For an hour we sat in the overcrowded and badly ventilated courtroom of the Jaffa Military Court, listening to presiding judge, Colonel Avi Levi, reading out a long verdict--hard to understand as he was rushing through the document. The text gave different and contradicting pointers as to the outcome.
"We have become convinced of the sincerity of Yoni Ben Artzi's pacifist convictions, and we are far from feeling that the Conscience Committee acted at its best when it rejected his request for exemption. The assertion that he wanted to avoid military service for personal convenience does not stand up to the proven record of his spending than a year behind bars, and to his rejecting offers of easy and comfortable military service made to him by various high officers. Nor do we accept the prosecutor's contention that his participation in the Yesh Gvul rally proves him to be a political refuser rather than a pacifist. A pacifist could have political opinions, too. Objecting to Israel's rule behind the Green Line is exactly the opinion which we would expect a pacifist to hold and we would have been surprised to find him holding a different one.
"In his testimony in this court, Colonel Simchi--head of the Conscience Committee--admitted to many shortcomings of the committee which he led. He is to be commended for his honesty. Nevertheless, this committee is the constituted authority entrusted with determining whether or not a person liable for military service would or wouldn't get an exemption. This court is not empowered to act as a court of appeal upon the Conscience Committee.
"Moreover, Ben Artzi appealed against the committee's findings to the Supreme Court, and was rejected. This court is certainly not a court of appeal upon the Supreme Court
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http://www.counterpunch.org/keller11132003.html
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