[ Shahar Perets, who was sentenced to prison for refusing to join
the Israeli army, talks about meeting Palestinians for the first time,
her visits to the West Bank, and how Israeli society represses the
occupation.] [[link removed]]

CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR: ‘I DON’T WANT TO WEAR A UNIFORM THAT
SYMBOLIZES VIOLENCE AND PAIN’  
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Oren Ziv
September 1, 2021
+972 Magazine
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_ Shahar Perets, who was sentenced to prison for refusing to join the
Israeli army, talks about meeting Palestinians for the first time, her
visits to the West Bank, and how Israeli society represses the
occupation. _

Israeli conscientious objector Shahar Perets., photo: Oren Ziv //
+972 Magazine

 

Israeli conscientious objector Shahar Perets was sentenced to 10 days
in military prison on Tuesday after announcing her refusal to join the
Israeli army over its policies toward Palestinians. 

Perets, 18, from the town of Kfar Yona, is one of the 120 teenagers
who signed the “Shministim Letter” (an initiative with the Hebrew
nickname given to high school seniors) in January, in which they
declared their refusal to serve in the army in protest of its policies
of occupation and apartheid. In June 2020, she was one of the 400
Israeli teenagers who signed a letter
[[link removed]] to the
Israeli leadership demanding it halts its erstwhile plans to
annex parts of the occupied West Bank as part of former U.S.
President Donald Trump’s so-called peace plan. 

On Tuesday morning, dozens of supporters, including Joint List MK Ofer
Cassif, accompanied both Perets and conscientious objector Eran Aviv
— who will enter his fourth stint behind bars — to the Tel
Hashomer induction base in central Israel, where they both told the
army they would not serve. Aviv has spent a total of 54 days in
military prison for refusing to serve in the army, and was sentenced
to an additional 10 days behind bars. After they are released, they
will have to return to the induction base and repeat the process until
the army decides to discharge them. Military conscription is mandatory
for most Jewish Israelis.

Aviv arrived to the induction base in uniform after he began the
enlistment process in May, when the army promised him a position that
was unrelated to the occupation. When army officials reneged on the
promise, he chose to refuse — yet from the IDF’s point of view, he
is considered a soldier.

Shahar’s father, Shlomo Perets, who himself sat in prison four times
for refusing to serve in Lebanon and the occupied territories, was
also there to support his daughter. “These are her choices, she does
what she has decided out of awareness, care, and a desire to make a
change. I support her and hope that she will succeed in not doing the
things that go against her principles and refusing to be what she is
not.”

Conscientious objectors Eran Aviv (left) and Shahar Perets seen
outside the IDF induction center, Tel Hashomer, central Israel, August
31, 2021.
photo: Oren Ziv  //  +972 Magazine
I spoke to Perets in the days leading up to her sentencing about her
reasons for refusing, her visits to the occupied territories, and what
she plans on bringing with her to prison.

“I decided to refuse [service] after participating in a meeting in
eighth grade between Palestinians and Israelis at a summer camp,”
Perets told me. “I met Palestinian friends, I realized that I do not
want to hurt them, I do not want to meet them as a soldier and become
their enemy. I do not want to take part in a system that oppresses
them on a daily basis.”

WHAT PROCESS HAVE YOU UNDERGONE SINCE THAT FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH
PALESTINIANS?

“I was exposed to what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank. I
began to learn more about the realities of Palestinian life, and I
made a decision not to enlist — and to do so publicly.”

DID YOUR VISITS TO THE WEST BANK HELP YOU MAKE THE DECISION TO
REFUSE? 

“I have been on tours and also participated in all kinds of
activities, including volunteering and helping [Palestinian] farmers
in the South Hebron Hills and the olive harvest in the northern West
Bank.

“It’s a difficult experience, I always come back shaken. Something
bad is happening, and it must stop. The transition from looking at
photos or hearing testimonies to visiting the area is crazy. Seeing
the settlements where children are attacked as they walk to school
[[link removed]]. Seeing
the places that Palestinians cannot reach, for example in the South
Hebron Hills
[[link removed]] in Area C
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rule].

“I made the decision before I was ever in the West Bank, but seeing
the soldiers and settlers standing before the Palestinians made it
clear to me that I do not want to be one of those soldiers, I do not
want to wear this uniform, which symbolize the violence and pain the
Palestinians experience.”

OVER THE PAST YEAR YOU HAVE SPOKEN TO MANY TEENAGERS AS YOU PREPARED
TO PUBLISH THE SHMINISTIM LETTER. WHAT KIND OF REACTIONS DID YOU GET?

“The initial response is always a bit frightened, since there is no
critical conversation on the military, recruitment, and occupation in
most circles of teenage boys and girls in youth movements and schools.

“Both my close friends and those in my wider surroundings were
surprised. People did not know there was an option not to enlist. At
the same time, many teenage boys and girls could suddenly connect to
something, to sign the letter. I want to believe that these meetings
are significant. They give [people] a lot of strength and a real
alternative.”

DO YOU HOPE THAT YOUR REFUSAL WILL ALLOW TEENAGERS TO SEE ANOTHER
OPTION?

