Every year, as we write out our annual report, we say, “This year was undoubtedly our most challenging”, and 2009 was no exception to the rule. As you will read in the pages below, not only were our continued activities against the militarization of Israeli society demanding, we in fact managed to increase them. We found that in spite of all the critical political events during this year, some of which were specifically aimed to interfere with our activities, we were able to maintain work on our regular projects. We kept steadily in stride with the fast pace of the events of the day which most notably included:

• The war and ongoing blockade against Gaza
• The election and formation of an ultra right wing government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, which has since led a public and legislative campaign to delegitimize the work of human rights and (left-wing) social change movements in Israel in general.

And pertaining more specifically to our own work:

• The police investigation into New Profile’s activities, the subsequent interrogation of several New Profile members, and the confiscation of their private computers and some of those of their family members.
• The attempt to discredit us and the threat to strip us of our NGO status by the “Forum for an Equal Share of the Burden”.
• The banning of New Profile from public high school premises by the Ministry of Education.

Having survived these critical obstacles, New Profile, now into its twelfth year, is recognized as one of the movements that may effect social change in Israel. We continue to produce and express our unrelenting critical analysis and to insist on our right to voice a different opinion.

Through our perseverance and belief that change is possible, and having stood up against the serious obstacles of 2009, we find that we have gained more acceptability internationally and to some extent nationally. We have strengthened our networks and have become a source of reference.

Yet, not unlike a large family, throughout all these challenges, we faced new internal tests too. The police investigation brought with it an intense need for containment and as much mutual support as possible. By rallying together, we confirmed the power of grassroots movements and how they are capable of shaking the pillars of the establishment.

Throughout 2009 we continued to review our internal processes and provided congenial settings that stimulated shared brainstorming. We held a weekend retreat to discuss feminism and to provide a space for free dialog. We held a workshop on consensus decision-making. We held several meetings on how an organization such as New Profile, some of whose members receive salaries (in this case, almost everyone who works in the projects directed at youth), and with a majority of volunteer activists, can maintain a just balance that is acceptable to all. This led to a discussion on fair employment, part time employment and organizational efficiency; an ongoing dialogue in 2010.

We believe that cooperation with politically like-minded individuals and organizations outside Israel is vital to our activity. The need for this is especially underlined by Israel’s dangerous tendency, which sadly increases and deepens each time it engages in more military violence to maintain the illegal and unjust occupation, to consider itself internationally isolated and surrounded by enemies. Working together with supportive critics of Israeli policies worldwide we believe we maintain and build the basis for political and social change in our region.

And already 2010 is proving to be as challenging as 2009. However it is important for us to note that nothing of what New Profile accomplishes can be done without your kind and ongoing support. We truly appreciate your interest and backing. Thank you all.

New Profile Activists, June 2010

[Click here to read the full report]

- Please distribute widely -

Shir Regev was sentenced to a third term of 34 days in military prison.

CO Shir Regev, has returned to prison for the third time. He was sentenced on 14 July to 34 days of imprisonment, which he is serving in Military Prison no. 6 near Athlit.

In his statement of refusal (repeated here from our previous update on his case) shir wrote:

I believe it is my personal duty to refuse and defect from an army whose main purpose is to serve as an occupation police for maintaining “Israeli order” and imposing it on defenseless Palestinians who are denied citizenship.

And what is this “Israeli order” ? It is an ongoing process, in effect over 42 years, comprising a military regime over the Palestinians, denying them access to the Palestinian community resources of land, water, agricultural crops and ores. It also entails pollution of their land and their streams, along with support for disenfranchisement by settlers who live in the same areas, under a separate system of seemingly democratic laws. And I have not even mentioned the violation of more basic Palestinian human rights, like denying their freedom of movement, and causing bodily harm, including mass killing, without due investigation of alleged criminal offenses of the gravest kind recognized in Israeli law. Carried out in a territory under military occupation, these acts also constitute war crimes and other violations under international law.

