OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, December 22 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) -
Thirteen members of Israeli army's most elite commando unit publicly
refused to serve in the occupied Palestinian territories, saying the
army's operations there are as oppressive as immoral, Israeli press
reports said Monday, December 22.
The
commandos, from the Sayeret Matkal special operation unit, wrote a
letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, saying they will no
longer participate in the "rule of oppression".
"We
will no longer give our lives to the rule of oppression in the
territories and to the denial of human rights to millions of
Palestinians and we will no longer serve as a defensive shield for the
settlements," read the letter, cited by local television stations
and carried by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"We
will no longer corrupt the stamp of humanity in us through carrying
out the missions of an occupation army..., we have reached the
boundary of oppressing another people," it added.
"We
will no longer cross this boundary," said the commandos in the
letter.
The
Sayeret Matkal, or General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, is Israel's most
elite commando unit and has often been compared to the U.S. military's
Delta Force or the British army's SAS, Reuters reported.
After
the outbreak of the Palestinian Intifada in September 2000 which
followed the condemned visit of the then defense minister Ariel Sharon
to Al-Aqsa mosque, Sayeret Matkal has spearheaded Israel's campaign
against Palestinian resistance groups by detaining or assassinating
senior members.
Nine
out of the 13 signatories still do reserve service in Sayeret Matkal,
while the most senior is an officer with the rank of major.
The
"refusenik" movement swung into the spotlight in January
2002, when 52 reserve officers and soldiers signed a letter saying
they would not serve in the Palestinian territories.
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The
letter is likely to send shockwaves through the defense establishment
due to the seniority of the unit, highly regarded for its
participation in the rescue of 106 passengers from a hijacked plane at
Uganda's Entebbe Airport in 1976.
The
unit was supposed to carry out the lately uncovered 1992 plan to
assassinate the ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, but was aborted at
the last minute.
Yossi
Sarid, of the left-wing Meretz party, told Haartez that
the phenomenon of refusal would raise as long as occupation persists.
"As
long as the occupation and oppression persist, I suppose that the
phenomenon of refusal, which I see as negative one, will become
contagious among military units, especially throughout the elite
forces," Sarid said on Monday, December 22.
Sarid
had earlier threatened
earlier to unveil "confidential information" over the Nusseirat
raid .
"The
new refuseniks know by now that hard times are ahead for them, they
saw the treatment that the pilots received, and yet they nevertheless
decided to take a stand, which is a telling sign of their internal
conviction," Sarid said.
Minister
Effi Eitam, Chairman of the National Religious Party, also expected
the wave of refusal to grow as he considered the letter as a break in
Israeli society.
Opposing
opinions conflicted in commenting on the letter as Meretz MK Roman
Bronfman called it a brave step to save Israel from the occupation,
while Parliament member Shaul Yahalom (NRP) said that jail was the
proper place for the signatories.
However,
the Israeli radio said that the legal and constitutional committee at
the Knesset is to hold an urgent debate on opening criminal procedures
against "refuseniks" in the coming days.
The
committee wants to broaden the scope for prosecution outside of the
military tribunals.
The
Israeli government harshly reacted to the September letter, which said
occupation of Palestinian territories was eating at the moral fabric
of the state of Israel. Some of the signatories were dismissed
after refusing to retract their statements.
