Breaking Ranks: Refusing to Serve in the West Bank and Gaza Strip

Chacham, Ronit

ISBN 10: 1590510992 / ISBN 13: 9781590510995

Published by Other Pr Llc, Westminster, Maryland, U.S.A., 2004

About this Item

first edition/first printing book is tight with no markings, minor soiling along page edges.

Seller Inventory # 019797

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Breaking Ranks: Refusing to Serve in the West Bank and Gaza Strip
• Publisher: Other Pr Llc, Westminster, Maryland, U.S.A.
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1590510992
• ISBN 13: 9781590510995
• Binding: Trade Paperback
• Edition: First Edition/First Printing
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Seller catalogs:
  • MILITARY

About this title

Synopsis

Originally published in 2003 following the Second Intifada, a series of powerful conversations with Israeli soldiers who refused to serve in the West Bank and Gaza.

In 2002, fifty-two members of the Israel Defense Forces signed an open letter, published in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, detailing why they refused to serve in Gaza and the West Bank. A year later, the movement counted more than five hundred of these “refuseniks.” In a series of moving and provocative conversations, nine members of the movement tell why they refused “to fight beyond the 1967 borders in order to dominate, expel, starve, and humiliate an entire people.”

These nine refuseniks are sergeants, majors, or lieutenants; their names are Guy, Assaf, Rami, Yaniv, Tal, Shamai, Yuval, Ishay, and David. They tell of their individual family backgrounds and beliefs, and as they share their stories of personal and moral struggle, they also raise the disturbing issue of human rights abuses by the Israeli army in the occupied territories.

Through these personal accounts, the refuseniks offer new perspectives on entrenched ideas about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Their voices carry a message that is much needed and sorely lacking in our discourse about the current crisis: one of hope and humanity.

About the Author

Ronit Chacham is a widely published cultural critic who contributes regularly to news magazines in Israel. She is also the author of numerous works of fiction, including children's books, short stories, and plays. She lives in Jerusalem.