BS"D
Intolerable: A Religious Bas-Cohen Imprisoned For Her Refusal to Enlist in the Army
18 Teves, 5780 °° Jan. 15, '20
Although
Chanukah has passed, Maitav (the Israeli Army Draft Office) refuses to
allow concerned Jews to forget the timeless mesiras nefesh
[selflessness] of Yehudis, and her heroic brothers, even 21 centuries
afterwards. In yet another trans-generational reverberation of the
righteousness of Yehudis, on Monday Jan. 13, another religious Bas-Cohen, Lital bas Miriam, of Tel Aviv, 26, was arrested at Ben Gurion Airport, for not enlisting in the Army.
She
sent in her religiosity-certification about nine years ago. She was
then summoned for a Rayon Dat (Religious Interview/ Interrogation).
However, apparently, she never got a clear indication of her legal
draft status one way or the other. Before she set out to the airport to
travel abroad on Monday, she reportedly asked the Border Police if she
would be allowed to travel without any legal complications over her
draft status. They informed her that it was ok. However, on arrival she
was arrested, and is now in incarcerated in military prison for her
refusal to enlist in the military. Enlistment in the Army is prohibited
for all girls (regardless of level of religiosity) - according to
leading Rabbis across the spectrum.
Her
hearing has been postponed, and they're planning on keeping her in
prison at least till then. This callous extension of incarceration
traces a recently-established pattern of military prison treatment of
religious Refusenik girls and women over the past couple of months. They
tend to keep girls (e.g. Orpaz Ora bas Aliza) in jail on the pretext
that - for some reason - they are "unable" to arrange a hearing. This
apparent charade can continue indefinitely. Thereby, they punish and
pressure the young women to submit to enlist. B"H, they are often
unsuccessful, due to the fortitude of these special individuals and
their advocates.
In legal systems that venerate
G-d-granted individual liberties, non-violent infractions such as late
submission of documentation (not to mention simple failure to answer
arcane questions about religious observance) would not be grounds for
arrest, much less incarceration, and much less extended jail time due to
delays in the initial hearing. But the protocols of Maitav apparently
diverge from constitutional norms, standards which we in America
unfortunately tend to take for granted.
It
now appears that she's sitting in Military Prison simply because she
didn't answer one question correctly in her Rayon Dat nine years ago,
pertaining to Kriyas HaTorah (the weekly reading of portions of the
Torah). According to Jewish Law, women are generally exempt from Kriyas
HaTorah (except for the reading of the Remembrance of the Obliterating
of Amalek... and, according to some, Parshas Parah). To question
her religiosity over such an issue is ludicrous. To arrest her over that
should be criminal, but apparently raises no eyebrows.
Thank
G-d, she's in contact with competent guidance, the Shomrei Torah
organization, which is quite proficient at the providing quality
information necessary to properly alert the public to the plight of
incarcerated girls.
What makes this all even more
outrageous is that her brother is suffering a severe health condition,
and this unwarranted persecution doesn't help that. In fact, the
presence of a severe illness in the immediate family is a statistically
significant factor present in a number of cases with which we are
familiar. It appears that having an immediate family member severely ill
tends to flag girls for arrest, incarceration and persecutory treatment
by Maitav.
### Public Advisory: ###
A)
Anyone who has questions about his or her legal draft-status should NOT
rely on verbal statements of government staff - including law
enforcement officers.
B) Anyone who's draft status is questionable should not assume it's resolved until obtaining confirmation.
C)
Those unsure of their draft status who have serious illness in the
immediate family should exercise additional caution, because they can
least afford complications, and because they may be more susceptible to
being flagged for arrest by Maitav, if the opportunity presents itself.
That also means: drive extra carefully to avoid being pulled over, even
if you think you're not doing anything dangerous.
D)
Again, do NOT enter the Draft Offices for any reason, even if you
imagine that you'll "just be in and out" with your petur (exemption
certification) -- even if you see other girls who do manage to enter and
exit quickly with their exemptions. For all those girls who manage to
avoid complications, many others don't - some of whom tragically succumb
to the immense pressure to enlist in the Army.
