Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | T | The Advocate (The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine)

The rite of refusal: among the Israelis who refuse to serve in Palestinian territories are gay soldiers who say they''re taking a stand against oppression. (World).

Article Excerpt
During the 3 1/2 years he served in the Israel Defense Forces, beginning at age 18, Eshel Herzog was assigned to a tank artillery gun, serving in both southern Lebanon and in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank. Now 23 and no longer on active duty, the openly gay man is required by Israeli law to report for annual terms in the reserve army--sometimes for as long as 45 days--until he turns 45. But Herzog is refusing to do so. "I sent a letter to the army and also to the minister of defense [saying] that I am not going to serve in any way," he says.

Herzog is just one of hundreds of Israelis, many of them gay men and lesbians, who are illegally opting out of their required military duty in opposition to Israel's presence in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which are home to more than 3 million Palestinians. For most of these men and women, their protest extends to service only in the territories, but Herzog says he won't participate in any mission, regardless of where he...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!