Natan Blanc: Heroic Israeli Refusenik

by Stephen Lendman

Israel's a rogue terror state. It's been so from inception. It's history is blood-drenched. It's a global menace.

It's current government is its worst ever. It prioritizes state terrorism. Palestinians live in the eye of the storm.

Children are indoctrinated to be warriors. They're taught to hate. They're brainwashed to view Arabs and Iranians as existential threats. With some exceptions, conscription is mandatory at age 18.

Under-age youths may enlist. Child recruitment is done informally. Women serve like men. Israeli citizens and permanent residents must comply. Arabs are excluded. They may volunteer if they wish.

Classroom education teaches children to view military service as "noble and worthy." When too young to understand, they're brainwashed to accept militarism and belligerence as normal and necessary. They're falsely told Israel's survival depends on it.

Soldiers are present in schools and classrooms. Teachers and principals are retired military officers. Photos of fallen heroes adorn walls. Field trips for all ages visit military memorials on former battlefields.

Beginning in kindergarten, textbooks and classroom instruction teach militarism. High schools have mandatory "preparation for the IDF" programs. They include training and indoctrination to be warriors. Military heroes and conquests are glorified. Arabs are vilified.

Militarism is a way of life. War is considered natural. Youths are indoctrinated to wage it. Military service is considered a rite of passage to adulthood. An entire population is brainwashed to fight.

Natan Blanc's an Israeli conscientious objector (CO). He's a refusenik. He and many others like him are called that for refusing to serve wrong over right. They resist proudly and courageously. More on Blanc below.

In 2002, 50 Israeli officers and soldiers founded Courage to Refuse. Over 600 now belong. They're called refuseniks. They explain as follows:

"We, reserve combat officers and soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces, who were raised upon the principles of Zionism, self-sacrifice and giving to the people of Israel and to the State of Israel, who have always served in the front lines, and who were the first to carry out any mission in order to protect the State of Israel and strengthen it.

We, combat officers and soldiers who have served the State of Israel for long weeks every year, in spite of the dear cost to our personal lives, have been on reserve duty in the Occupied Territories, and were issued commands and directives that had nothing to do with the security of our country, and that had the sole purpose of perpetuating our control over the Palestinian people.

We, whose eyes have seen the bloody toll this Occupation exacts from both sides,

We, who sensed how the commands issued to us in the Occupied Territories destroy all the values that we were raised upon,

We, who understand now that the price of Occupation is the loss of IDF