63 Israeli teens

News in Brief by PN

On 28 December, 63 Israeli teenagers signed an open letter to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu declaring that they will refuse military service because the Israeli army ‘carries out a racist government policy that enforces one legal system for Israelis and another for Palestinian in the same territory’. The 63 say they will not take any part in ‘the occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people’.

As the Israeli army does not recognise conscientious objection based on rejection of the occupation, these refusers are likely to receive repeated prison sentences of up to four weeks each.