Daughter of Mossad Chief Jailed for being a Conscientious Objector

[subsuelo]

Omer Goldman, daughter of a former head of the Israeli intelligence organization, Mossad, has gone to jail as a conscientious objector.

She visited the West Bank and came to know too much about what the colonists were doing to the Palestinians to be able to serve in a military that is an adjunct to colonization.

Ironically, the ultra-orthodox Jews, many of whom are most militant about further displacing the Palestinians, are excused from military service . . .

http://www.juancole.com/2008/10/daughter-of-mossad-chief-jailed-for.html">Juan Cole - read more

[LeftishBrit]

1. Here's a link to an article about her from The Times

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east

[shira]

2. Point / Counterpoint: No place for political objectors

Point / Counterpoint: No place for political objectors

<snip>

Igal Sarna, writing in The Sunday Times, tells the story of Omer Goldman, a political objector, who is refusing to serve in the IDF. She is currently incarcerated in a military prison. Omer is not a pacifist, - she is not against armies in general; rather she holds strong political views in opposition to Israel's occupation of the West Bank. According to the Sunday Times, Omer is the daughter of a former senior member of the Mossad.

While pondering Omer's actions, I recalled my own military service in the IDF, including twenty-five years in the reserves, and the service of my three children, - two daughters and a son. Each of us could have easily refused to serve, as Omer did, - Lord knows we had plenty to object to - but we didn't.

<snip>

Omer Goldman's actions also got me thinking about one of the most honorable principles of the IDF; something called 'an obviously illegal order'. Israeli soldiers are not required to obey all orders without question at all times. They are obligated by law to exercise judgment and they always carry the burden of that obligation. Israeli soldiers are not zombies; they are expected to think.

But they are required to carry out legal orders, even when they don't agree with them. This too is an important principle, without which there can be no functioning government and no state. That is why I, and my three children, fulfilled our duty as citizens, in the IDF.

The IDF is not an army of volunteers; it is a people's army where most Jewish citizens serve. True, some do not serve because they are unfit, or because serving contravenes their religion, or because they are pacifists. As unfortunate as these exceptions are, we accept them, even though together they represent a significant minority.

What we cannot accept is a refusal to serve for purely political reasons. And this is where my thoughts return to Omer Goldman. You see there may well be thousands of young people who hold political views similar to hers. And if Israel withdraws from the West Bank, as events seem to indicate that it might, there will be thousands with opposite political views to those held by Omer, who may want to disassociate themselves from the IDF in order to make their own political statement. And this too would be totally unacceptable and would similarly endanger the state.

How about the fact that there are not many objectors like Omer, who refuse to serve, and therefore the damage is minimal? We must still reject her behavior, because, like David Ben-Gurion, we must get an important message across to the people: the army is out of bounds when it comes to politics. We cannot survive with a politicized army, and even though there are occasional lapses in the way we apply this principle, it must be the goal towards which we strive.

Israel's democracy provides many legitimate avenues for civil protest. In this country, civil protests have influenced national policy, and have even brought down governments, and that is one of our strengths as a nation. Omer Goldman should take her political dissent to the civil arena. Her voice will be heard, and if she convinces enough people, she will influence national policy. But she must keep her politics away from the Israel Defense Forces.

That is why she is in jail.

http://cgis.jpost.com/Blogs/point/entry/no_place_for_political_objectors

[pelsar]

3. Her choice was purely political....

she decided to make a public stand of it (national service is always an legit alternative for the army). Going to jail was obviously not just part of the price she was willing to pay but in effect her choice.

These choices are part and parcel of a democratic country....as a citizen she should have a variety of choices to make, each with their own set of consequences....she simply chose the one that suited her own political views and in this case the consequence was jail time and lots of public discussion about her (obviously that was part of what she was looking for).