It seems like in the year 2024, governments and the people supporting them have accomplished the impossible in terms of normalising death—but refusal persists
~ Juju Alerta ~
With a wild demonstration to enliven the St Pauli district of Hamburg, people from different countries gathered in the city in mid-November to exchange stories and discussions about the Refusal of Military Service and Anti-Militarism. People from various countries with experience on the topic spoke about their particular situations.
Palestine/Israel
Spokespeople from the Mesarvot organisation and the New Profile movement, both active in supporting networks for people refusing the mandatory military service in Israel shared their experiences and advice. They discussed their own experiences both of conscientious objection and of being drafted as women. One younger speaker (age 21) had to go to prison for 87 days for openly refusing to attend the army in 2022, they supported the suggestion of a public and online movement. The second spokesperson is of an older generation (age 42) who shares their own considerations and ideologies for the need for people to keep their refusal to join the army hidden and private. Both want the scary tales around the objection to breakout. People fall into pitfalls while being interviewed, just because they lack the right information, speakers want to harness their stories to inspire something achievable for everyone affected within a highly militarised society, especially one using automated technology for genocide. The Israel Defence Forces have a long history of discrimination when it comes to the treatment of conscientious objectors (ie. Religious, gender, ethnicity discrimination).
Greece
In Greece, both the heroism of refusing conscription combined with invisibility, creates a social distance to the topic. Often objection is considered to be a private thing, not something belonging to a political movement. Drafted men could be undertaking tasks on migratory projects or its militarised borders. The Greek Army has a presence at the Red Sea and in the Middle East, as well as being strongly influenced by NATO bases on Greek territories, which might be the reason why it abstained from a vote calling for an immediate humanitarian truce between Israel and Hamas, on October 27 2023 at the UN General Assembly.
Financial sanctions can affect individuals refusing to attend the army and evading the draft for up to 30 years. One example is that freelance workers can get “force-taxed”. In general, the economic penalties seem common in European territories, however it is relatively new in Greece compared to Germany. If someone in Greece needs some months to secure his finances and possessions from governmental involvement in the case of military service refusal, the same process would take Germany ten years to do due to its erudite use of bureaucracy as an oppressive instrument.
The society in Greece in general is in favour of the army, despite of it is being not such a strong force of a few million people, and even the leftist parties in Greece seem to not be opposed to it – the communist party being highly patriotic and not in favour of a revolutionary access to weapons. The physical training in the army itself in reality is secondary to patriotic brainwashing and lecturing on how to be a ‘proper man‘.
Switzerland
Switzerland is a good example of an economical beneficiary of military technology exports, whilst also enjoying living in peace. Surprisingly, they too have mandatory military service. Objection to conscription costs citizens 3% of their annual income to military exemption tax, or the seizure of valuable items. Since the 13th century its general democratic voting system was decisively in favour of a military, because direct voting campaigns are usually highly financialised affairs, orchestrated by various lobbies. You also have an option (or a trap) of civil service to fall into, if you are an ideological objector. This is an increasingly common way of deterring objectors, by forcing them into longer drafts of civil service, than expected in the military service conscription.
The military is seen of more use for internal affairs, so you could compare it to a highly economically and technologically developed, patriotic, guerrilla army, where they even have a saying: ”Switzerland doesn’t have an army, it is an army”. For instance, during the Cold War the army was distributing a manual titled Total Resistance, that the RAF considered using it (though eventually it proved not to be that useful to them). The Army’s main operations consist of securing the border, fighting social movements, and event security, such as at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meetings and the Zionist World Congress (in Basel, 2022).
A curious fact is, that the Swiss Army can refuse to draft you, if it has profiled you as too subversive for the army. Since it is considered as too easy to escape the service, it is treated on an individual basis rather than a collective one.
Russia
On November 17th, Russian anarchists organised a block for an anti-war demonstration in Berlin, carrying a banner reading “Death to the Empire”. The fight against the mobilisation in Russia is a fight against destruction of rights and the authoritarian-conservative politics of Putin during a state of war. Before, mobilisation to service in the army was largely avoided by people using any means necessary, as it was seen as an absurd, useless and meaningless time spent – according to a spokesperson, who avoided mobilisation via migration. The army was heavily corrupt, so it could be avoided for instance by buying fake medical documents. Russian society sees it as a cultural rite of passage for a man to experience violence and trauma, since the army’s nightmare is constituted through strong hierarchy and discrimination.
Currently, the anti-war charity Go By The Forest helps a lot of deserters from Russia. The most strict conditions are found at the frontline, in Luhansk and Donetsk deserters get tortured and detained in illegal secret prisons. Inside the country itself the laws are becoming increasingly repressive for conscientious objectors. The war reproduces coloniality through the racialised mobilisation, mostly ethnic minorities are overwhelmingly sent to die. A big class difference is also observed within the poorer provinces who populate a majority of those drafted, as well as lower classes from the cities, which maintains the status quo. A common practice of the fascist paramilitary Wagner Group is the illegal mobilisation of prisoners through violent exploitation.
The avoidance of the Russian army prompts existential questions for the affected since the start of the invasion on Ukraine. There are few possibilities for challenging Russian conscription, so the attacking of military railroads, fragging (coined by conscripted Americans who protested the Vietnam War soldiers by attacking army superiors) and migration became the only possible, but necessary reactions. Besides, sanctions led to nothing else in reality but a militarisation of economy, where new technological developments are being tested to practice.
Germany
Overall, the demonstration in Hamburg acts as a good reminder that in Germany the situation, according to the organisers discussion of various indicators, could revert to the mandatory military service that existed prior to 2011. A strong stance is needed to challenge the increased financing and interest in the military. This situation demands the biggest resistance in Germany since 1945 and this weekend in Hamburg served to inform attendees about possible ways to act. It seemed that the organisers prepared the questions for the speakers in advance, and it was interesting to learn, how the patriarchy is shaping the significance of the military. In the future it would be encouraging to see a broader perspective and representation on feminist struggles related to warfare, and to widen the scope of activist participation from other countries. This could build upon the foundations of including different viewpoints, to garner a fruitful dialogue.
Instead of enabling the normalisation of necropolitics, we should resist: there is no speculation on death, and there are no varying degrees of it. Speaking about war is speaking about death without any compromises. The deadliest of it could be the human next door, if they do not t care to oppose it. It is worth the fight against the globalised, capitalised, nationalised State war-machine on all fronts, even if the possibilities may vastly vary depending on the region in which the military operates.
Top photo: Russian-anarchists-in-exile march at anti-war demonstration on November 17th in Berlin. Photo: avtonom_org
