Lotahn Refusenik

Lotahn works as the public relations person on the Israeli side for the journal. He's an activist through and through. He avoids chocolate that isn't fair trade, refined sugar, and things that are not made from whole grains. I asked if he shops organic only, and similar to the United States, Lotahn says it's too expensive, but his parents do.

Lotahn came to the journal last May. It is but one of the many projects, human rights oriented, that he is involved with.

I met Lotahn, finally,after many phone conversations, at the 23rd annual Jerusalem International Book Fair where most of us at the journal have been taking shifts all week long. I wondered how Lotahn got into this kind of work. For some reason I thought a good place to start in order to find out would be to ask about Lotahn's experience in the I.D.F., the Israeli army.

"I refused," Lotahn replied.

In 1999 Lotahn decided to refuse army sevice on the basis that he felt Israel was carrying out racist policies, particularly in the territories. Also, he feels that although Israeli society raises and expeccts its youth to enter the army as a part of being Israeli, according to Lotahn it is a political statement to accept this assignment. It was his political statemtnt to refuse.

Lotahn is not a pacifist nor is he a conscientious objector (CO). He did not want the army to handle his case as such. In all the press attention his story received he made it very clear that there is a difference between a conscientious objector and one who is refusing to serve on political grounds.

At the time when Lotahn was dealing with this there were few cases like his. Not until 2003 was a committee formed to manage refuseniks. Rather, most soldiers found and continue to find other ways to avoid serving in the army. Certain psychological evaluations, for example, can be had that render one exempt from service.

Lotahn went to prison for two months after one month of having to report each day to the court while they deliberated what to do with him. While in prison he suffered no harm. He said he had to mop floors twice a day. Sharing Lohtan's prison space were AWOL soliders. He was grateful not to be put into the prison section with soldiers addicted to drugs and those convicted of violent crimes.

In my view, Lotahn's refusal to serve in the I.D.F. was a risky but noble act of national service. It is the responsibility of each individual to uphold his or her values and also the shared values of one's society. Lotahn felt and still feels that in many ways Israel betrays herself with racist policies, the occupation of the territories, and the general harassment the Palestinians face each day.

I would like to believe that he refused because more than anything or anyone he believes in this country, Israel. And he is practicing his democratic right to dissent and protest the policies of the State.

I am not saying, claiming or judging Israelis who do serve in the military. There aren't adequate words to express the gratitude and respect that I have for the men and women who knowingly sacrifice their lives to protect this country, some of whom I call my friends. Without them and the generations of Israel I.D.F. before them, Israel could not exist. But it takes all kinds to create a thriving, dynamic, democratic society. It is the push-pull of ideas and actions that keep us all going.

I respect Lotahn for his own sacrifice. I can only imagine the myriad ways in which he has made himself an outsider to his own society. And the limbo he exists in, trying to make peace and to bring justice to his home.

It is both the Lotahns and the soldiers of Israel that spark the ongoing dilaogue and conflict that shapes the many faces of this relatively new country. And it is the same people who are itnegral to the future of the Palestinians in their quest to have a homeland of their own.

It is not useful to be afraid or scorn individuals like Lotahn. In fact he will not cause the demise of the State of Israel. But he is a reminder, a living truth, that ultimately we are human beings practicing free will and we have choices to make about our lives and the way we live them and how that lifestyle affects those around us, and those around them. What is today is of our own making. A power not to be underestimated.

What Lotahn teaches me is the importance of questioning and sometimes challenging status quo. Most of us are asleep and simply content to follow in line without really understanding where we came from, and indeed therefore, unaware of the direction in which we are headed. And so we live in a world today where most of us feel powerless in the face of all that ails the world.

For more about Lotahn:

http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/6634/
http://www.wri-irg.org/pubs/pfp99-en.htm
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/6634/information.html