Since I have the medical profile of a “combat soldier”, had I joined the army, there is no doubt I would have been sent to serve this ‘Mafiosi’ system, which has almost nothing to do with the IDF’s designated role as “Defense Forces”… This is an army that serves interests in which I do not believe. Therefore, in the dilemma between doing such service and obeying my conscience, I have no doubt about my decision. The day will come when my decision is appreciated by people who presently deny the horrible reality which we as a society are creating for another people and the damage we are inflicting on the souls of many young Israelis who may not be aware of the moral degradation in which they take part.

Shir Regev is due to be released from prison on 13 August. His address in prison is:

Shir Regev
Military ID 5966205
Military Prison No. 6
Military Postal Code 01860, IDF
Israel
Fax: ++972-4-9540580

Since the prison authorities often block mail from reaching imprisoned objectors, we also recommend you to send them your letters of support and encouragement via e-mail to: messages2prison@newprofile.org (hitting “reply all” to this message will send the message to the same address), and they will be printed out and delivered during visits.

Recommended Action
First of all, please circulate this message and the information contained in it as widely as possible, not only through e-mail, but also on websites, social networks, conventional media, by word of mouth, etc.

Other recommendations for action:

1. Sending Letters of Support

Please send the imprisoned objectors letters of support (preferably postcards or by fax and by e-mail) to the prison addresses above.

2. Letters to Authorities

It is recommended to send letters of protest on the objectors’ behalf, preferably by fax, to:

Mr. Ehud Barak,
Minister of Defence,
Ministry of Defence,
Hakirya,
Tel-Aviv 64743,
Israel.
E-mail: sar@mod.gov.il or pniot@mod.gov.il
Tel.: ++972-3-6975540 or ++972-3-6975423
Fax: ++972-3-6976711

Copies of your letters can also be sent to the commander of the military prison at:

Commander of Military Prison No. 6,
Military Prison No. 6
Military Postal Code 01860, IDF
Israel
Fax: ++972-4-9540580

Another useful address for sending copies would be the Military Attorney General (note updated fax number):

Avichai Mandelblit,
Chief Military Attorney
Military postal code 9605, IDF
Israel
Fax: ++972-3-569-45-26

It would be especially useful to send your appeals to the Commander of the Induction Base in Tel-HaShomer. It is this officer that ultimately decides whether an objector is to be exempted from military service or sent to another round in prison, and it is the same officer who is ultimately in charge of the military Conscience Committee:

Gadi Agmon,
Commander of Induction Base,
Meitav, Tel-HaShomer
Military Postal Code 02718, IDF
Israel.
Fax: ++972-3-737-60-52

For those of you who live outside Israel, it would be very effective to send protests to your local Israeli embassy. You can find the address of your local embassy on the web.

Here is a generic sample letter, which you can use in sending appeals to authorities on the prisoners’ behalf. Feel free to modify this letter or write your own:

Dear Sir/Madam,

It has come to my attention that Shir Regev (Military ID 5966205), a conscientious objector to military service, has been repeatedly imprisoned for his refusal to become part of the Israeli army, and is held in Military Prison no. 6 near Atlit.

The imprisonment of conscientious objectors such as Shir Regev is a violation of international law, of basic human rights and of plain morals. This is especially clear in cases, such as Regev’s, in which conscientious objectors are being sentenced more than once for their self-same decision to refuse enlistment.

I therefore call for the immediate and unconditional release from prison of Shir Regev, without threat of further imprisonment in the future, and urge you and the system you are heading to respect the dignity and person of conscientious objectors, indeed of all persons, in the future.

Sincerely,

3. Letters to media in Israel and in other countries

Writing op-ed pieces and letters to editors of media in Israel and other countries could also be quite useful in indirectly but powerfully pressuring the military authorities to let go of the objectors and in bringing their plight and their cause to public attention.

Here are some contact details for the main media outlets in Israel:

We will continue updating on further developments.

I have watched government after government in Israel present itself as a respectable, normal member of the club of developed countries; open, democratic, cultured and liberal. Israel recently launched a major “re-branding” campaign, emphasizing diversity, richness, creativeness, to divert attention away from its warring belligerence. Israel’s leaders are deeply committed to keeping up their positive self-image.

