The need for – and possibility of – dialogue
JVL Introduction
Yasmin Ricci-Yahav is a brave, 18 year-old Israeli refusenik, currently serving a fourth sentence in military prison as a conscientious objector. Her refusal statement in available here.
Here she describes her discussions with hostile fellow prisoners, trying to make sense of their questions to her (“why I believed Israel didn’t belong to us, even why I wanted all soldiers to die”) and finding ways to communicate across deep divides, still disagreeing but learning to have conversations that were “respectful, insightful, genuine”.
A model of political dialogue in a fractured world…
This article was originally published by Haaretz on Sun 3 Nov 2019. Read the original here.
A Conscientious Objector's Thoughts From an Israeli Military Prison
Loading article text…
What an impressive woman! Would that more of us (humans) could be so insightful.
If a high explosive is delivered by an aircraft it is not terrorism; it is probably the IDF but they do sometimes deliver a “knock on the roof” warning which make them the “most moral army in the world” : what utter cant
This is a beautiful article honest and from the heart. How important is real conversation! If only all Israelis could do some time like this. So much more useful than military service. Thanks for publishing it.
I thought she was wonderful when I first read this – amazing thoughtfulness and respect for her fellow prisoners. And a lesson for all of us in how to engage with people we dont agree with!
It is painful and shocking to think of such a young woman in prison because of her pacifist beliefs. She is truly an amazing, courageous and inspiring human being.