Saturday, October 18, 2008

New location to pray for peace/Four imprisoned young women CO need your support.

Dear Interfaith Prayer Partners,

 

We will meet to Pray for Peace on Wednesday, October 22nd at 7:30 PM (NOTE CHANGE OF LOCATION) at the Missions Helpers Center, corner of Joppa Road and Chestnut Ave. in Towson. The event will not, as previously announced, be at the Church of Resurrection in Ellicott City.

 

Fr. Charles Cloughen Jr. [frcharles@verizon.net] 

 

From:  New Profile / Sergeiy Sandler <sergeiys@gmail.com>

 

Four imprisoned young women CO need your support. Please write.

________________________________________

 

Second Prison Term for Four Women COs

 

Dear Friends,

 

Four women COs, signatories of the 2008 high school seniors refusal letter, have been sent to a another prison term today (12 Oct.). Sahar Vardi and Tamar Katz have been sentenced to 21 days in prison and are due to be released on 30 Oct. Omer Goldman and Mia Tamarin have been sentenced to 14 days in prison and are due to be released on 24 Oct. This is the second term in prison for each of them. Their addresses in prison are listed below (note the corrected military ID number for Mia Tamarin, and Omer's surname, as listed in official documents):

 

Sahar Vardi

Military ID 6055780

Military Prison No. 400

Military Postal Code 02447, IDF

Israel

Fax: ++972-3-9579389

 

Tamar Katz

Military ID 5396326

Military Prison No. 400

Military Postal Code 02447, IDF

Israel

Fax: ++972-3-9579389

 

Mia Tamarin

Military ID 5399276

Military Prison No. 400

Military Postal Code 02447, IDF

Israel

Fax: ++972-3-9579389

 

Omer Granot

Military ID 5398532

Military Prison No. 400

Military Postal Code 02447, IDF

Israel

Fax: ++972-3-9579389

 

CO Avichai Vaknin, on whose case we've reported in August, has now been exempted from military service on medical grounds, after two prison terms, and is no longer in danger of further imprisonment for his beliefs.

 

Since the prison authorities often block mail from reaching imprisoned objectors, we also recommend you to send your letters of support and encouragement to the imprisoned objectors via e-mail to shministim@gmail. com, and they will be printed out and delivered to them during visits.

 

In addition, you may want to follow some of our recommendations for action below.

 

Recommended Action

 

First of all, please circulate this message and the information contained in it as widely as possible, not only through e-mail, but also on websites, conventional media, by word of mouth, etc.

 

Other recommendations for action:

 

1. Sending Letters of Support

Please send the imprisoned objectors letters of support (preferably postcards or by fax) to the prison addresses above.

 

2. Letters to Authorities

It is recommended to send letters of protest on the objectors' behalf, preferably by fax, to:

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

 

Copies of your letters can also be sent to the commander of the military prison at:

Commander of Military Prison No. 400,

Military Prison No. 400,

Military postal number 02447, IDF

Israel.

Fax: ++972-3-9579389

 

Another useful address for sending copies would be the Military Attorney General:

Avichai Mandelblit,

Chief Military Attorney

Military postal code 9605, IDF

Israel

Fax: ++972-3-569- 43-70

 

It would be especially useful to send your appeals to the Commander of the Induction Base in Tel-HaShomer. It is this officer that ultimately decides whether an objector is to be exempted from military service or sent to another round in prison, and it is the same officer who is ultimately in charge of the military Conscience Committee:

 

Gadi Agmon,

Commander of Induction Base,

Meitav, Tel-HaShomer

Military Postal Code 02718, IDF

Israel.

Fax: ++972-3-737- 60-52

 

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.

Here is a sample letter, which you can use, or better adapt, in sending appeals to authorities on the prisoners' behalf:

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

It has come to my attention that [name & military ID], a conscientious objector, has again been imprisoned for her refusal to perform military service, and is held in Military Prison No. 400.

 

The imprisonment of conscientious objectors such as [name] is a violation of international law, of basic human rights and of plain morals, let alone when the same person is being repeatedly imprisoned for her self-same beliefs.

 

I therefore call for the immediate and unconditional release from prison of [name], without threat of further imprisonment in the future, and urge you and the system you are heading to respect the dignity and person of conscientious objectors, indeed of all human beings, in the future.

 

Sincerely,

 

3. Letters to media in Israel and in other countries

 

Writing op-ed pieces and letters to editors of media in Israel and other countries could also be quite useful in indirectly but powerfully pressuring the military authorities to let go of the objectors and in bringing their plight and their cause to public attention.

 

Here are some contact details for the main media outlets in Israel:

Ma'ariv:

2 Karlibach st.

Tel-Aviv 67132

Israel

Fax: +972-3-561-06- 14

e-mail: editor@maariv. co.il

 

Yedioth Aharonoth:

2 Moses st.

Tel-Aviv

Israel

Fax: +972-3-608-25- 46

Ha'aretz (Hebrew):

21 Schocken st.

Tel-Aviv, 61001

Israel

Fax: +972-3-681-00- 12

 

Ha'aretz (English edition):

21 Schocken st.

Tel-Aviv, 61001

Israel

Fax: +972-3-512-11- 56

e-mail: letters@haaretz. co.il

 

Israel Hayom:

2 Hashlosha st.

The B1 Building

Tel-Aviv

Israel

e-mail: hayom@israelhayom. co.il

 

Jerusalem Post:

P.O. Box 81

Jerusalem 91000

Israel

Fax: +972-2-538-95- 27

e-mail: news@jpost.co. il or letters@jpost. co.il

Radio (fax numbers):

Kol-Israel +972-2-531-33- 15

and +972-3-694-47- 09

Galei Zahal +972-3-512-67- 20

 

Television (fax numbers):

Channel 1 +972-2-530-15- 36

Channel 2 +972-2-533-98- 09

Channel 10 +972-3-733-16- 66

 

We will continue updating on further developments.

 

Thank you for your attention and action,

Sergeiy Sandler – New Profile.

 

 

 

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