“Teenagers meet Palestinians for the first time as soldiers, when
they wear uniforms and hold weapons. It is clear that if there were
encounters with Palestinians at school or conversations about the
Palestinian narrative, things would have been different.

“Obviously this is part of the system’s policy, of the same desire
to separate, to create a reality of ‘enemies’ and
‘terrorists,’ instead of looking at everyone who lives here —
Palestinians and Israelis — and saying let’s live and create
security for everyone. Let’s not hurt each other, let’s stop
killing and being killed.”

HOW DID YOUR FAMILY REACT?

“By and large, both my friends and family are really supportive.
Obviously not everyone is happy that I am going to jail. It is strange
to answer the question ‘What is the next thing you will do?’ I am
going to jail in a week. I think those in my immediate surroundings
have been able to understand my refusal.”

IS THERE A DESIRE TO CONVEY A MESSAGE TO THE PALESTINIANS AS WELL?

“[The message is that] although the refusal movement is in the
minority, it exists and has influence. Some people are unwilling to
lend a hand to what is happening, they resist and act so that others
know [what is taking place].”

Over the last 50 years, teenagers have published numerous letters in
which they have announced their refusal to participate in military
service either in the occupied territories or in general. The first
Shministim Letter was published in 1970 amid the War of Attrition
between Israel and Egypt. The Shministim Letter published this year
was signed by teenagers who are either expected to sit behind bars or
have been otherwise exempted.

Supporters gather at the IDF induction base to show their solidarity
with Shahar Perets and Eran Aviv over their refusal to join the
Israeli army, Tel Hashomer, central Israel, August 31, 2021.
photo: Oren Ziv  //  +972 Magazine
Perets originally began the process of conscription but stopped it in
the middle and chose not to apply for an exemption from the army.

“I decided not to go before the conscientious objectors committee, a
medical committee, or the IDF mental health officer,” says Perets,
“because it is important for me to stand by my principles and not to
create the impression that I am the problem and I should be exempted
[from service]. I chose to go to jail and take part in a campaign
because I hope it will reach the most people. I hope that through my
refusal, people will think about their place in this reality.”

DO YOU THINK THAT TODAY PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY TEENAGERS, DO NOT KNOW WHAT
IS HAPPENING IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES? OR DO THEY KNOW AND CHOOSE
TO REPRESS IT?

“There is a very large dimension of repression; people do not know
or they do know and do not want to know. The repression is not always
our fault, it is of the Education Ministry, of the government, of all
kinds of other organizations that do not talk about [the occupation].
History lessons do not talk about the Palestinian narrative. Of course
this deters people. People get extremely defensive when I tell them
that I do not plan on enlisting. They take it personally and get
angry. It clearly comes from a place of unwillingness to cope.”

HOW ARE YOU PREPARING FOR PRISON?

“For the last three years I have been part of a network of women who
refuse to serve. I was able to speak and think about what is happening
in prison. Before my imprisonment, I spoke to conscientious objectors
who sat in prison. They helped me put together the lists of things to
bring. I will bring many books, sudoku, and coloring books. I started
learning Arabic, so I will bring a few notebooks to continue
practicing, if they let me bring them in.”

HOW DOES THE REFUSAL PROCESS WORK IN PRACTICE? WHAT HAPPENS ON THE DAY
OF RECRUITMENT?

“I will arrive at the IDF induction base and refuse to go through
the chain of enlistment. This is the initial confrontation with the
system. From there I will be sent to all sorts of officers for all
sorts of conversations and attempts at persuasion until they
understand [my position]. There will be a trial in the base itself,
where they will decide my sentence [usually between 10 days and two
weeks]. After the trial, I will be held in detention until I am
transferred to prison.

“After my release, I’ll refuse again and then undergo another
trial and be sent back to prison. I know that this is what I’ll be
doing in the coming months. I’ll celebrate my 19th birthday in
jail.”

_A version of this article was first published in Hebrew on Local
Call. Read it here
[[link removed]]._

_[Oren Ziv is a photojournalist, a founding member of the Activestills
photography collective, and a staff writer for Local Call. Since 2003,
he has been documenting a range of social and political issues in
Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories with an emphasis on
activist communities and their struggles. His reportage has focused on
the popular protests against the wall and settlements, affordable
housing and other socio-economic issues, anti-racism and
discrimination struggles, and the struggle to free animals.]_

+972 Magazine is nonprofit journalism based on the ground in
Israel-Palestine. In order to safeguard our independent voice, we are
proud to count you, our readers, as our most important supporters.

Become a member of +972 Magazine with a monthly contribution, so that
we can keep our journalism as a strong, independent, and sustainable
force changing the global discourse on Israel-Palestine.

_+972 Magazine is nonprofit journalism based on the ground in
Israel-Palestine. In order to safeguard our independent voice, we are
proud to count you, our readers, as our most important supporters._

_Become a member of +972 Magazine with a monthly contribution, so that
we can keep our journalism as a strong, independent, and sustainable
force changing the global discourse on Israel-Palestine.
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