Two Israeli conscientious objectors will be speaking in the Comox Valley in March as part of a nation-wide speaking tour.
Independent Jewish Voices and the Mesarvot Network have partnered to promote the tour, which will feature conscientious objectors Tal Mitnick and Einat Gerlitz speaking about their experiences resisting genocide and why they refused to serve in the Israeli military.
Mitnick and Gerlitz will be hosted by IJV chapters across Canada to talk about war resisters in the movement for a free Palestine, nonviolent resistance to Zionist fascism in Israel, pinkwashing of Israeli apartheid, and how Canadians can support resistance to Israeli war crimes.
According to , "pinkwashing" refers to the use of Queer imagery like Pride flags by Israeli soldiers and state actors in Gaza to "bolster the Israeli state by linking it with queerness, presenting it as an explicit counterpart to a Palestinian identity depicted as exclusively and violently homophobic."
According to IJV, "Mitnick and Gerlitz are leading figures in a growing wave of dissent among Israeli youth, challenging the brutal military occupation and advocating for Palestinian liberation. Both of them have paid the price for their stand, enduring time in Israeli military prisons for their refusal to participate in what they call a violent system that perpetuates apartheid and genocide. Their actions have sparked a global conversation about the vital role of war resisters in the fight for human rights and a free Palestine."
The tour will also feature speakers from the Palestinian solidarity movement in Canada.
"Mesarvot鈥檚 mandate is to support and raise the profile of young Israelis who refuse to be part of Israel鈥檚 war machine," a release from IJV Canada says. "These speakers approach this work from an anti-Zionist perspective while aiming to build a broad coalition in order to defeat the ongoing forces of oppression within and outside Israel."
The Comox Valley event is scheduled for March 24, according to the IJV Canada website. The other B.C. dates on the tour are Victoria on March 25 and in Vancouver on March 21.
The location for the event has not been announced yet, but those interested can visit for more information.
