A Path Forward: Conversation with Atayla Ben-Abba, an Israeli Conscientious Objector

Please Note: This event is IN-PERSON ONLY at JRC. We look forward to seeing you there!

Join the Israel Palestine Working Group for an opportunity to hear firsthand reflections and perspectives from Atalya Ben-Abba, a Jewish-Israeli peace activist and conscientious objector, reflecting on this moment in Israel/Palestine. Participants will get to meet Atalya, hear her story of refusing to serve in the IDF, her perspectives on the role of militarism in Israeli society and history, solidarity work with Palestinians in the West Bank combating settler violence, and the work of Israelis who are demanding a political – not military – solution to the escalating crisis. In her writing, speaking, and activism, Atalya insists that equal rights for all people who live in Israel/Palestine is the only path to peace.

Atalya is a powerful voice in the Israeli anti-occupation movement, insisting that peace can only come from equal rights for all people in the region.

Though raised in a family of military professionals, when faced with mandatory conscription, Atalya — to protest the military’s role in oppressing Palestinians – refused to serve and was imprisoned for taking such a stand. That journey is chronicled in the award-winning documentary OBJECTOR (2019), which shows how her courageous decision led those around her to reconsider their own political positions and power to effect change.

Today, Atalya serves as the Media Coordinator for Refuser Solidarity Network (RSN), which — amid escalating crisis and repression — provides crucial support to Israelis refusing military service, organizes nonviolent resistance trainings for activists, and cultivates solidarity with Palestinian communities in the West Bank who are facing an overwhelming surge of settler violence and land theft.

Let us know you’re joining and RSVP here.

Questions? Email JRC’s Israel-Palestine Working Group at ipworkinggroup@jrctogether.org.