Tell Israel: Free the Shministim!

On the eve of Hanuka, the festive of lights, we, the Shministim, would like to take a moment to thank you for all you’ve done for us and for our struggle.

While we sit down with our families and light the first candle of the holiday, symbolizing the rebellion against an occupying army, some of us are still behind bars, denied the freedom to celebrate the holiday with their loved ones, denied the right to freedom of thought and political conscious.

During this dark period of consecutive jail terms, military trials and attempts to break our beliefs, you were our light.

Each and every one of you who helped with the campaign, who sent a supporting letter, who sent the link of the website to a friend. You’ve let our struggle be heard around the world, the letters, the postcards and posters, the demonstrations, all of those actions fulfilled our wildest dreams.

We would like to thank you once again and wish you all a happy and free holiday.

in solidarity,

The Shministim

As we reported in an earlier update, CO Tamar Katz refused to wear a military uniform when she returned to Military Prison no. 400 for the third time on 1 Dec., and was therefore placed in the Isolation Ward of the prison.     

We now received information that the prison authorities are mistreating Tamar, probably in an attempt to pressure her to wear a uniform against her decision. More specifically, Tamar is not allowed to make phone calls to her family, not allowed to change clothes, and has even been denied the opportunity to brush her teeth.

This calls for some special action to be taken. First and foremost, Tamar herself needs moral support. You can write her messages of encouragement to her prison address:
          
         Tamar Katz  
         Military ID 5396326
         Military Prison No. 400
         Military Postal Code 02447, IDF
         Israel
         Fax: ++972-3-9579389

But please be sure to back them up with messages sent by e-mail to shministim@gmail.com, as other messages will take much longer to arrive and might well be blocked.

Letters of protest (faxes are much better than other routes of delivery) would be most effective when sent to the following officials:

 

 

 

Commander of Military Prison No. 400, Military Prison No. 400, Military postal number 02447, IDF Israel. Fax: ++972-3-9579389

Mr. Ehud Barak, Minister of Defence, Ministry of Defence, Hakirya, Tel-Aviv 64743, Israel. E-mail: sar@mod.gov.il or pniot@mod.gov.il Tel.: ++972-3-6975540 or ++972-3-6975423 Fax: ++972-3-6976711

Avichai Mandelblit, Chief Military Attorney Military postal code 9605, IDF Israel Fax: ++972-3-569-43-70

For those of you who live outside Israel, it would be very effective to send protests to your local Israeli embassy. You can find the address of your local embassy on the web.

Also, please send us copies of your letters of protest to support.refusers.israel@gmail.com.We are including a sample letter, which you can use or adapt, in sending appeals to authorities on Tamar’s behalf, but feel free to be creative in formulating your messages:

Dear Sir/Madam,     

It has come to my attention that Tamar Katz (Military ID number 5396326), a conscientious objector to military service, is being held and mistreated in the Isolation Ward Military Prison No. 400.

The prison authorities deny Tamar Katz basic liberties and conditions, such as the ability to call her family, to change clothes, even to brush her teeth – all because she refuses to wear a military uniform.

I therefore call for the immediate and unconditional release of Tamar Katz from prison, without threat of further imprisonment in the future, but pending that, I urge you to make sure the humiliating treatment of Tamar Katz is stopped right away. Imprisoning people for their beliefs is unacceptable; singling them out among prisoners for harsher treatment is unthinkable.

Sincerely,

As usual, we will continue updating on further developments.

Thank you for your attention and action,

Sergeiy Sandler – New Profile.