Some years ago, when the jury for the annual Israel
Prize announced its award to Professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz, I
decided to invite him to give a lecture to the Israeli Council
for Israeli-Palestinian Peace
I shall speak only about the duty to
refuse to serve in the occupied territories."
In his usual provocative style, Leibowitz compared the
Special Units of the Israeli army to the Nazi SS.
But Leibowitz was no pacifist. He did
not advocate a general refusal to bear arms, but the refusal
to serve the occupation.
He believed in the moral value of this
refusal, in the duty of every moral person to draw a line between
himself and an unjust regime and to declare that he will not
lend his hand to a policy that is inhuman, immoral and illegal
by its very nature.
He also believed that the personal example
of the objectors was bound to influence the general public.
If A has the right to refuse to serve the occupation,
B has the right to refuse to remove settlements.
clipped from: www.counterpunch.org