Laura Milo

In Israel, all Jewish men and women have to do military service, and are called up at the age of 18. Military service lasts for 3 years in the case of men, women have to serve for 20 months.

The right to conscientious objection does only exist for women. They have to explain their reasons in front of a "conscience committee". In the past, women who were opposed especially to serving in the Occupied Territories were also recognised as conscientious objectors. Recently the army decided that now women have to prove that they are pacifists. As a consequence, the conscience committee increasingly rejected applications by women COs - as in the case of Lauro Milo.

Laura Milo presented herself to the Induction Base on 23 February 2004. She declared: "I cannot take part in the injustices that our state carries out by means of the IDF. I am no pacifist, my refusal is prompted by the occupation … I went to Yeruham out of a sense of pioneering, with the aim of creating a new model of community and movement work. I sensed, in myself and by way of my charges, the ugliness of our society and the injustice that shapes the policy of our government … I refuse for a very personal reason, so that I can go on living in this country and feel at peace with the dictates of my conscience." Laura was sentenced to 14 days on 23 February. A second arrest was postponed, after she appealed against the decision of the conscience committee. The officer who sentenced her told her "to prepare to be in jail for 1 year and 9 months". The case continues.