I have noted the special privileges granted time and again on the pretext of this image. The US awards Israel billions every year for “defense” in the form of planes, missiles, guns and ammunition. Just this May, the organization of so-called developed countries (OECD) granted Israel full membership, after years of Israeli lobbying. Israel bases its equal footing in such clubs on its claim to democracy.

It is time for us all to hold it to that claim. Accountable. Not only privilege-able. Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) to end the occupation, reject, and actively remove, Israel’s mask of “business as usual.”

Each of us, each of you, can draw the line through BDS and act as a caring, responsible citizen of the world. To end Israel’s 43-year-old occupation. To end the unacceptable, criminal siege of Gaza. To end racist laws and policies inside Israel, openly targeting the Palestinian citizens of Israel. To end more than sixty years of ongoing dispossession of the Palestinian people.

Inside Israel, BDS has already started to work. It is working where years of other civil society strategies have achieved far too little. For the first time in a very long while, many Israelis around me are sitting up and taking notice: Notice that there is still an occupation in place 43 years down the line, an occupation “out there” beyond their “normal” lives and beyond the self-perpetuated “existential threat.” Notice that millions the world over believe “ordinary” Israelis — both personally and collectively — have something to do with this occupation. Notice that it just may turn out to be too costly.

For weeks now, dozens of items in Israeli media have reported on BDS developments, speculating on its chances and consequences. Israel’s cabinet recently addressed the boycott of settlement goods by the Palestinian Authority. In May, a Harvard professor warned a Tel Aviv University conference of the grave strategic threat of Israel’s crumbling legitimacy. Ignoring the country’s record, he chalked up waning legitimacy to BDS, blaming individual activists who, he actually implied, were traitors. BDS activists in Israel regularly receive veiled and less veiled threats, including one recent death threat, in the media, through employers’ reprimands, in the form of (so far) threatened legal suits, through university email lists and colleagues’ petitions. A new bill making its way through Israel’s legislature would criminalize support for BDS, past or present — turning this op-ed into incriminating evidence against its author. Israel’s minister of education has preempted legislation, already pledging punishment for academics who support BDS. All this is clear evidence that BDS has started to make its mark on society here in Israel.

Meanwhile, internationally, civil society organizations are passing resolutions in support of BDS — trade unions, student bodies, municipalities, football teams, even one government — in Norway, South Africa, Britain, New Hampshire, California, Sweden, France.

In 2005, Palestinian civil society groups came together to voice a powerful joint call for Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions. Activist groups all over the world and inside Israel have subscribed to this call and declared their support. BDS is a political tool claimed and operated by international civil society where other tools seem ineffective; When international institutions and governments are failing; When a long overdue need to end severe oppression is not being met. Today BDS may be the only non-violent tool capable of moving Israel beyond its patterns of militarized brutality.

Courageously and creatively, BDS faces violence with a firm commitment to non-violence. It stands in solidarity first and foremost with Palestinians, and then with humanity — with the thousands of internationals and Israelis who have chosen nonviolent resistance as their means to oppose and end the oppression of Palestine.

A tool, a strategy, not an end in itself, BDS is meant to work. As it did in the past when a 1953 boycott of segregated buses jump-started the crucial years of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States; when the African American community of Baton Rouge boycotted and faced down a Louisiana court ruling; when, two years later, Rosa Parks refused to sit in the back of a Montgomery bus and initiated the Montgomery bus boycott; when the massive school boycott in 1965 galvanized the movement again in Cook County, as more than 100,000 African American students stayed home from disgraceful schools despite a court injunction; when the world movement to resist South African apartheid gradually gained ground throughout the sixties to the dismay of successive US and British governments; when this movement kept growing, refusing to go away.

Today, BDS can make it increasingly difficult for Israel’s government to keep up the occupation and the internal repression. Hiking up costs, it can make occupying unprofitable and racism disgraceful. Meanwhile, and no less important, it is already allowing Israeli society a clear reality check, reflecting what it looks like to international civil society, and capturing what it has become.

BDS is a means to justice for those to whom it has been denied. Not against, but rather for, both Israel and Palestine, it aims to end the policies destroying the lives of Palestinians and devouring the humanity of Israelis. BDS supports the livable, viable futures of all the people of this land.

To View the exhibition full size, press here

Conscientious objector Diane Kogan was sentenced to 25 days in military prison. This is her second prison term and the sixth time she is tried and sentenced for her refusal to enlist.

CO Diane Kogan, 18, of the Tel-Aviv suburb of Bat Yam, was sentenced yesterday (13 June) to 25 days of imprisonment for her refusal to enlist, and was transfered today (14 June) to Military Prison No. 400 in Tzrifin.

This is in fact the second time Diane is being sent to prison and the sixth time she is being sentenced for her conscientious objection. She was first sentenced to 20 days in prison on her designated enlistment date, 15 April. However, she was then told that the military prison for women was full, and was told to report every day at the Induction Base in Tel Hashomer. Diane decided she is not willing to perform military duties de facto as a substitute for imprisonment and returned home. Diane returned to the Induction Base on 25 April and was this time sentenced to 10 days in prison and actually imprisoned. Upon her release, on 4 May, she was again sentenced for her refusal to enlist, this time to 20 days of confinement to base. She decided to go home again, for the same reasons as before, and returned when the confinement term was over, on 24 May. She was then sentenced for the fourth time – this time a conditional sentence of 7 days in prison, plus a continuation of her term of confinement to base (again – an instruction that Diane decided not to obey). On 7 Jun she returned to the Induction Base and was sentenced to 10 more days of confinement to base, and finally, yesterday, after spending more time at home, she was sent to prison for the second time. It seems the military has recently been taking some pains to avoid publicity in conscientious objection cases.

In a statement explaining her refusal to enlist, Diane Kogan says:

I refuse to enlist to the Army because I strongly believe that a military system will never help to achieve peace.

The Military is a violent force because it teaches how to solve conflict by using offensive means, such as weapons and brute force. It makes no sense that one side will use violence as a way towards peace in hope that the other side will just accept it.

Violence leads to violence and eventually to war, which then leads to more wars. Bloodshed is not the way and should be avoided at all cost.

Therefore I wholeheartedly decline to cooperate with the military system (and its ideals), which I think is rotten from the core, and is far away from ever achieving peace among people.

Diane Kogan is due to be released from prison on 7 July. Her address in prison is:

Diane Kogan
Military ID 5776284
Military Prison No. 400
Military Postal Code 02447, IDF
Israel
Fax: ++972-3-9579389

Since the prison authorities often block mail from reaching imprisoned objectors, we also recommend you to send them your letters of support and encouragement via e-mail to: messages2prison@newprofile.org, and they will be printed out and delivered during visits.

Recommended Action
First of all, please circulate this message and the information contained in it as widely as possible, not only through e-mail, but also on websites, social networks, conventional media, by word of mouth, etc.

Other recommendations for action:

1. Sending Letters of Support

Please send the imprisoned objectors letters of support (preferably postcards or by fax and/or via e-mail) to the prison addresses above.

2. Letters to Authorities

It is recommended to send letters of protest on the objectors’ behalf, preferably by fax, to:

Mr. Ehud Barak,
Minister of Defence,
Ministry of Defence,
Hakirya,
Tel-Aviv 64743,
Israel.
E-mail: sar@mod.gov.il or pniot@mod.gov.il
Tel.: ++972-3-6975540 or ++972-3-6975423
Fax: ++972-3-6976711

Copies of your letters can also be sent to the commander of the military prison at:

Commander of Military Prison No. 400,
Military Prison No. 400
Military Postal Code 02447, IDF
Israel
Fax: ++972-3-9579389

Another useful address for sending copies would be the Military Attorney General (note updated fax number):

Avichai Mandelblit,
Chief Military Attorney
Military postal code 9605, IDF
Israel
Fax: ++972-3-569-45-26

It would be especially useful to send your appeals to the Commander of the Induction Base in Tel-HaShomer. It is this officer that ultimately decides whether an objector is to be exempted from military service or sent to another round in prison, and it is the same officer who is ultimately in charge of the military Conscience Committee:

Gadi Agmon,
Commander of Induction Base,
Meitav, Tel-HaShomer
Military Postal Code 02718, IDF
Israel.
Fax: ++972-3-737-60-52

For those of you who live outside Israel, it would be very effective to send protests to your local Israeli embassy. You can find the address of your local embassy on the web.

