While violence in Gaza and Israeli cities -- cynically triggered and fueled by Netanyahu's government -- is intensifying, we send you today a message from a Israeli soldier who choose to resist the war and is being held under arrest in his military base:

Hello, My name is Shlomo (pseudonym). I come from a religious family that lives in a settlement in the west bank. I’m 20 years old and I have been drafted to the Israeli military for a combat support position almost a year ago. I’m a pacifist and I reject the common justifications for war and violence. However, given my upbringing in a settler community, I had somehow convinced myself that the Israeli army was different, that every time it used violence, it had to be morally justified. However, after I was drafted I realized that wars in Israel were just like wars waged by the rest of the world. That "kill or be killed" is a false dichotomy, even for us. Conflict is not solved through war, through might, but instead through understanding and empathy. I think Israel needs a military, but we also need to think about that military in a radically different way. What we are dealing with, the causing of bodily harm and death, is not something we can afford to make mistakes with. It doesn’t matter who's right and who's wrong. It doesn’t matter who's strong and who's weak. What matters is human life, and the fact that people are suffering and dying.

Before I enlisted, I thought I could serve in the army in a non-combat position, and not be part of the violence. I understand now that even in a non-combat support position, I still support the system that is committing these actions of violence, and that I contribute indirectly to war and to the continuation of violent acts.

I already refused to continue to serve three times and have been held under arrest in my military base. I have petitioned the Committee for Granting Exemptions for Reasons of Conscience, to grant me an exemption from military service and I will continue to refuse orders until I am exempted from military service. Violence is not a single act, it's a cycle. And it is one I cannot participate in.

In solidarity,

Shlomo

Write Shlomo a letter of support https://forms.gle/f58zcZfTZB296kj38