Breaking Ranks

Military service is an integral part of life in Israel: both men and women serve in the Israel Defense Forces; devotion to the country's survival is a given. So disobeying an order is a remarkable action--one discussed in depth here by nine""refuseniks,"" Israeli soldiers (all officers) who refused to serve in the Occupied Territories. They tell Chacham, an Israeli cultural critic and fiction writer, about their upbringings, their crises of conscience, the mistreatment of Palestinians by themselves and others (""Our job was giving the Palestinians a hard time,"" says one), their attempt to reconcile support for Palestinian rights with devotion to their homeland, their refusals to serve and the consequences.""When you're there in the territories, you're committing crimes whether you like it or not....I'm not political,"" says one.""I speak from personal experience when I say I can't stand it anymore."" Anyone trying to understand why these men have taken the action they have will be moved by their thoughtfulness and articulateness.