Here is a generic sample letter, which you can use in sending appeals to authorities on the prisoners’ behalf. Feel free to modify this letter or write your own:

Dear Sir/Madam,

It has come to my attention that Diane Kogan (Military ID 5776284), a conscientious objector to military service, has been repeatedly sentenced and imprisoned for her refusal to become part of the Israeli army, and is held in Military Prison no. 400 for women in Tzrifin.

The imprisonment of conscientious objectors such as Diane Kogan is a violation of international law, of basic human rights and of plain morals. This is especially clear in cases, such as Kogan’s, in which conscientious objectors are being sentenced many times for their self-same decision to refuse enlistment.

I therefore call for the immediate and unconditional release from prison of Diane Kogan, without threat of further imprisonment, and urge you and the system you are heading to respect the dignity and person of conscientious objectors, indeed of all persons, in the future.

Sincerely,

3. Letters to media in Israel and in other countries

Writing op-ed pieces and letters to editors of media in Israel and other countries could also be quite useful in indirectly but powerfully pressuring the military authorities to let go of the objectors and in bringing their plight and their cause to public attention.

Here are some contact details for the main media outlets in Israel:

We will continue updating on further developments.

Shir Regev, a conscientious objectors and anti-Occupation activist, was sentenced to 10 days in military prison. This is his second prison term in a row. Also, three previously imprisoned objectors have been exempted from military service and two others await imprisonment later on.

CO Shir Regev, 20, from the village of Tuval in the North of Israel, an anarchist and anti-Occupation activist, has began serving his second prison term (10 days) on 24 Mar. Shir chose not to show up at the Induction Base on his intended enlistment date, and was later arrested and sentenced to 20 days in prison on 2 March (at that point he did not yet authorise publicising his case, which is why we are only reporting about it now). He is presently held in Military Prison no. 6 near Athlit.

In a statement he has made before going to prison, Shir says:

I believe it is my personal duty to refuse and defect from an army whose main purpose is to serve as an occupation police for maintaining “Israeli order” and imposing it on defenseless Palestinians who are denied citizenship.

And what is this “Israeli order” ? It is an ongoing process, in effect over 42 years, comprising a military regime over the Palestinians, denying them access to the Palestinian community resources of land, water, agricultural crops and ores. It also entails pollution of their land and their streams, along with support for disenfranchisement by settlers who live in the same areas, under a separate system of seemingly democratic laws. And I have not even mentioned the violation of more basic Palestinian human rights, like denying their freedom of movement, and causing bodily harm, including mass killing, without due investigation of alleged criminal offenses of the gravest kind recognized in Israeli law. Carried out in a territory under military occupation, these acts also constitute war crimes and other violations under international law.

Since I have the medical profile of a “combat soldier”, had I joined the army, there is no doubt I would have been sent to serve this ‘Mafiosi’ system, which has almost nothing to do with the IDF’s designated role as “Defense Forces”… This is an army that serves interests in which I do not believe. Therefore, in the dilemma between doing such service and obeying my conscience, I have no doubt about my decision. The day will come when my decision is appreciated by people who presently deny the horrible reality which we as a society are creating for another people and the damage we are inflicting on the souls of many young Israelis who may not be aware of the moral degradation in which they take part.

Shir Regev is due to be released from prison on 1 April. His address in prison is:

Shir Regev
Military ID 5966205
Military Prison No. 6
Military Postal Code 01860, IDF
Israel
Fax: ++972-4-9540580

Since the prison authorities often block mail from reaching imprisoned objectors, we also recommend you to send them your letters of support and encouragement via e-mail to our friends in Yesh Gvul: yeshgvul2001@yahoo.com, and they will be printed out and delivered during visits.

