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Conference Topic
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About Noam Wiener
Noam Wiener
was born in Israel in 1974 and has lived in the country
his entire life excepting a five year stint in the
States and in Japan during middle school. After
graduating from High-School in his home town in Givataim,
Noam volunteered to serve in the Israeli Army’s Airborne
Brigade. Noam served as a soldier, a squad sergeant, and
after attending officer academy, as a battalion
reconnaissance officer and as Chief of Operations. Noam
was honorably discharged in 1997 with the rank of First
Lieutenant and is now a reserve Captain. After finishing
Law School in Tel-Aviv University Noam worked in a law
firm in Israel and is currently pursuing further studies
at the University of Michigan Law School, where he is
writing a doctoral dissertation focusing on
International Law.
After the
beginning of the Second Intifadah in 2001, Noam came to
the conclusion that he could not commensurate the
universal human rights values which he held dear with
what was required of him as a soldier in the Occupied
Territories and has therefore refused to serve the
Occupation any further. He was promptly kicked out of
his unit and has since been active with various
organizations attempting to bring a swift end to the
Occupation.
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About Refuser Solidarity Network
Refuser
Solidarity Network
supports young people in Israel whose
consciences will not allow them to do their
obligatory military service in the occupied
territories. There are a growing number of Refusers at all
levels of the Israeli military, many who have
faced imprisonment.
The Refuser Solidarity Network (RSN) was formed in April
of 2002 to provide support for the growing Refuser
Movement in Israel. The initial impetus for the
establishment of the RSN was the publication in January
2002 of the Combatant's Letter by a group of 52 reserve
officers, which later became Ometz Le'sarev or Courage
to Refuse.
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