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ISR12723-311002
31 October 2002


ISRAEL: Mistreatment of refusenik Yigal Bronner


War Resisters' International learned today that Yigal Bronner (ISR12723), who was sentenced for refusing to serve in the Occupied Territories on 28 October 2002 (see ISR12666-12723to12727-301002,  http://wri-irg.org/news/htdocs/30102002b.html), has been picked out for exceptionally harsh treatment. Possibly in "retribution" for his outspoken "Letter to a general" (see below), Yigal Bronner is being subjected to systematic ill-treatment and humiliation.


According to information received from Yesh Gvul, regimental commander Shlomo Yerushalmi decided not so send Yigal Bronner to a military prison, as is normal for other reservists sentenced for refusal, instead holding him at a detention camp for conscripts, in contravention of IDF regulations. He is made to work from 6am to 9pm, scrubbing dishes in a kitchen. He is forbidden to speak to any of his fellow prisoners during the whole day, and is also subject to other petty restrictions: his personal belongings have been impounded, he is forbidden to wear a watch, but is required to wear a hat at all times.
War Resisters' International is concerned about this treatment of Yigal Bronner, which Yesh Gvul sees as an act of vendetta on the part of the regimental commander.


Therefore War Resisters' International calls for protest faxes and letters to:


Minister of Defense,
E-mail: mailto: sar@mod.gov.il or mailto: pniot@mod.gov.il
Fax: ++972-3-696-27-57 / ++972-3-691-69-40 / ++972-3-691-79-15


Military Attorney General:
Brig. Gen. Menachem Finklestein
Fax: ++972-3-569-43-70


Please send a copy of your letter to  yigalbronner@yahoo.com


Andreas Speck
War Resisters' International



Yigal Bronner's "Letter to a general":
Yigal Bronner teaches South Asian Literature at Tel Aviv University. He is active in Ta'ayush-- Jewish-Arab Partnership which extends humanitarian and political support to the Palestinian population in the occupied territories, and took a leading part in its campaign on behalf of a community of cave-dwelling shepherds in the South Hebron area.



MY REPLY TO THE GENERAL


Yigal Brunner



General, your tank is a powerful vehicle
It smashes down a forest, it crushes a hundred persons
But it has one defect
It needs a driver.
Bethold Brecht, 1938


Dear General,


You wrote to me recently that "in view of the extended state of war in which we find ourselves ... and in view of the resultant operational requirements, I am summoned to "operational duties in the Horon sectors". I am writing to let you know that I have no intention of responding to that summons.


During the eighties, Ariel Sharon erected dozens of colonies for settlers in the very heart of the occupied territories, a demarche whose ultimate aim was the utter repression and dispossession of the Palestinian people. Today, those colonies control close on half the area, stifling the expansion of Palestinian towns and villages and preventing the movement of their inhabitants. In this new century, Sharon - now prime minister - is preparing the final stages of that project. He has dictated the operational orders to his scribe, the minister of defence, and from there they was transmitted down the chain of command.


The Chief of Staff declared that the Palestinians are a cankerous threat and gave instructions to subject them to chemotherapy. The Head of Central Command gave instructions to impose a curfew of unlimited duration. The Brigade Commander stationed tanks on the hills and between the houses, and forbade Palestinian ambulances from evacuating their wounded. The Battalion Commander announced that the rules of engagement ("open fire orders") would henceforth read: "The order is - open fire !" The tank commander observed a number of persons residing in a suspicious manner in their homes, and ordered the gunner to blast off a round.


I'm the gunner. I'm the final small cog in the wheel of this sophisticated war machine. I am the last and least link in the chain of command. I am just supposed to obey orders. To reduce myself to stimulus-and-response. To hear the command "Fire !" and squeeze the trigger. To burn it into the awareness of every Palestinian. To complete the grand demarche. And do it all with the natural simplicity of a robot who senses nothing beyond the shaking of the tank as the shell is ejected from the gun barrel and flies to its target.


But as Brecht wrote further:


General, man is very useful
He can fly, and he can kill.
But he has one defect.
He can think.


And so, mon general, whoever you are, battalion commander, chief of staff, minister, prime minister - one or all of the above - I am capable of thought. Maybe I can't do much beyond that. I have to confess that as a soldier, I'm not particularly gifted or courageous. I'm not a good marksman. My technical abilities are minimal. I'm no great sportsman either, and I can't even get my uniform to fit me too well. But thinking is something I'm up to.


I can see where you're leading me. I can understand that we shall kill and crush, wound and die, and it will never end. I know that "the extended state of war in which we find ourselves" will extend on and on. I can deduce that the "resultant operational requirements" require us to hunt down and starve an entire nation, something about those "requirements" has gone badly wrong.


Therefore I have to turn down your summons to duty. I won't come along to squeeze the trigger on your behalf.


Of course, I have no illusions. To you I am a buzzing gnat that you will swat and try to crush before striding on. You'll find yourself another gunner, more obedient and gifted than me. There's no shortage. Your tank will rumble on. One single gnat can't halt a tank, certainly not a column of tanks, certainly not the entire march of folly. But the gnat can buzz, irritate, infuriate, occasionally even - sting. Ultimately, more and more gunners, drivers and commanders, who will see more and more aimless killing, will also start thinking and buzzing. There are already many hundreds of us. Ultimately our buzzing will ascend into a deafening outcry that will echo in your ears and the ears of your children, and on the pages of history for many generations.


So general, before you swipe me way, maybe you too should do a little thinking.


Yours sincerely,


Yigal Bronner






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