People look like flowers at last-youth demonstrate in support of the shministim

On Wednesday, October 21, youth in Israel marched through the streets of Tel Aviv in support of the Shministim- youth that is refusing to join the Israeli military. In Israel military service is mandatory at the age of 18, and the refusal to enlist caries jail sentences.
The demo, vocal and inspiring, was encouraging on many levels. For one, youth in Israel resisting military draft is defying everything that it was socialized to believe in- Israel is always a victim, Palestinians are violent and primitives, military service is fundamental to the survival of Jews in Palestine. The creating of space in which these myths are exposed promotes a hope for batter future. On another level, marching through the militaristic streets of Tel Aviv takes a lot of courage, people stopped on many accusation to curse and threaten, while the anti-occupation youth either ignored them or yelled at them back, (just to mention one example of violence against the “other” in Israel, a couple of months ago a gunman walked into a LGBT center and shot to death two youth). On a personal level, I can only imagine (well, I don’t need to imagine) the constant struggle that this youth go through with family and friends, and how much anti-militaristic and pro human-rights views can isolate one in israel.
So concretely, I was proud to march with those inspiring youth, who transformed guns and uniforms to butterflies locked in my ribcage. Danger and uncertainty to chants and music in the hot wind. Winter has begun, and people look like flowers, at last.

(the second last sentence is taken from a poem by Charles Bukowski)