A Tribute to Joseph Heller
Posted: March 12th, 2003 | 2 Comments »Check out this Guardian article about Yonatan Ben-Artzi, nephew of Bibi Netanyahu, who’s spent 200 days in prison so far for refusing to be conscripted into the Israeli Army. He says he’s a pacifist and conscientious objector. The Army does not seem to understand those terms. It’s a fascinating piece all-round, but this sentence in particular leapt out at me:
The committee came to the remarkable conclusion that his persistent resistance to the army was evidence of the qualities of a soldier and therefore he could not be a pacifist.
World tour of stupidity, tyranny and fear
The Israeli military thinks that if you struggle to not serve in the army, you’re showing the qualities of a soldier, so you can’t be a conscientious objector because you’re not really a pacifist. Meanwhile, the US won’t approve anything other than pro…
I simply told them that I’m mad, and they let me out. No prison.
I think I was talking about ants and marshmallows and the meaning of it all on my interview with the officers. I also recall saying something about suicide and perhaps taking some of them with me. The officers, that is.
Ahh, the freedom.