The Recommended Action section below will be focusing on Shir Regev’s case, as he is the only declared conscientious objector we know is in prison at the moment. However, some other updates are due. First of all, we can report that COs Or Ben-David and Efi Brenner have both been finally exempted from military service on health grounds and are not expected to be imprisoned again. Thanks a lot to all those who acted on their behalf. Another recently exempted objector is R.K., who has been imprisoned several times over the recent months, but asked explicitly not to publicise his case in any way at the time.

CO Emelia Marcovici, a signatory of the 2009-2010 high school seniors letter, has reported at the military Induction Base back on 1 Feb. and was sentenced to 10 days of confinement to base. Subsequently she decided to delay her return and face imprisonment later on. Walaa Naffaa is also delaying his return to prison. Both are likely to spend time behind bars in the future. We will, of course, update on any further developments.

Finally, Y.G., a pacifist conscientious objector, has served a 14-day prison term back in January, followed by a term of confinement to base. We learned about her case after the fact through Or Ben-David, who met her in the Induction Base. While she has not been finally exempted from military service yet, she is not likely to be imprisoned again at this point.

Recommended Action

First of all, please circulate this message and the information contained in it as widely as possible, not only through e-mail, but also on websites, social networks, conventional media, by word of mouth, etc.

Other recommendations for action:

1. Sending Letters of Support

Please send the imprisoned objectors letters of support (preferably postcards or by fax) to the prison addresses above.

2. Letters to Authorities

It is recommended to send letters of protest on the objectors’ behalf, preferably by fax, to:

Mr. Ehud Barak,
Minister of Defence,
Ministry of Defence,
Hakirya,
Tel-Aviv 64743,
Israel.
E-mail: sar@mod.gov.il or pniot@mod.gov.il
Tel.: ++972-3-6975540 or ++972-3-6975423
Fax: ++972-3-6976711

Copies of your letters can also be sent to the commander of the military prison at:

Commander of Military Prison No. 6,
Military Prison No. 6
Military Postal Code 01860, IDF
Israel
Fax: ++972-4-9540580

Another useful address for sending copies would be the Military Attorney General (note updated fax number):

Avichai Mandelblit,
Chief Military Attorney
Military postal code 9605, IDF
Israel
Fax: ++972-3-569-45-26

It would be especially useful to send your appeals to the Commander of the Induction Base in Tel-HaShomer. It is this officer that ultimately decides whether an objector is to be exempted from military service or sent to another round in prison, and it is the same officer who is ultimately in charge of the military Conscience Committee:

Gadi Agmon,
Commander of Induction Base,
Meitav, Tel-HaShomer
Military Postal Code 02718, IDF
Israel.
Fax: ++972-3-737-60-52

For those of you who live outside Israel, it would be very effective to send protests to your local Israeli embassy. You can find the address of your local embassy on the web.

Here is a generic sample letter, which you can use in sending appeals to authorities on the prisoners’ behalf. Feel free to modify this letter or write your own:

Dear Sir/Madam,It has come to my attention that Shir Regev (Military ID 5966205), a conscientious objector to military service, has been repeatedly imprisoned for his refusal to become part of the Israeli army, and is held in Military Prison no. 6 near Atlit.

The imprisonment of conscientious objectors such as Shir Regev is a violation of international law, of basic human rights and of plain morals. This is especially clear in cases, such as Regev’s, in which conscientious objectors are being sentenced more than once for their self-same decision to refuse enlistment.

I therefore call for the immediate and unconditional release from prison of Shir Regev, without threat of further imprisonment in the future, and urge you and the system you are heading to respect the dignity and person of conscientious objectors, indeed of all persons, in the future.

Sincerely,

3. Letters to media in Israel and in other countries

Writing op-ed pieces and letters to editors of media in Israel and other countries could also be quite useful in indirectly but powerfully pressuring the military authorities to let go of the objectors and in bringing their plight and their cause to public attention.

Here are some contact details for the main media outlets in Israel:

We will continue updating on further developments.

