[As my birthday approaches, I grow more and more anxious because a
professional organization of trained terrorists that calls itself an
army wants me to be one of them. And if I say no, a prison sentence
will be the result. ]
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WHY I’M SAYING NO TO THE IDF AS A 17-YEAR-OLD  
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Fred Hidvegi
April 27, 2023
Common Dreams [[link removed]]

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_ As my birthday approaches, I grow more and more anxious because a
professional organization of trained terrorists that calls itself an
army wants me to be one of them. And if I say no, a prison sentence
will be the result. _

Israeli soldiers crack down on Palestinians protesting against the
establishment of Israeli outposts, in Beit Dajan, east of Nablus, on 4
November 2022 , AFP

 

As a soon-to-be 18-year-old Israeli high school student, enlistment is
the only thing waiting for me after I finish my studies in six months.
We have speeches every other week, telling us how important it is to
serve and complete a "meaningful service" for the country. Of course,
meaningful service means serving in fighting roles, roles that include
violence.

Recently I got sent a message from the IDF telling me that I'm
"invited" to a sorting intended for future paratroopers. I, of course,
don't want to be a paratrooper. I don't want anything to do with the
IDF, for obvious reasons.

I don't want to take any part in enforcing apartheid, colonialism, and
violent oppression. For the IDF though, this is not enough. As I
learned recently, the army does not exempt anyone purely because of
ideological reasons. In other words, I can hate the army, I can hate
the country, its government, and the things it stands for, but I
cannot refuse to become a soldier.

Because the punishment for that is a prison sentence.

We're told to serve, have a meaningful service, and be ready to kill.
That's why I will be a paratrooper if I don't resist. If I don't defy
them. If we all don't defy them.

I grow more and more anxious by the day because a professional
organization of trained terrorists that calls itself an army wants me
to be one of them. And I cannot say no.

But, in the eyes of the government, especially the purely fascist one
we have now, I should be proud to serve. I should be honored to be
allowed to serve "the security of our state."

And as someone eligible to serve in a fighting role, I should gladly
give my life and the lives of others for the country.

I should be prepared to kill. Fighters in the army have a literal
license to kill. And to top all that, the propaganda we are fed in
school is infuriating. Most people know the myth of Israel's soldiers
being part of the most moral army in the world. But here, I'm
surrounded by 17- and 18-year-old classmates who believe and defend
the idea that the IDF is somehow even close to being "moral." Anyone
who believes that Palestinians deserve self-determination and their
birthright to live freely is labeled either a 'dirty leftist' or a
Nazi.

All Israelis aged 18 must serve, but the ones who understand the
gravity of the army's deeds, the ones most fiercely opposing it—they
have to put aside their belief system and put up with being an
opponent to millions of Palestinians living a peaceful life.

To destroy and take lives is the main mission of an IDF soldier.
Everything else is secondary.

That's why we're told to serve, have a meaningful service, and be
ready to kill.

That's why I will be a paratrooper if I don't resist. If I don't defy
them. If we all don't defy them.

Because if no one dares to oppose Israel, they will continue what they
have been doing best.

And that's not being the most moral army in the world.

That's why I'm saying no to them.

That's why I'm risking going to prison.

I'm saying no to the IDF, so they understand what it feels like when
someone forces their belief system onto them, just like the way they
have been doing to others all this time.

_Fred Hidvegi is a 17-year-old Israeli high schooler who is refusing
service in the IDF._

* Israeli Defense Forces
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* draft resisters
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