RESISTANCE FROM WITHIN/ISRAELI DISSENT

Borders divide us physically, media isolates us politically, and the result is often the idea that no one gives a f*ck, especially those from within colonial regimes. 

This is exactly why it's important to recognize that even under authoritarian repression, some still find the courage to resist. This is Tom's story. He is one of many Israeli youth risking their futures in order to stand against occupation, and in solidarity with Palestinian liberation: demanding an end to the ongoing genocide.

Resistance exists everywhere, and often where it's least expected. Solidarity transcends imperialist borders, and we will not let them dictate our alliances, the whole world is our homeland!

    Israeli Anarchists In Solidarity with Gaza 2021

What follows is Tom's testimony, documented in his own words. 

Images included are his works of activism.

« My name is Tom. I'm currently 21 years old. I'm an anti-Zionist Jew and anarchist activist living in occupied Palestine with Israeli citizenship. I'm autistic, diagnosed with depression and social anxiety, and I also have life-threatening food allergies. Right now, I live with my dad in an illegal Israeli settlement in the West Bank (not out of choice, of course).

Since October 7th, I have been politically active and attended many demonstrations in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in support of the Palestinian people in Gaza, who are facing a brutal genocide and a merciless occupation in the West Bank. I carried an anarchist-feminist flag to show my solidarity with Palestinian women everywhere, all around the world. I started putting up and spreading stickers in the settlement in which I live, and two days later, on January 5th, I was taken by the Israeli police from my workplace in Jerusalem for interrogation. I was accused of incitement to violence and terrorism against the occupation forces. They took me to a police station in the West Bank and held me there for an entire day until they decided to formally arrest me and hand me over to the Israeli Prison Service (IPS).

  If you don't like my stickers, just look away, just like you ignore the genocide in Gaza.

I was sent to a detention center in Jerusalem called the "Russian Compound," where I stayed for two weeks. From the beginning, it was quite clear that everyone there hated me. It was a horrible place. For those two weeks, I was completely isolated from other prisoners because they classified me as a "Jewish security prisoner." They abused me mentally and psychologically, draining me of any hope that I would ever be released.

At the beginning, they gave me only food I am allergic to, even though my lawyer and I made it very clear to the court that I have life-threatening allergies to many food items. I even told the guards what I was allowed to eat. Despite that, they gave me, for example, rice with sesame on top, knowing full well of my severe sesame allergy.

Eventually, they started giving me only fruits, vegetables, and a slice of pastrami to eat three times a day. I did not have access to clean water for those entire two weeks. At every court hearing, my father noticed that I was losing weight dramatically.

Two judges, from two different courts, granted me the right to 10 phone calls with my family, but the guards—and even the warden himself—came to my cell and told me to my face that I didn't deserve anything because I had betrayed Israel with a serious crime. I showed them the court order stating that I was entitled to 10 phone calls, but they said, "The IPS has its own rules."

All the guards completely ignored my mental health issues and the fact that I am autistic. They shouted at me, shoved me around, cursed me, cursed my parents for giving birth to me—just a bunch of bullies. Every time they took me out of my cell for interrogation or for a court hearing, they put a blindfold on me, handcuffs on my hands, and shackles on my feet. When I was taken to and from court hearings and police interrogations, the guards used to shove me out of their vehicle violently while I was still blindfolded and shackled. Naturally, I often fell, and they would laugh at me each time. They mocked me, saying I looked like a woman because I have long hair; once, one of them even yanked my hair and called me "a blind cow."

    The state is run by war criminals 

The ankle shackles caused very large wounds on my ankles. I bled, and the blood used to drip onto the floor. The guards didn't care at all. I asked to see a doctor, and all he did was wet the area and apply a band-aid.

At some point, I told the police I was having suicidal thoughts after an interrogation. The guards took me to a completely white prison cell. It was freezing cold. I had to sleep on a mattress on the floor and urinate into a hole in the ground while a security camera filmed me the entire time.

