Traitor much? Not.

A really interesting article.

Don’t call me a traitor”: An Israeli dissident speaks

By Enbal Gross
• January 10, 2009

Do you believe that you should go after your heart no matter what? Do you think you should stay loyal to your beliefs regardless? Well, I do. And I want the whole world to know that. If in my journey after justice I persuade only one person, my work is done and I will be happy.

It’s no news that my opinions and thoughts are very different to most (if not all) of those around me. Almost every Israeli I speak to about politics calls me a traitor and says I should leave the country. It is always hard and I’ve always been attacked – verbally and sometimes even physically.

As an Israeli teenager you are obligated to recruit to the army when you are 18, with very few exceptions (like a medical condition or if you have children etc.), so I, like everyone, went to serve my country. This is the first and probably the only time I really did feel like a traitor.

I had betrayed my heart, I shouldn’t been a part of this army; in fact I shouldn’t have been part of any army! In boot camp I refused under any circumstance to hold a gun, even not in the firing range on cardboard figures.

The first sentence most Israelis know in Arabic is the same. You will learn it in the first week of boot camp: WAKAF U AL ANA BATUCHA (in feminine gender) which means, “Stop or I’ll shot!” After only a few months and a lot of sights that an 18 year old should never see, I asked to be released for the simple fact that I did not want to take any part in it.

With all due respect, I want to live my life without emotional scars and traumas and it is impossible to do that when you are taking part in occupation of another nation. After a few weeks of deliberations and investigations — in all of them I declared myself a pacifist — the nightmare was finally over. I was once again a civilian, no longer a soldier.

Then I had another encounter with the IDF, this time from the other side. I stood face to face with soldiers, defending Palestinians with my body from being shot at (they don’t have the courage to shoot an Israeli — it will be all over the news). And I’ve been arrested for defending their village in a non-violent demonstration.

But never in my life had I thought the following would happen…

In the last 13 days, since the Israeli offensive on Gaza, my position has been getting harder and harder. I’ve been taking an active part in political debates and arguments on the Internet. On one hand I get e-mails and comments from Arabs all over the world calling me a hero (which I don’t believe that I am). On the other hand I get threatening and offensive e-mails and comments from Israelis and Jews calling me, among other things, a “traitor”.

Well, first of all, don’t I live in a democratic country? Where is the freedom of speech? Secondly, why should I be quiet after all I have seen? In the last few days I revealed some hypocritical non-democratic actions perpetrated by Israelis.

One of them got me thinking seriously about leaving this country-for good:

Our group on Facebook, “PREVENT A NEW GENOCIDE; SAVE GAZA”, got hacked by a group called the Jewish Internet Defense Force (JIDF). They changed the picture in the group to a picture of the Israeli flag and wrote, “This group is closed due to the fact that there is no such thing as Palestine”. In the info section of the forum they wrote, “game over”. I really believe this is a shameful act. No one has the right to do that. We all have every right to speak out about whatever we want as long as we are telling the truth and have facts on our side.

Am I a traitor just for telling the world what is really going on here? Is it wrong to uncover the ugly truth about war crimes? I’m sorry but I don’t think so.

If Israel is really the best democracy in the world like they claim, then why have I had a gun pointed at me by Israelis soldiers at demonstrations, why have I been shot at with tear gas grenades, why have I been yelled and sworn at?

If I’m a traitor because I can see the truth and stand up for the weak and helpless – so be it. I’m willing to be called a traitor for caring about human life and wishing for innocent lives to be saved. If traitor means wanting peace, freedom and justice, I am guilty as charged. Just tell me what the penalty is… but in the meantime think about children that have died in Gaza (almost 250 in 13 days), think about the four little children that have been found alive holding their mother’s dead body for days. Think about all the new orphans in Gaza, about the women and elderly, what are they on trial for and why were they sentenced to death?





About the Author
Enbal Gross
I’m a 26 year-old Israeli woman. i was born and raised in Israel. I really DO believe that the only way to live is-in peace. I do everything that i can to explain to pepole all over the world that there is no way to obtain peace between Israeli and Palestinian other than ending the occupation of Palestine. may peace and happiness will be among us all soon. FREE PALESTINE