A feminist Group in Israel Challenges the Status Quo

By Daniel Pines

New Profile is a feminist organization founded in 1998 and co-founded by Ruth Hiller. This organization currently includes women, men and youth who want to change the gendered and militarized mindsets fueling armed conflict and hostility between Israelis and Palestinians as well as the nations neighboring Israel. New Profile has several interrelated goals. The first is to demilitarize Israeli society. The next is to end the Israeli occupation of land conquered in 1967. The final goal is to help create an Israeli society that is life preserving, egalitarian, humane to all and embraces people's freedom of consciousness.

New Profile hopes to achieve these goals by educating the Israeli public on the connection between militarization, sexism and inequality. This organization also attempts to counter the militarization of Israeli education. New profile supports draft resistance into the Israeli army and individuals who want to become conscientious objectors.

New profiles uses feminist methodologies to guide their work. In particular they structure their. organization with feminist ideas of equal participation and egalitarian, non-hierarchic decision-making They conduct lectures, study days and workshops. These are usually based on their portable exhibit, “Study War No More”. This exhibits demonstrate how military and war have been normalized into the Israeli visual culture. These events are held in private homes for local groups and organizations. Conferences and seminars are also conducted. New Profile operates youth groups throughout Israel that openly discuss weather to enlist in the Israeli army, education, gender feminism, the Palestinian Naqba, civil inequality, the occupation, creative protest and globalization. These youth groups meet weekly. New Profile also operates a counseling center that provides young people and their parents with information, moral support and legal aid to realize their right to refuse military service in the Israeli army. New profile is the only group that emphasizes the importance of women refusing to serve in the Israeli military as well as men. In Israel both men and women have to join the army when they become a certain age. There is of course exceptions to this.

To reverse this changing public opinion that is questioning the Israeli occupation and the militarism of Israeli society non-governmental and governmental organizations have conducted a massive media campaign to attack those who choose not to serve in the Israeli army. The Media campaign is called "A true Israeli doesn't dodge the draft" The Israeli government is also rewriting existing laws to discriminate and harm those individuals who choose not to serve in the Israeli army. The Forum for the Equal Carrying of the Burden" (FECB) is one of the NGO's that has decided to focus their attacks on New Profile. This NGO has denounced New Profile in public and petitioned the Fellowship Societies Registrar which register NGO's to revoke New Profile's non-profit organizational status. The FECB claims that New Profile has violated several laws. In particular, the FECB claims that New Profile's call for people to refuse military service violates Israeli law. New Profile admits that it is against the law to call for mass refusal. However, they are permitted to promote alternative options, create new dialogue and support people who independently choose to resist military service. These attacks are a result of New Profile's success at attracting media and drawing in public interest.

New Profile started a campaign to counter these attacks. It aims to legitimize those who consider the ramifications before they enlist. This campaign also attempts to legitimize those who choose not enlist or exempted from military service for some reason. Their campaign calls for an end to the military and public schools pressuring young people to enlist following graduation. It involves submitting op-eds, placing web adds and holding demonstrations. The campaign has increased the number and activity of dissident youth groups and the volume of work coming into New Profile's counseling centers.

New Profile says that their counter campaign has reached hundreds of people on a daily bases and many of them contact new profile for more information, for help and to support New Profile which is offering an alternative to the status quo which will improve the quality of life for Israelis. For about a month 30,000 people clicked the New Profile banner adds that were on two major Israeli web portals. Thousands of people participated in an online discussion after they clicked the banner adds.

New profile does support selective divestment from Israel and has signed a statement supporting it. They feel is is an important tool in challenging companies and corporations that benefit from the Israeli occupation of lands conquered in 1967. They site the campaign against Caterpillar who sells equipment to the Israeli army which is used to demolish Palestinian homes as a great example of challenging the links between corporations, the Israeli occupation and the militarization of Israeli society. They encourage broad discussions in the United States regarding these issues knowing how U.S. Public opinion can influence Israeli military policy. Jewish Voices for Peace recently partnered with them.