New Profile
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.
- Educating the public.
- Recruiting lesbian women
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, 8 New Profile activists were detained and the organization's computers were confiscated. [3]
Notes
- "Rela Mazali | INVERSE JOURNAL". www.inversejournal.com. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
- "Mazuz to police: Probe group accused of encouraging draft dodgers"
- 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.