In praise of...Israeli refusniks

Politaholic has a lot of time, a lot of respect, for people whose moral boundaries are not wholly circumscribed by their own ethnicity, and who can look beyond their own ethnic identity to, well, a common humanity, a universal sense of right and wrong. I mean the white South Africans who stood against apartheid, the white (and perhaps impossibly brave) young people who participated at great risk in the voter registration drives in the Deep South in the 1960's. So it is heartening to read in Saturday's guardian about Israeli "refusniks". These are people whose views on the Middle East are, I suspect, not coincident with my own; but they are brave, and their ability to see beyond "my own ethnic group right or wrong" deserves respect. One of these, No'em Levna (who was imprisoned for 14 days) is quoted as saying: "Killing innocent civilians cannot be justified...Nothing justifies this kind of killing"; and he also refers to the "incontinent theft" of Palestinian lands.
Meanwhile The Independent reports (18/1/09) that: "British Jews have been attacked for expressing support for Palestinians suffering under Israeli military strikes in Gaza. Police confirmed yesterday that they have provided protection to a number of people believed to be victims of UK-based Zionist extremists angered by expressions of solidarity with Palestinians..."