Israeli soldiers jailed over political t-shirts

Israeli soldiers jailed over political t-shirts

2011-06-25 02:57:38 GMT+7 (ICT)

TEL AVIV (BNO NEWS) -- Four soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were sentenced to jail for wearing political t-shirts, the Jerusalem Post reported on Friday.

The ten soldiers from the Golani Brigade were pictured on Thursday night wearing t-shirts with the slogan "Golani fights the enemy and does not expel Jews" written on their backs at a ceremony for soldiers of Golani's 13th Battalion who had completed their training. Golani commander Col. Ofek Buchris, who was not present at the ceremony, immediately summoned four out of the 10 soldiers and sentenced them to jail.

The brother of the creator of the t-shirts was sentenced to 30 days, while the other soldiers were sentenced to 20 and 10 days in jail. They were sentenced to jail for "expressing political opinions", something soldiers in uniform are not allowed to do.

Meanwhile, Yair Ben-David, creator of the t-shirts, demonstrated on Friday outside Buchris' home for sending his brother to prison. In contrast to original reports, he claimed that the soldiers did not wear the shirts during the ceremony and only put them on after they had been discharged to their homes.

"This was not a political protest," Ben-David said. "The soldiers did not show the shirts during the ceremony. They weren't even wearing them then. They only put them on after the ceremony was finished and they were released home for the weekend."

"I wonder if a soldier who wears a Peace Now shirt under his uniform would be punished this way," he added. "There is also nothing political with what was said on the shirt. I think everyone in Israel will agree with me that Golani's job is to fight our enemies and not fellow Jews."

IDF sources said that the incident was under investigation.

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