Thank you for your attention and action

This report, entitled NGO Answers to the List of Issues, compiles data provided by seven organisations* and was submitted to the Committee in December 2009, ahead of the review of Israel’s compliance with OPAC in January 2010. It includes thorough and up-to-date information on the recruitment practices of the Israeli state armed forces, and Palestinian and Israeli non-state actors. It also expands upon the militarisation of Israeli society at large.

[Read the full report] [Read the CRC Concluding Observations on Israel] [Also on the same topic: The New Profile Report on Child Recruitment in Israel, 2004]

More specifically, the 41-page report is based, inter alia, on: Adalah’s expertise on the legal and practical aspects of the Israeli military’s use of civilians as human shields; DCI-Palestine’s research and field documentation of the impact of Operation Cast Lead, and its experience of representing Palestinian children accused of security offences in Israeli military courts; New Profile’s expertise on Israel’s recruitment laws and practices, its knowledge about the administration of military schools in Israel, and its research on the militarisation of the Israeli education system; Yesh Din’s expertise on the Israeli military court system; and UNICEF’s perspective on the Israeli government’s support towards the implementation of the child rights monitoring and reporting mechanism set up by UN Security Council Resolution 1612.

On 19 January 2010, Israel’s OPAC implementation was reviewed by the Committee on the Rights of the Child. Committee members probed the Israeli government delegation on the following topics, among others:

• Applicability of the Convention in the OPT
• Use of Palestinian children as human shields
• Detention of Palestinian children by Israeli authorities
• Israeli military juvenile courts
• Age of minimum recruitment in Israel
• Israeli military schools
• Operation Cast Lead
• Construction of the Wall in the West Bank
• Israeli landmines in the Golan.

On 29 January 2010, the Committee on the Rights of the Child issued its Concluding Observations to Israel.

*Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Right in Israel (Contributor); Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (Contributor); DCI-Israel – Defence for Children International-Israel Section (Author); DCI-Palestine – Defence for Children International-Palestine Section (Author); New Profile – Movement for the Civilization of Israeli Society (Author); UNICEF – United Nations Children’s Fund-OPT (Contributor); Yesh Din – Volunteers for Human Rights (Contributor).

BACKGROUND INFORMATION – OPAC Timeline

On 18 July 2005, Israel ratified the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC). As a State Party to OPAC, Israel was due to report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child – the body in charge of monitoring implementation of the Convention and its Protocols – two years after ratification.

In March 2008, Israel submitted its Initial State Party Report, one year late. The report made no mention of the situation of children – Palestinian or Israeli – living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).

In July 2009, DCI-Israel and DCI-Palestine submitted a joint Alternative Report to the Committee in order to provide Committee members with complementary information relating to implementation of OPAC in the OPT.

On 6 October 2009, at the end of its 52nd Session, the Committee held a pre-session meeting on Israel’s OPAC Initial State Party Report and invited representatives of DCI-Israel and DCI-Palestine to present the contents of their Alternative Report to them. The Committee had many questions on Israel’s child recruitment practices in the OPT.

On 15 October 2009, shortly after the pre-session meeting on Israel, the Committee sent its List of Issues (22 questions) to the Israeli government, expressing its concern and requesting further information on a range of issues, a majority of them connected to the OPT, over which the Committee considers that Israel has jurisdiction. The government was given until 19 November 2009 to send its responses in writing.

On 7 January 2010, Israel forwarded its Written Replies to the List of Issues to the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

On 28 December 2009, NGOs sent their own replies to the Committee. The List of Issues had also benn forwarded to NGOs in Israel and the OPT, to encourage them to submit updated and complementary information to the Committee. Expert contributions from Israeli, Palestinian, international and UN organisations were compiled in the NGO Answers to the List of Issues.

On 19 January 2010, from 3:00-6:00pm, an Israeli government delegation met members of the Committee in Geneva in order to answer questions on the implementation of OPAC in the territories over which Israel has jurisdiction.

On 29 January 2010, the Committee on the Rights of the Child issued its Concluding Observations.

