Brit Tzedek v'Shalom

Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace

Chapter Activities

Portland, OR

Oregonian
March 3, 2005

Former Israeli Air Force Pilot Now Delivering Message of Peace
By Su-Jin Yim

Some people in his country call Yonatan Shapira a traitor and a coward. The reason: the former Israeli Air Force captain and 26 other pilots sparked a firestorm in 2003 when they signed a letter refusing to carry out bombing missions in the Palestinian territories.

But Shapira, who speaks in Portland today, says he would sacrifice his life for Israel.

"Everything I'm doing is out of love for my country and care and great desire to change the future, to have a future of peace and not of endless violence," the 33-year-old activist says.

Shapira, who was discharged from the military after the "Pilots' Letter" was published, is on an 11-city U.S. tour explaining his decision to anyone who will listen and urging Americans to pay close attention to what is going on in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

What was the message behind the Pilots' Letter?

We said (bombing) does not serve the security and defense of our country. It just does the opposite. It creates more hate, more suffering, more harm to innocents, and as a result of that more terror against us. . . . Every one of us will sacrifice his life to stop the suicide bomber, but we no longer want to take part in missions that are involved in harming innocent people.

What was the turning point that forced you to confront your doubts about Israeli government policy?

One of the major points was July 2002 when an F-16 sent a one-ton bomb -- that's more than 2,000 pounds -- in order to kill the leader of Hamas in Gaza. We did it in the middle of the night. Of course, the leader of Hamas died, but other innocents, including nine children, died. For me, it was something unacceptable. I was no longer able to accept the excuses.

What excuses?

That we have no choice. We have a lot of choices. One of the first choices we have is to try to stop this circle of violence. (As well as being in the Israeli Air Force), I was involved in helping Israeli terror victims and bringing injured bodies from terror attacks. That led me to become more aware of this mutual circle of violence, not just violence toward us but also violence that my system causes to others.

Why take such a public stand?

You were dismissed from the service after the letter was published.

Sometimes people should not just vote. They should refuse to do illegal and immoral things. It actually can lead to some kind of change in the future.

Do you find hope in the current negotiations between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders?

It's very sad, but at the same time that (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon and the Palestinian leader were shaking hands and going for this new stage, the bulldozers were still working. The land-grabbing is continuing.

(We must) force our government to stop this play, this show of one hand doing disengagement but the other hand continuing to grab lands and all of those things that will create the next generation of terrorists against us.

It's important to use this chance, this opportunity, this hope that we have in order to continue with this pressure on the government. This pressure is not against my country, not against my people. It's for my people.

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