The Israeli military has jailed a young man, Natan Blanc for six months for refusing to serve because of his opposition to Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories. The refusal by 20-year-old Blanc to serve has put the military in a delicate position as it tries to resolve the case.
Last week thirty-six academic faculty members, signed an open letter urging the army to release Blanc and saying the detention violated his freedom of conscience. The faculty members, including professors and lecturers from law faculties, criticize the policy of jailing conscientious objectors, as well as relating to Blanc’s case specifically. “The refusal of a person to serve in the IDF because such service requires him to act in a manner that according to his outlook deeply damages fundamental moral views, is the realization of the right of freedom of conscience. Punishment harms this right and is allowed only if it meets the requirement of proportionality,” states the letter to the army. Among the signatories to the letter are Prof. Yuval Shany, dean of the law faculty at Hebrew University and a member of the UN Human Rights Committee; Prof. Menachem Mautner of Tel Aviv University; Prof. Yossi Dahan of the Adva Center; and Prof. Barak Medina, former dean of the law faculty at Hebrew University.
The demonstration in solidarity with Natan Blanc outside Israel’s military headquarters and Defense Ministry in Tel-Aviv, last Tuesday, May 21, 2013(photo: Eli Gozansky)
On Tuesday, 200 of his supporters including MK Dov Khenin (Hadash), former MK Tamar Gozansky and leading Communist Party of Israel activist Benjamin Gonen demonstrated outside IDF’s military headquarters and Defense Ministry in Tel-Aviv.
Blanc’s father, David, said his son was supposed to be inducted for compulsory military service last November, and after declaring his refusal to serve, he was sent to a military prison. Since then, he has been sentenced to a series of 10 consecutive terms totaling 178 days in jail, with no end in sight. The younger Blanc, in a videotaped statement made several months ago, said that he objects to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.
“The main reason that I am refusing to serve is that I feel that our country is going toward a non-democratic situation of civil inequality between us and the Palestinians, a situation in which there are two peoples in the same state, one of which has the right to vote and participate in elections, and the other does not,” he said. “I believe the Israeli military plays a major role in preserving this situation, and my conscience does not allow me to participate in it.”
Blanc has requested that he be allowed to serve in Israel’s civilian paramedic service. But when it comes to people who want to avoid service on political or ideological grounds, the army takes a tough line. Earlier this month, Blanc was handed a 10th sentence, this time 28 days. According to Yesh Gvul, it is the most trials an objector has had, though several have spent longer behind bars. Dr. Ishai Menuchin, an activist in the Israeli group Yesh Gvul, which assists soldiers who object to the occupation, estimated that dozens of Israeli youths refuse to serve each year.
Related:
Occupation objector Natan Blanc sentenced to prison for the ninth time
Occupation objector Natan Blanc was sentenced to a tenth prison term
