[Sundaycommunity] Fwd: I already served 28 days in Israeli military prison | Refuser Solidarity Network

[Catherine Walther]

I’ve written her a letter of support and thought you might want to as well.
Catherine

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Shahar , Refuser Solidarity Network <info at refuser.org>
Date: Sun, Oct 24, 2021 at 11:17 AM
Subject: I already served 28 days in Israeli military prison | Refuser
Solidarity Network
To: <catherine.walther at gmail.com>


I will continue facing recurring incarcerations for my refusal to cooperate
with the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories
View this email in your browser
<https://mailchi.mp/refuser/refusers-solidarity-13404289?e=720ef6e16c>

Dear Catherine,

My name is Shahar. The last time I wrote to you was before I was sent to
jail for the first time for my refusal to enlist in the Israeli army.* I
just spent my 19th birthday behind bars and I’ve already served two prison
sentences and spent 28 days in jail. Last Thursday I was tried again and
sentenced to another 30 days in prison.* I will continue facing recurring
incarcerations for my refusal to cooperate with the Israeli occupation of
the Palestinian Territories.
*Write Shahar a support letter
<https://refusersolidarity.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=766e8a32ffe12bdef97341bb9&id=23e8dddaa4&e=720ef6e16c>*
I am writing to you today from home because in the military prison we are
not allowed to write. I am a person who writes down her thoughts and I
scribble drawings when I try to focus. I write down tasks and ideas and I
use empty pages to crystalize my thought process. When I arrived at the
military prison for the first time I brought with me a pencil case, but it
was taken away from me and I was informed by the prison guards who searched
my belongings that I cannot keep any writing tools and can only write at
specific times a day with pens provided by the prison authorities.
Over time I realized that the specific hours considered proper for writing
are very much dependent on the guards’ whims. Some days I could only get a
pen for 10 minutes; on Saturdays or holidays you don’t get a pen at all.*
Privacy is a luxury I don’t get to have as a prisoner and I was not allowed
to write anything without the rest of the inmates, guards and commanders
getting to see what I’m writing.* By the end of my prison sentence I
returned home with all my notebooks completely empty.
*Write Shahar a support letter
<https://refusersolidarity.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=766e8a32ffe12bdef97341bb9&id=ec174e9989&e=720ef6e16c>*
In prison, writing is in itself a form of activism. We can use it to share
our message about our choice to refuse as a form of resistance to the
occupation. By depriving me of the option to write in prison, the prison
authorities  hindered my ability to document what goes on behind bars,
write articles and develop ideas and plan on how to share my experiences
once I am released for a few days. *The military does not want me to write,
speak or share my thoughts. They are trying to silence me. *

*The silencing of political refusers is a small part of a more violent
pattern of behavior - The silencing of the Palestinian struggle for human
rights in the West Bank and Gaza.* The arrests of Palestinians that speak
and act against the Israeli violent military actions and the violent
oppressions by the military of Palestinian peaceful protests are just two
emblematic examples of a broad policy aimed at suppressing any speaking,
acting, criticizing or objecting on the part of Palestinians.
*Write Shahar a support letter
<https://refusersolidarity.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=766e8a32ffe12bdef97341bb9&id=6a6f18afab&e=720ef6e16c>*
And so, it is not surprising that after striving daily to hide the truth
about the occupation and to silence those who are hurt by it, the next step
is to silence those of us who oppose it. But *it is this silencing, this
attempt to erase, hide and deny what is really happening, that makes me
stand proud and declare my refusal publicly.* Despite not being able to
write about any of this from prison I’m happy to be able to share my
message with you now, even if it is from home.

In solidarity,

Shahar
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*May you walk in joy as love calls us on.*
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