New Profile

Israeli antimilitarist and feminist organisation

New Profile (פרופיל חדש‎) is a movement for transforming Israeli society into a "civilian" one ("חברה אזרחית‎" – a term recently coined by parts of the Israeli left wing to highlight their view of the present society as "recruited" or "militarized"). It is a voluntary organization that acts against the compulsory law of military enlistment and supports people who refuse to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces. New Profile is a feminist organization and most of its activists are women. It was founded in 1998, among others by Rela Mazali.[1]

Objectives

  • Reducing the militarism in Israeli society.
  • Resisting the Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
  • Reducing the stigma of profile 21.
  • Cancelling the law of compulsory enlistment to the Israeli military.
  • Helping refuseniks or people who don't enlist in the army for other reasons.
  • Supporting refusniks who are in army prison because of their refusal to enlist in the army or serve in the Occupied Territories.
  • Offering an alternative discourse to the public.

Legal proceedings and criminal investigation

In September 2008, Israeli Attorney General, Menachem Mazuz, ordered the police to open a criminal investigation against New Profile because of allegations of "incitement to draft dodging" and helping people secure exemptions fraudulently.[2]

On April 26, 2009, eight New Profile activists were detained and the organization's computers were confiscated.[3]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Rela Mazali | INVERSE JOURNAL". www.inversejournal.com. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  2. ^ "Mazuz to police: Probe group accused of encouraging draft dodgers"
  3. ^ Dimi Reider (April 30, 2009). "Israel's budding autocracy: The arrest of members of a pacifist NGO is symptomatic of a country that is becoming militarised at an alarming pace". The Guardian.

External links

  • New Profile official website
  • "The Cost of the Occupation to Israelis and Palestinians" - 2009 talk by New Profile activist Dorothy Naor
  • Hugh Levinson, Dodging Israel's draft, BBC, November 11, 1999.
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