Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, November 2003, page 17

Jerusalem Journal

 

Israel's Refusenik Pilots: Heroes of a Different Kind

 

By Samah Jabr

Twenty-seven elite Israeli air force officers delivered a protest letter Sept. 24 to air force Maj. Gen. Dan Halutz, in which the pilots announced their refusal to participate in targeted killings or any other operations in the occupied territories.

"We, veteran pilots and active pilots alike, who have served and who continue to serve the State of Israel for many weeks every year [as reservists], are opposed to carrying out illegal and immoral attack orders of the type carried out by Israel in the territories," the letter said. "We, who have been educated to love the State of Israel and to contribute to the Zionist endeavor, refuse to take part in air strikes on civilian population centers [and] refuse to continue harming innocent civilians."

Halutz quickly suspended the nine pilots on active duty and grounded the retired pilots and flight instructors. Those signatories on active duty undoubtedly could have reached a private, behind-the-scenes arrangement with their commander to avoid participating in Israel's so-called "targeted killings." Israel's Channel 2 News reported that some air crews have staged a "grey refusal," declining to sign up to transport IDF troops on missions into and out of occupied Palestinian territories or provide air support for combat troops in those areas.

The fact that the active-duty signers made their initiative public, therefore, makes it an even more impressive political act. Their courageous protest to the Israeli public and to the Israeli occupation forces (IDF) comes at a time when the Israeli government is poised to invade Gaza and to assassinate more Palestinian leaders, possibly including President Yasser Arafat in Ramallah.

According to the Sept. 25 Jerusalem Post, the letter's highest ranking signer is Brig. Gen. Yiftah Spector, the number two ace in Israeli air force history, with 15 recorded kills. In 1983 Spector bombed, and was the only pilot who missed, Iraq's Osiraq nuclear reactor. He also was the only pilot mentioned by name in Israel's 1982 report of its infamous 1967 attack on the USS Liberty. As a result of Spector's current strong moral stance, Liberty survivors hope he will admit to seeing the U.S. flag on their ship as he followed orders from Israeli commanders to bomb an American navy vessel.

Front-page headlines in Israel's daily Yediot Ahronot screamed "Pilot Mutiny." Aware of the possibility of being branded as traitors, the risk of punishment by imprisonment or suspension, and the certainty of being denounced and ridiculed, the determined pilots unflinchingly proceeded with their protest.

Their bravery could very well trigger a popular peace movement and demonstrations similar to those that drove Israel out of south Lebanon. This action might even unite and empower the scattered Israeli peace groups and inspire the Israeli people to demonstrate against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's policy and call for a speedy end to the occupation.

"We refuse to take part in air strikes on civilian population centers [and] harming innocent civilians."

Perhaps their initiative was the result of the massive popular protests following the dropping of a one-ton bomb on a house in a Gaza residential neighborhood in an assassination attempt on Hamas leader Salah Shehadeh. That horrifying attack killed 15 people besides Shehadeh, including 11 children and infants. Nor was this an isolated incident. A reported 196 Palestinians have been murdered in Israeli air force attacks. Indeed, since the Aug. 19 suicide bombing in Jerusalem which killed 23 people, the "sport" of assassination has intensified, especially in the Gaza Strip.

During Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon, there were several reports of IAF pilots who disobeyed orders to bomb crowded neighborhoods and returned to base without dropping their payloads.

In January 2002, a group of 50 Israeli reservists signed the "Combatants' Letter," a petition declaring their intention to refuse to serve in the occupied territories. Members of that brave group today number more than 500.

In April and May 2002, the Israeli government tried to dampen the refuseniks' impact by launching "Operation Defensive Shield," which led to the total military reoccupation of the West Bank. Today, there is a danger that Israel again will respond with an escalation of violence to marginalize and undermine the pilots' initiative.

Nonetheless, the pilots' letter provides Palestinians a glimmer of hope. At a time when the Israeli left seems impotent, these hard-core military men—many of whom in the past may have have carried out blatantly illegal orders and expressed unwavering loyalty to their state and its Zionist values—have searched their souls and concluded: "These actions are illegal and immoral….The continued occupation is seriously endangering the country's security."

 

Courage and Honesty

While I don't regard their letter as a basis for a just peace proposal, I do give them credit for their courage and honesty. It is never too late to change, never too late to start anew.

The pilots' stance reminds me of the story of Alfred Nobel, who was known as the "lord of dynamite" but who later established a peace prize in his name. The turning point for him came when his older brother, Ludwig, died, and one newspaper mistakenly printed Alfred's obituary instead. The obituary described Alfred as a man who became rich by enabling people to kill each other in unprecedented numbers. Anguished by this assessment, Alfred Nobel resolved from then on to use his fortune to reward accomplishments that benefit humanity. With the many millions he'd earned by selling armaments and explosives, he endowed five annual awards to leaders in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to "the person who shall have done the most or the best work to promote fraternity between nations, for the abolition of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses..."

Just as the pilots have been denounced by Israeli leaders, Nobel also was denounced by the king of Sweden, and considered to be "influenced by peace fanatics and women." Even members of his own family launched lawsuits to try to reverse the terms of his will. Like the Israeli pilots, Nobel was a hero of a different kind.

Heroism is a word commonly used to describe legendary or exceptional courage, devotion and fortitude, and one which every nation usually applies to its warriors. Today, however, our world needs a different kind of hero: exceptional people of noble qualities, creativity, truthfulness and decency, who, through self-generated persistence, overcome great obstacles to make our lives possible, prosperous and free. Israel needs more heroes like these 27 pilots to stand up for peace against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's brutal occupation of my country.

Samah Jabr is a physician and native of Jerusalem.

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