BS"D
6 Teves, 5780 °° Jan. 3, '20
Parshas Vayigash
27-year-old Female Refusenik Languishing in Israeli Military Jail
An Update on the Crisis of Female Military Conscription in Israel
By Binyomin Feinberg
1.
URGENT ALERT: Ora bas Aliza, a national-religious woman of Ashdod -
now 27 years old - is presently languishing in Israeli Military Jail
Four, according to late word we received this morning, right before
Shabbos in Israel.
2. Reportedly, after civil police recently stopped her, Ora
was transferred to and incarcerated by Military Police - over a slight
delay in submitting her Religiosity- certification ("Tatzhir Dat") -- an
astounding TEN YEARS ago!
3. The "Tatzhir Dat" is the standard
"religiosity"-certification document required by the Army to exempt a
girl from military service on religious grounds. It used to be unheard
of for any religious girl to be arrested for simply being late in
sending in her documentation. But recently, numerous innocent religious
girls have been languishing in military prison, often under brutal
conditions, with the reason/ pretext that the Army didn't receive their
religiosity certification on time. In actuality, there are probably many
more such girls than we know of. Some of those may have ultimately
succumbed to pressure, and enlisted in the Army. Escalating the
conscription of religious girls is the apparent goal of this harsh
treatment of non-violent, religious girls.
4.
Historically, any girl who was even slightly Torah-observant generally
obtained an exemption from the military draft. However, in recent
years, that's changed dramatically. For example, in the Summer of 2013,
the Israeli government issued an official policy change, seeking to
increase enlistment specifically of religious girls. Since then, things
have been getting increasingly worse for religious girls, especially
over the past two years. In some cases, the brutality towards innocent
religious girls - simply seeking to remain faithful to their religion -
employed by the military police, prison personnel - and the legal system
itself - has been downright shocking. This was well illustrated in some
famous cases, such as Yuval bas Tamar, Orah and Moriah R. (bnos
Beruriah), Rinas bas Chedva, and Lidar Shira L. (bas Yaffa).
5.
In our Jewish Press Dispatch columns since February, and in our online
posts, we've been documenting specific, confirmed cases of girls
(mostly religious) either incarcerated or under threat thereof, for
their steadfast refusal to serve in the military. This is a systemic
problem, and, as such, will only be alleviated by proper public
exposure.
6. We've
also been identifying multiple cases of human rights abuses of
incarcerated girls, including denial of medical care (e.g. Yuval bas
Tamar (2018); Miriam N. (about a month ago in Military Prison Six)),
denial of religious rights, such as kosher food and modest clothing; and
denial of communication. This is all in addition to the pattern of
denial of their religious rights via systematically denying their
religious exemptions, in a panoply of underhanded, even illegal ways. In
this particular case, it isn't clear yet to us that Ora's rights to a
religious exemption are being (tentatively) denied, because of an
apparent news "brownout" on the part of some of those dealing with her
case. But what is clear is that she is being subjected to totally
unwarranted harassment, of a persecutory nature.
7.
The experience of young women in Israeli military prisons generally
ranges from extremely difficult to the horrific. One girl we reported on
recently, Shir, even attempted to take her own life in Military Prison
Four last month. (Suicide within the Army is a blight unto itself.)
8.
Moreover, in addition to all of the other suffering they endure in
jail, every hour a girl is in prison poses a substantial risk that she
could be pressured or terrorized into submitting to enlisting in the
Army. On that basis alone, we are obligated to employ all legitimate
means to obtain their immediate freedom. This is truly a cause of pidyon
shevuyim, and should be treated accordingly.
9.
What generally makes the most impact in gaining the release of these
girls is intelligently disseminating quality information. That type of
"pirsum" escalates pressure on the Israeli government to free those
girls. The Israeli government is more concerned about their public image
in America than about what their own citizens say. So it's important
for readers to thoughtfully consider how to intelligently disseminate
this information as widely and expeditiously as practical, particularly
via social media.
10. Another way to have a
real and lasting impact is to help organize a women's demonstration
against the Israeli military abuse of women and girls. What goes on in
the Israeli Army is the most widespread governmental assault against the
purity, morality, rights, and wellbeing of Jewish women and girls in
recent history, perhaps dating back to wartime Europe. The unrelenting
mistreatment of girls seeking to avoid conscription into the promiscuous
military environment is just part of that broader systemic abuse. Even a
relatively modest demonstration of ladies in front of an Israeli office
or forum would raise awareness immensely, and thereby help deter such
abuses, going forward. The signage is crucial. It should call attention
to the fact that no one has a right to treat Jewish or non-Jewish girls
as they're treated in and by the Israeli Army - which has actually
developed a term reflective of their true view of the role of girls and
women in the Army: "Miz'ron Tzahali."
11. On
this issue, women have more of an ability to help break through the wall
of silence than men do. Thus, their obligation reflects that tactical
advantage. All readers would be well-advised to see the very strong
letter written by HaGaon Rav Meshulum Dovid Soloveichick Shlit"a
addressing the need to raise international awareness about these burning
issues.
12. Realistic Goals: If we cannot
reasonable expect to end the conscription of women, we certainly can
contain it. And the recent escalation of Israeli military recruitment
assaults against girls seeking to secure their exemptions should compel
us to become far more vigilant in seeking creative ways to get our
message out.
13. For some timely insights, please also review our article on the upcoming fast-day of Asara BeTeves:
~~~
14.
For an update of this week's coverage of the ongoing crisis of Israeli
military conscription of women and girls, see the weekly email
newsletter of the Coalition for Jewish Values (Parshas Vayigash), issued
yesterday (Thu., Jan 2), in the Israel section, in which they linked to
three related posts:
