This brave young woman is the cousin of an Alliance member.
My name is Sofia Orr, I'm 18 years old, a conscientious objector from Israel. I would like to give some insight and expand a bit on the politics inside Israel, and how they changed since the war began. I grew up in a very left-wing household. I grew up on values of compassion and critical thinking, and for that I owe my parents a lot. I feel very privileged. Those same values, however, were not taught to me in the Israeli education system. In schools, and in society at large, we were always taught a very one-sided narrative. In that narrative we are always the victim, we must crush the Palestinians in order to win, the country above all, and the only solution is violence.
Growing up hearing that narrative I’ve always felt very alone, and now more than ever. Alone In my ideals, alone in my hope for peace.
I made the decision to refuse to enlist when I was 14 years old, and since then my choice only became clearer to me. I refuse to serve policies of apartheid, oppression, ethnic cleansing and transfer. I will not serve the blockade on Gaza, and will not help uphold the unbearable living situation that Israel enacts on the Palestinians living there - hunger, poverty, bombings. I will not take part in an occupation. I will fight it, and am willing to go to prison as part of this fight. Recent events do not change my decision because the essential truth has not changed: There is no military solution to a political problem, and I want to be part of the solution, not the problem.
My opinions did not change, but my feelings have. I am scared now. Since the horrific events of October 7th, there has been a shift in the political sphere inside of israel. Most of the people here were already right wing (some more than others), but now it has become unbearable. So much hatred, so many call for violence. Many of the left-leaning people too claim now to have “sobered up”. Now they say that there is no other option except war. Except violence. Even those opposing the current government do not condemn its reaction and management of the war and the hostage situation.
Only a few weeks ago there were mass protests all around the country, and a slow movement toward a more democratic mindset. But in one day it all went away, and the people here became a united front of “us” versus “them”. Such a strong shift to the right, and the right was already strong before.
There is almost no recognition in Israel of the horrible acts it is doing in Gaza, to civilians, to innocent civilians. The apparent mindset is that of “everyone is against us”, pushing away all criticism automatically. The mainstream Israeli see themselves as the ONLY victim, and ONLY a victim.
Many liberals in Israel used to put Palastinians under a label of poor helpless victims that know nothing, in a place far away with no urgent need to think about. Not as real people who want independence and liberation. This line of thought considered the Palestinian problem only as a humanitarian problem and not as a political problem, when in fact it’s both. Variations on this theme were the thought that the occupation just isn’t “humane enough”, or thinking that it’s possible to “manage” the conflict instead of solving it. Hamas’s attack shocked that mindset. Suddenly the Palestinians didn’t fit well under this “poor helpless victim” label anymore. All empathy for them was withdrawn. If they are not the victims now, then they are the enemy.
This mindset of “us vs them” is extremely harmful and unproductive. It prevents us from seeing others, their pain, their needs, and our similarities. It harms our ability to see and build a future together. It happens with Israelis and Palestinians, and I also see it all around me when trying to have discussions on the situation. There is such strong polarization, and a presentation of the situation as very black and white. This creates a strong effect of dehumanization everywhere, that in turn only escalates the situation and prevents discussion about it.
People make nuanced things seem simple, and simple things seem nuanced, all to serve the speaker’s agenda. For example, the thought that this situation, from any perspective, is “absolute evil” vs “absolute good” is an oversimplification. However, trying to make an argument of “we can’t make peace with Hamas so there will never be peace”, is looking for nuance where there isn’t. It’s ignoring the fact that Israel, the Israeli government, is the one that dictates the tone.
There are indeed two sides here, yet we’ll be wrong to say or even hint that those sides are equal. There is an occupier and an occupied, an oppressor and an oppressed. And at the end of the day, that is simple. The responsibility of stopping this horrible cycle of bloodshed is on Israel’s shoulders, as the much stronger side of the equation. And international pressure is needed for that. It won’t come from inside israel.
We must call for a ceasefire, as part of a political solution, a real, long term solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But first and foremost we must stay humane, even with all the pain, the anger, the fear. And I know these feelings - A schoolmate who was part of my life since I was six years old was murdered on October 7th. However, I can not allow these feelings to turn into a want for revenge. Instead, I insist on turning them into a want to prevent more pain, to anyone. Palestinians deserve freedom, independence and equality, and Israelis deserve freedom, independence and equality. These things will only be achieved through a political solution and a fair peace.
So stay humane, stay empathetic. In these times it’s important for me to not lose my base values, the ones I grew up on: that all human beings are equal, and deserve to live in peace and security.
♥️🇵🇸
