We bring you today a special message from four youth refusers - Shahar Schwartz (18 year old), Einat Gerlitz (19), Evyatar Moshe Rubin (19), and Nave Shabtay Levin (18) - who declare this week their refusal to join the Israeli army and take part in the Israeli occupation over the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Shahar has refused before and was sentenced to 10 days in military prison. Einat refused Yesterday and was sentenced to 7 days in prison. Evyatar and Nave are refusing today and will likely be imprisoned. We reach out to you today because they need your help in getting their message across to Israeli officials. Click here to help them.

Left to right: Evyatar, Einat, Nave and Shahar

Hi

Israel will be holding parliamentary elections in November, and we need to make sure our Prime Minister and parliamentary candidates for office understand the occupation needs to end NOW. We will not accept nor participate in human rights violations. We have written the following statement and we need your help to make sure it reaches these Israeli politicians.

We, Israeli youth, refuse to join the Israeli army and take part in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza strip. We call out to all citizens of Israel to open their eyes and see the policy of oppression over the palestinian people carried out by the Israeli government. We object to the militaristic education forced on us by the same oppressive policies, we object to the educational system teaching us to hate our neighbors, and we object to the social norms that prohibits the educational system from sharing the true reality in the Palestinian territories with children and youth. We feel it is important to show there is another way. We all have the option to refuse to take part in the oppression and in the occupation and we can all make sure human rights, including physical and emotional security, are provided without discrimination. Therefore we demand the following from the Israeli government:

Stop the killings of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; Stop the ethnic cleansing in the territories and the transfer of Masafer Yatta; Stop the siege of the Gaza strip; Stop home demolitions; Stop administrative arrests and arrests of minors; Stop supporting settler's violence towards Palestinians and start acting against it.

We demand a stop to the Israeli military presence in the Palestinian territories and we demand giving the Palestinian people the right to independence. We, Israeli youth, born and raised in Israel, call on the Israeli public to see there is a better way to treat our neighbors, a human way that guarantees human rights for all. We demand an end to the Israeli occupation over the Palestinian territories and we declare today our refusal to take any part in it.

Will you help us make sure the Prime Minister and the parliamentary candidates who are running for office hear our message loud and clear? We need you to send them an email saying that you support our statement, asking them to listen to us. The more emails sent the louder we will be heard. Click here to support our statement.

In solidarity,

Shahar Schwartz, Evyatar Moshe Rubin, Einat Gerlitz, Nave Shabtay Levin