Brad Brooks-Rubin writes about visiting the U.S. Congress with Israeli refuser Yonatan Shapira on Andrew Schamess’s blog Semitism.net.
The American press has clearly found this a compelling story, which probably explains why the American public is so well-informed on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and is entirely in sync with the reaction Rubin and Shapira encounter in Congress:
Inevitably, what follows after Yonatan tells his story is a long litany of excuses, of rationalizations, of head-scratching. About why even though they are in a position to demonstrate their own courage, to refuse to give into the dominant beliefs and currents of their milieu, as Yonatan and the others have done, they do not. Time after time, we hear “I am with you personally, but…” But the Jewish community. But our constituents. But the media. Translating these statements into militaryspeak – “I’m just following orders.”
Yes, civilians too can suffer from the same syndrome as soldiers seeking immunity from war crimes.At first, I’ll admit I was excited just to be able to get in the door. And perhaps over-enthusiastic about the power of the refusers to start shaking the foundations of the mainstream’s understanding of and activity around the situation. But with time, with more meetings, and with optimism about the chances for peace growing by the minute, I find myself increasingly pessimistic.