Israeli Activists Set to Speak at Adams State

Mari Centeno
The Paw Print

Adams State University will host Israeli activists addressing the Israeli Occupation. “The Soldier and the Refusenik: Two Israelis. Two Choices. One Conclusion” The event begins at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19 in McDaniel Hall Room 101. The event is free and open to the public.
Eran Efrati, 28, was born and raised in Jerusalem. After graduating high school he enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), where he served as a combat soldier and company sergeant in Battalion 50 of the Nachal Division. He spent most of his service in Hebron and throughout the West Bank.
In 2009, he was discharged and joined “Breaking the Silence,” an organization of veteran Israeli soldiers working to raise awareness about the daily reality in the occupied territories. He worked as the chief investigator of the organization, collecting testimonies from IDF soldiers about their activities.
Efrati also guided political tours to the West Bank and worked to educate Israeli youth about the reality of being a soldier in an occupying army. His collected testimonies appear in the booklet “Operation Cast Lead,” and his most recent release, “Our Harsh Logic.” Since leaving Breaking the Silence, his investigative reports have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Guardian.
Today he is active with the Israeli groups “Anarchists Against the Wall,” and “Boycott from Within.”
Maya Wind, 24, grew up in Jerusalem during the second Intifada. She joined the Shministim movement and helped to establish the 2008 refusenik group. She refused to serve in the Israeli army and was sentenced to military prison and detention, and was exempted in 2009.
After her release she co-led the Jerusalem alternative education program of New Profile, the feminist movement for the demilitarization of Israel. She also guided political tours in East Jerusalem and the West Bank for the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions and worked against displacement in East Jerusalem with Rabbis for Human Rights. Today she is also active with the Israeli groups “Anarchists Against the Wall,” and “Boycott from Within.”
Sponsors of the event include Adams State History, Anthropology, Philosophy, Political Science, the Spanish Department, the Unitarian Universalists, Adams State Model United Nations, and the Newman Club.