Military Jails Five Conscientious Objectors
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Five Israelis who refused to do compulsory military service in protest against the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip were jailed for a year, the first such sentences since the Palestinian uprising began three years ago.
“Every day troops commit crimes in the occupied territories,” one of the five men, Haggai Matar, told reporters at Jaffa Military Court, referring to Israeli military actions in Palestinian territories. “While we go to the stockade, they remain free.”
A military prosecutor said the five had been found guilty of gross insubordination after refusing to report for three years’ military service in 2002.
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