soldiers

Kids in army uniforms are everywhere. When you turn 18 years old as an Israeli citizen, you begin your 3 year mandatory military service. It has become part of the normal every day life in Israel to sit on a bus next to green-clad soldiers with backpacks heading home for the weekend or to see teenaged girls shopping with rifles slung across their backs. Initially it is shocking to see someone who looks like they are in middle school holding a gun, but you sort of get over it and just begin to accept it as normal.

Do they want to be there? There seem to be a lot of answers. Some Israelis I've met say: No way, this is slavery, completely forced on me, I would rather be studying/ working/ traveling/ doing anything else but giving away 3 years of my youth. Others say: I don’t like it but it is necessary for my country, or the famous “I’m just doing my job” line. Still others probably love the power it gives them.

What is it like here in Palestine when high-schoolers have guns, camo, and a walkie-talkie? I still think that lots of 18 year olds in any society are trying to get out of being treated like a kid... finally here they are able to call the shots. They can control other people’s lives now! And too often, you see it at checkpoints or demonstrations where these young people act in an unnecessarily violent or condescending manner towards Palestinians.

Why don’t the ones who hate it find some way out of it? There are some ways to do so – psychological or physical exemption, claiming you are a pacifist (but this only works if you are female!?!), etc. I asked a couple of people why more don’t find a way out if they would rather not be there, and the answer was basically that it is really looked down upon to do that... of course most people this age just want to fit in and be accepted.

What about refusing? Well, not only are you probably outcast from the mainstream youth culture, but you also might face jail time. However, the movement of “refuseniks” is growing; and it is a really exciting thing to hear. Last week at a demonstration, I met an 18 year old anarchist who told me about an action at her high school involving chaining herself to fence in protest of a visit from a military lecturer. So there is hope for changing this increasingly militarized, violence-is-normal society. Click here to read an inspiring and awesome letter written by high school students refusing to join the military: http://www.shministim.org/letterenglish.html