jewish voice for peace

i just found their website and it has a lot of great stuff on it... JVP: Take action for Gaza

7 things you need to know about Gaza

Timeline: Israel's latest escalation in Gaza

Israel’s military assault on Gaza in 2008-09 represented an important turning point in my own relationship with Israel. I recall experiencing a new and previously unfamiliar feeling of anguish as Israel bombarded the people living in that tiny, besieged strip of land over and over, day after day after day. While I certainly felt a sense of tribal loyalty to the Israelis who withstood Qassam rocket fire from Gaza, I felt a newfound sense of concern and solidarity with Gazans who I believed were experiencing nothing short of oppression during this massive military onslaught.

And now it’s happening again. Only this time I don’t think the term “anguish” quite fits my mindset. Now it’s something much closer to rage.  Rabbi Rant: Outrage in Gaza Redux, by Rabbi Brent Rosen

i also remember the last major assault and how upset i was.  i've been opposed to Israel's attacks on Palestine for a long time now... since before I went to Israel with the Birthright program in 2005 (I had a really hard time deciding whether or not I should go, but I decided to do it so that I could see the place with my own eyes. and the whole place looks like a war zone... but that's another story).  Anyways, now, similar to how the Rabbi describes... I really feel rage.  I'm so angry and I don't know how to channel it.  I keep feeling like I want to cry.  So its good to visit sites like Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP)... feels like a breath of fresh air.  I discovered the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) during the last attacks, which also helped me feel better.  They dont seem to be as up-to-date as JVP this time, though.  

FREE THE SHMINISTIM – ISRAEL'S YOUNG CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS. The Shministim are Israeli high school students who have been imprisoned for refusing to serve in an army that occupies the Palestinian Territories. December 18, 2008 marked the launch date of a global campaign to release them from jail. Since then another Shministim letter was drafted for 2010, and now, in 2012, another group of Shministim are refusing and being imprisoned. http://december18th.org/

Who are the Shministim?

Shministim means “twelfth-graders” in Hebrew. Military service is mandatory after high school for young Jewish Israelis. The Shministim are Israeli youth who refuse to serve in the army because it enforces Israel’s 40-year occupation of the Palestinians.

Because of their principled refusal to serve in an occupying army, youth who sign the letter face jail terms in Israeli military prisons. Terms range from 21 to 28 days; those who refuse to wear a military uniform while in jail are sent to solitary confinement for the duration of their term.

After completing their sentence, they are then drafted again and if they refuse a second time, as most do, they face the same sentence. This can be a repeated process in which Shministim return home for a few days or longer and are then drafted and then imprisoned. Even through they refuse to serve, they still in a sense ‘belong’ to the military until they receive their discharge papers. A Shministi may never receive these papers, and although the Israeli military may tire of re-calling objectors into prison regularly, without these papers, an objector’s fate is always uncertain. There is literally no end to the number of times youth might be sent back to jail.