Jerusalem high school grads urge students to dodge draft

Several dozen graduates from the Arts and Science Academy in Jerusalem on Sunday published a letter addressed to students currently enrolled in their former high school urging them to become conscientious objectors and refuse to enter the IDF.

The letter called on students to withstand social pressure to join the army. Israeli military service is a requirement for the majority of Jewish citizens and men from certain minority groups who are deemed fit for service.

“Refusing to serve in the Israeli military is not an easy choice, but it is a moral stance against the collective spirit of ongoing violence and racism expressed in Israel’s streets these days. It is a choice to withstand the pressure that comes from home, friends, the professional environment and the media,” the letter read.

The graduates of the school, which has some Arab students, declared that the “the army has been contracted to implement a policy of separation that is founded on Jews’ ethnic superiority over Palestinians” and that they felt compelled to make a statement following Operation Protective Edge, this summer’s 50-day conflict between Israel and Hamas.

“Following the recent massacre in Gaza, an atrocity that has been committed in our name against nearly two million people — half of them children — we choose not to be silent,” the letter read.

While some of the signatories chose to publish their names, others wished to stay anonymous.

IDF guidelines bar soldiers in active duty from engaging in public political activity or speaking on behalf of the army if they are unauthorized to do so.

The school released a statement in response to the letter, asserting that it encourages students to contribute in a meaningful way to their communities while thinking critically: “The Israel Arts and Science Academy educates its students to contribute to the community and serve meaningfully. More than 97 percent of our high school students join the IDF and many serve as officers… and we are proud of each and every one of them.

“We educate our students in activism and critical thinking and, if they do not accept a view, we believe in our students’ ability to choose their own path according to their conscience and faith… in accordance with the law,” the statement concluded.