

Israelis will soon vote in a national elec-
tion in which polls show strong support for
the right-wing Likud bloc of Prime Minister
Yitzak Shamir. But the two former reser-

“When one accepts duty in the territories,
he’s going there to terrorize the Palesti-
nian people into accepting a rule they find

intolerable.”

KIDRON

—

vists stressed that the same polls reveal that
between 50 and 60 per cent of Israelis sup-
port negotiations with the Palestinians.

They stressed that voters face little choice
among top-rated parties on the territories
issue. While Likud insists that Palestinians
as a people don’t exist, Labour-Party leader
Shimon Perez speaks of talking to the Jor-
danians instead of the Palestinians over the
fate of the West Bank and Gaza.

(A wrench has been thrown into
Labour’s electoral strategy with the recent
repudiation by Jordan’s King Hussein of all
claims to the West Bank.)

As an example of intransigence on the
issue, Kidron cited Perez’ comments that if
he wished to, he could “speak to the Palesti-
nians tomorrow morning.” It,points to the
fact that “this is not a military problem, it is
a political problem,” he said in an interview.

The Chilean Community Association
of B.C. this week called on Canadians to
reject the sham plebiscite organized by
Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet
and urged the federal government to sever
diplomatic ties with the fascist regime
unless it upholds human nights.

The association’s appeal was launched
on the eve of the Oct. 5 referendum,
announced by Pinochet earlier this year
and intended to give the appearance of
legitimacy to the regime.

candidate Aug. 30, however, the plebiscite
has unleashed a massive waye of opposi-
tion to the regime. A powerful “Com-
mand for a No” has been backed by a
16-party alliance to campaign against the
perpetuation of Pinochet’s 15-year rule.
On Oct. 1, more than one million peo-
ple converged on the capital city of Santi-
ago, as marchers came from’ Arica in the
north and Punta Arenas in the south to

ling for a ““No” vote. It was the largest
demonstration in Chile since the military
coup in 1973.

But despite public opinion polls adding
to the appearance of democracy — and
showing the “No” vote slightly ahead — it
is a virtual certainty that Pinochet will use
fraud to ensure the outcome he wants,
Community Association spokesperson
Sergio Montivero told the Tribune Oct. 3.

“The only way he can win is by fraud,”
said Montivero, adding that the rigging
had already begun.

An estimated 20,000 Chileans have
already had their identity cards — neces-
sary to cast a ballot — seized in random
raids by the police. “The police and mil-
itary have been raiding poor neighbour-
hoods,” he said. “‘And every time they
detain someone, they take their cards.”

Others have had their cards stolen
under mysterious circumstances.

Various ultra-right organizations have
also been active in the campaign, directing
their attack against the “‘No” campaign.
ACHA, the Chilean Anti-Communist
Alliance, has been responsible for destroy-
ing several neighbourhood headquarters
for the “No” campaign.

Since Pinochet was declared as the sole ©

take part in the huge demonstration cal-—

‘No democracy with Pinochet

fascist regime of Augusto Pinochet
Tester

Similarly, the military and police, which
number some 180,000 by official count,
have been told by the regime to vote, an
order that is widely expected to result in
double-voting as soldiers cast ballots in
both their home towns and the areas in
which they are stationed.

And even if Pinochet is repudiated by a
successful “no” vote, Montivero noted, he
is still empowered to stay on for another
year during which time he will hand-pick
the commission which will conduct elec-
tions.

“There is no way that Pinochet will give
up power willingly,” Montivero emphas-

e the: giveaway of a the
country and its Tesouces to = _ as

ized.

“But the demonstration on Oct. 1 and
the strength of the “No” campaign have
shown clearly that majority of Chileans
oppose Pinochet,” he said. “The issue now
is dictatorship or democracy.

“That’s why we want Canadians to
keep up the pressure on the Pinochet
regime.”

Four Canadians are currently in Chile,
observing the referendum. They are
Manitoba NDP MLA Jim Maloway, Lib-
eral Senator Gildas Molgat, Alberta NDP
MLA Gerry Gibeault and Winnipeg
school trustee Irene Haig.

fe “Group parties of 15-25 welcome”!

In previous interviews Amor has pointed
out that Israel wants to keep the territori®
because they supply the state with cheaP
labour and are a market for Israeli man”
factured products.

On occasion the government makes #
show of putting on trial soldiers engaging!
acts of brutality in the territories. But the
clubbings, theft of goods, destruction of
property and killings ‘are in fact army P®
icy, the speakers charged.

“That is the army’s job. It is the duty dl
an army of occupation,” Kidron stressed.

“When one accepts duty in the territori
he’s going there to terrorize the Palestinia!
people into accepting a rule they find intoF
erable.”

The actions of Yesh Gvul are take!
seriously enough that the Israeli attorney”
general’s department is investigating
support group for possible charges of |
incitement to mutiny, which carries seve™
penalties, Kidron reported. |

But he noted “our members report oy
their actions are treated with high respet!
and understanding by their employers and
their peers.” He said some 20 Jewish group
outside Israel have “adopt a refuseni
programs.

Kidron said later that Israeli citizens
consciousness of Palestinian rights has
grown, particularly as they’ve seen Palest
nians willingly lowering their living stam a
ards to fight the military occupation.

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10 e Pacific Tribune, October 10, 1988