In one of my interrogations at the police station, the officer questioning me told me they had found a picture of Hitler in my phone gallery. They showed me the picture, which they must have planted on my phone, and told me I was a "Nazi" and an "antisemite." I laughed in their faces. It only showed me what kind of people I was dealing with—people who think I'm an idiot and just want to ruin my life.

They even accused me of contact with a foreign Iranian agent. The police and the prosecution dropped this accusation early on, but the IPS guards kept accusing me of being an Iranian spy.

Once, after an interrogation at the police station, I was left in the police holding cell for hours without anyone checking on me. I was very thirsty, and the cell was very small—you couldn't even lie down in it. It was late at night, and I just wanted to sleep.

IPS guards arrived and took me and several Palestinian prisoners. They put me into an iron compartment inside the vehicle, with shackles on my legs and hands. It was very cold.

We drove almost two hours. Inside the cage there were tiny holes, so I could see just a little of what was happening outside. They made stops at gas stations to buy themselves snacks and drinks. They also stopped at other prisons I couldn't recognize.

When I saw that we were approaching Ofer Prison [where thousands of Palestinian so-called "security prisoners" face constant torture], I got scared and started shaking. I thought they were transferring me to a "security prison."

    Ofer Prison in Israel

From inside the compartment, I heard the guards take the Palestinian prisoners out with them. Slowly, their footsteps grew distant until I couldn't hear them anymore. After that, we drove back to the Russian Compound.

After two weeks at the "Russian Compound," the judge decided to release me to house arrest. The police filed an indictment against me for the following charges:

• Incitement to terrorism

• Incitement to violence

• Dishonoring the state flag

The charges concerning the stickers were dropped completely. Instead, they focused on my Instagram account [which included posts in support of Palestinian resistance as well as anarchist-related content]. They claimed the Instagram posts were much worse than the stickers.

The night of my arrest, the police took my bag and everything in it. There were 400 shekels inside. When I was released to house arrest, they gave me back only 60 shekels in coins—they stole the rest.

I can't fully describe what I went through because it was horrible and unimaginable. I have trauma from the experience. I suffer from anxiety and stress every day because of it.

I have been under house arrest for more than eight months now. I am completely banned from using the internet. Only a few weeks ago, I finally received permission to go visit my therapist once every two weeks.

My lawyer, hired by my parents, signed a plea deal with the prosecution. They are taking the path of psychological rehabilitation. I will be sent to a hostel for people with disabilities, and they will "treat" my autism. Instead of incarceration, according to the deal, I will have to serve 9 or 10 months of community service.

Despite the plea deal already signed, my next court hearing is only three months from now, in November. By then, I will have been under house arrest for 10 months.

Now, someone recently told me that I might be eligible for refugee status since Israel prosecuted me because of my anti-Zionist/political beliefs. I didn't know about that, and I would like to maybe get help and assistance in that regard. I'm absolutely certain that I did what I could. I went out to many pro-Palestine protests, I spread hundreds of anti-Zionist stickers, and I took down Israeli flags in the settlement where I live. Believe me, I did everything within my capabilities.

   Government of fascists, army of terrorists, nation of racists. 

But it's definitely time for me to leave. No one would want to employ an anti-Zionist who has a police file for "incitement to terrorism" in their workplace in Israel. I don't want to pay taxes to the Zionist state either, and I have had enough of seeing IOF military checkpoints and Israeli flags everywhere I go. I have decided to seek asylum in Spain. I heard recently that they imposed nine sanctions on Israel, and I think it would be a good place to move to, considering they recognized Palestine as a state and are taking some actions against the Zionist state.

My dad supports me in moving out of Israel to whatever country I choose. I already talked with him about seeking asylum in Spain as a political refugee. Right now, I can't take any action toward this because I'm still on house arrest, and my next court hearing will be in November. And even if they release me, I'll have to serve 9–10 months of community service. »

  Anarchist demonstration in Tel Aviv 2012

         We stand in solidarity with Tom and all comrades resisting oppression in Israel and worldwide.