This moving book is a first-time look at Israeli soldiers who have refused orders on moral grounds, earning the name of "Refusenik" along with a prison sentence. These are the stories of people who believe in their country, but not in its actions beyond its borders. Peretz Kidron, a long-time Israeli citizen, retells the stories of these "refuseniks" from the 1982 invasion of Lebanon up to the current situation with Palestine. The stories, experiences, viewpoints, and even poetry from a great spectrum of Israelis are presented--officers, ordinary foot-soldiers, men and women, from various ethnic backgrounds and classes. The book also reveals the cautious and embarrassed response of the authorities, and the wider implications of the philosophy of selective refusal for conscientious citizens in every country where conscription still exists.
Peretz Kidron was born in Vienna in 1933. Months after the Nazi occupation of Austria, his family fled to Britain. On graduation from high school, he emigrated to Israel where he lived for 20 years in Zikim, a border kibbutz near the Gaza Strip, where he grew oranges, taught school, and engaged in voluntary work. A freelance journalist, broadcaster and writer, he has translated many books, including the memoirs of Yitzhak Rabin and Ezer Weizman, and a biography of David Ben Gurion. In 1976 he co-authored with the Palestinian activist, Raymonda Tawil, her memoirs My Home, My Prison.
In the late sixties, he became active in the radical left and peace movement. He is a founding member of the Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace and serves on the steering committee of the human rights watchdog Betselem. Having refused to perform military duty in the occupied Palestinian territories, he now handles international contacts for Yesh Gvul ('There is a limit [to what an army can ask of its conscripts]'). Founded at the time of the invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the group became the voice and campaigning vehicle for the so-called refuseniks -- Israeli army reservists who report for duty when summoned but refuse morally objectionable assignments (notably serving on the West Bank and Gaza).
Peretz Kidron was born in Vienna in 1933. Months after the Nazi occupation of Austria, his family fled to Britain. On graduation from high school, he emigrated to Israel where he lived for 20 years in Zikim, a border kibbutz near the Gaza Strip, where he grew oranges, taught school, and engaged in voluntary work. A freelance journalist, broadcaster and writer, he has translated many books, including the memoirs of Yitzhak Rabin and Ezer Weizman, and a biography of David Ben Gurion. In 1976 he co-authored with the Palestinian activist, Raymonda Tawil, her memoirs My Home, My Prison.
In the late sixties, he became active in the radical left and peace movement. He is a founding member of the Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace and serves on the steering committee of the human rights watchdog Betselem. Having refused to perform military duty in the occupied Palestinian territories, he now handles international contacts for Yesh Gvul ('There is a limit [to what an army can ask of its conscripts]'). Founded at the time of the invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the group became the voice and campaigning vehicle for the so-called refuseniks -- Israeli army reservists who report for duty when summoned but refuse morally objectionable assignments (notably serving on the West Bank and Gaza).
