PHILADELPHIA (FinalCall.com)�A former commander in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) bared his soul June 5 concerning the horrendous injustices his country continues to commit against the Palestinian people in the name of self-defense.

Before a hushed, predominately Jewish audience at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, former army lieutenant and company commander Noam Sheizaf, 27, detailed the reasoning behind Israel�s newest peace movement, the "Ometz Le�sarev" (Courage to Refuse). Known as the "Refusnics," the movement consists of almost 500-army reservists who refuse to fight in the West Bank, Gaza and other occupied Palestinian territories.

Formed in January 2002, initially 50 IDF reservists, many very young, published a statement in some of the leading Israeli newspapers declaring, in part, "We shall not continue to fight beyond the 1967 borders in order to dominate, expel, starve and humiliate an entire people. �"

Their open disagreement has caused a frenzy in Israel and provided a backbone for the peace movement there. Mr. Sheizaf said his mission is to spread the words of their "righteous cause" here in the United States because "it�s difficult to continue to fight over there without support here."

Philadelphia marked the first leg of his U.S. speaking tour. Mr. Sheizaf, who was jailed for his stance, was hosted by Mishkan Shalom, an activist synagogue located in the Roxborough section of the city.

"Currently, there are 467 soldiers and officers in our movement, the largest amount of military dissenters in the history of Israel," he said. "I represent these people and I want to tell their story."

In detailing his own personal history, Mr. Sheizaf established his own legitimacy as a 7th generation Israeli. He joined an infantry unit where he rose through the ranks, becoming a lieutenant, platoon commander and company commander.

Mr. Sheizaf provided a detailed description of what he termed the "war of the settlements," where he said two wars are being fought. One is a just war; the other he termed as both unjust and futile.

"I am willing to fight the just war for the survival of Israel. I refuse, however, to fight for the continued occupation of Palestinian land. This war is unjust. It saps my country�s sanity and morality and corrupts its soul," he declared.

"During my tour of duty in occupied lands, I realized that I was issuing commands with little bearing on the security of my country�the daily humiliations of Palestinians at check points, the arbitrary closures and the destruction of homes. I saw kids grow up with hatred in their eyes�eyes that I was ashamed to meet," Mr. Sheizaf lamented.

The Refusnics intend to take several steps to educate the public concerning their cause, including the establishment of a central location where the public can meet with the reservists, production of a documentary about the reservists� movement, organizing meetings and seminars to broaden debate, organizing vigils outside prisons where reservists are jailed, and placing paid advertisements in Israeli newspapers.

Mr. Sheizaf concluded that "in effect, we have established an apartheid regime in the occupied territories. The occupation is the real infrastructure that is generating the terrorism, not the imams and not Arafat."