March 2, 2010

It’s no coincidence that the non-profit created to enhance the funding of Israel’s army is holding an event at the New York Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

It was just last October that Israel’s State Comptroller investigated the outrageous bills run up at lavish hotels by the thirty-nine Israeli army and security officials who attended the Air Salon in Paris. Defense Minister Ehud Barak topped the list in a deluxe 2,500 Euro a night hotel suite.

Two months later, in December 2009, Israeli media revealed the equally lavish pension deal – approximating some 3 million Shekels – struck by a retiring general with the military after arranging a prematurely hiked up salary. “Everything connected to the terms of military pensions remains unknown,” wrote The Marker’s Meirav Arlosoroff, in her report on “these shady deals regarding senior officers’ leaving conditions.” These deals, she said, were “beyond any kind of external supervision. … [as] no one … can bring the IDF to disclose its data.”

The Waldorf Astoria is just another glimpse of this entrenched regime of extravagance and corruption.

Israel’s national security budget, 50 Billion Shekels in 2010, with 10 Billion more in US aid, coming from US taxpayers, is by far the largest portion of the public coffers allocated to any single government ministry. Itself a symptom and a benchmark of the state’s extreme militarization, it is moreover insulated from detailed examination by Israel’s elected representatives. The people entrusted with the dispensation of public funds towards implementing policy are in fact denied a transparent breakdown of this major portion of the budget. This has been the case for over sixty years, a perfect hothouse for corruption.

For decades now, Israel’s army and its security administration have enforced a brutal and criminal occupation upon the Palestinian people. At the very least, this choice of ostentatious venue reveals an arrogant, callous indifference to the intense human suffering inflicted by the military organization being honored by the Waldorf Astoria event. The Palestinian people withstanding this suffering are largely disregarded or viciously stereotyped and demonized both within and outside of Israel. In rallying to support Israel’s military, the “Friends of the IDF” align themselves with those acts of erasure and oppression. Their funding and fundraising help uphold the impunity with which such criminal acts continue to be committed. Perhaps less obviously, the “Friends of the IDF” also align themselves with a force that systematically undoes the democratic values and rights of all the people living in the state which the so-called Israel Defense Force claims to protect.

The gala event at the Waldorf Astoria, described on the “Friends of the IDF” website is “themed around the concept of education.” Indeed, education is one of the most militarized areas of civil society in Israel. The state education system, designed to perpetuate obedience to conscription law, produces and maintains the systemic militarization of state and society as it aggressively channels minors from a very young age towards enlistment. The end result – a population of young people with little critical capacity to make informed choices about conscription – is largely achieved by integrating a polarized, militarized world view into almost every aspect of school curricula. The system imbues youngsters with military-centered views, effectively entrenching paranoia while presenting the army as attractive and exciting. Students and teachers are commonly required to participate in lessons offered on school premises by uniformed officers and to visit a variety of military units in programs designed to naturalize armed conflict and enthuse future candidates for conscription. Enormous pressures both convince and oblige teachers to legitimize and normalize the militarized policy choices of warfare and to justify mandatory conscription. Precluding the encouragement of critical thinking, this means, in effect that Israeli youth are being educated as executors of the ongoing occupation of Palestine.

As a feminist movement that has been working for over a decade to challenge and reverse Israel’s militarization, its onslaught of destruction and self-destruction, New Profile: Movement for the Civil-ization of Israeli Society, is honored to stand with all of you today. Thank you for raising your voices against Israel’s impunity, against Israel’s war crimes, against Israel’s affront to human rights and democracy.

Diana Dolev & Rela Mazali
on behalf of New Profile

“If the United Nations and wider international community are to meet their responsibilities in upholding the rule of law,” New Profile wrote the U.N. Secretary-General, among others, “then concerted, effective and prompt action must be taken at the highest level to end the impunity and ensure the accountability of the State of Israel.”

Based on its long years of research-based, oppositional praxis, New Profile stated in conclusion, that, “the militarized system in place in Israel renders the State of Israel incapable of conducting its own implementation of the U.N. Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict.”

To read the entire analysis corroborating New Profile’s claim and first-hand information on recent silencing measures encountered by the movement, please see the full text of the letter (PDF).