IDF Supports Policy of Refusal-to-Serve Action

No, not a refusal to serve when a Jewish community is being destroyed, or evacuated or a withdrawal is taking place.  Not that.  That's too, er, Zionist in character.

The IDF is a "humanist" army and is still improving it's Zionism.

Here's the story:

IDF reserve refuses to carry out return of African refugees to Egypt


Soldiers and officers had heard descriptions from colleagues who regularly serve in the area about abuse of the Africans by Egyptian border policemen.
Soldiers and officers in a reserve battalion that served on the Egyptian border in recent weeks have told their commanders they will not take part in "immediate return" - the sending back to Egypt of Africans sneaking into Israel. The brigade commander, meanwhile, has confirmed that the battalion will not carry out "immediate return."

The Negev Brigade's elite reconnaissance battalion completed a three-week deployment on the border. Nearly every night, Africans crossed the frontier, mostly Sudanese and Eritreans, and at least one time, Libyans.
Early in the deployment, a family of Eritreans was stopped. A company commander was ordered to send the transients back toward an Egyptian checkpoint. The soldiers and officers had heard descriptions from colleagues who regularly serve in the area about abuse of the Africans by Egyptian border policemen - violence, rape and murder - and refused to carry out the order. The commander contacted the battalion commander, Lt. Col. (res. ) Avi Friedman.

Friedman supported his men and contacted the brigade commander, Col. Yair Barkat, who then agreed that the troops would not carry out "immediate return."

During the deployment, Africans received medical treatment, food, drink and were taken to a holding area on the Israeli side of the border.

An officer said this week that "this decision received the battalion's full support .... In no way was this a refusal to execute an order, but rather a respectable understanding between the battalion commander and the brigade commander, who was intelligent enough not to get into a conflict over this issue."

The battalion commander, Friedman, declined to comment other than to say he was "very proud of the battalion and fully supportive of the soldiers and officers."...

...Soldiers and officers from the battalion who spoke to Haaretz asked to remain anonymous. "We're proud of what we did, but we don't want to make a big deal out of it," one said. "What we had to say we said internally, to the battalion and brigade commanders. Israel has a problem, and they don't know what to do, so they fob it off on the army."

Now, don't get me wrong. I am all for human rights and liberties but I am just wondering, who gets to decide these matters and are similar situations capable of generating the same reactions, including that of Haaretz?

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