Breaking the Silence, Students in the Knesset Despite the Law

Protestant against the law known as Breaking the Silence,
this week, with a majority of 43 to 23, ten students from across the country came to the Knesset on Tuesday and participated in a conference on "Breaking the Silence".

The organization, which is now banned from schools under the new law, held the conference in the Meretz party hall.

This law, sponsored by Education Minister Naftali Bennett and MP Shuli Mualem-Refaeli of the Nationalist and Religious Party Bayit Yehudi, prohibits activists who slander Israel and IDF in international forums to enter in school premises. The law also applies to anyone who acts abroad to support institutions that delegitimize Israel.

The legislation was christened The Law "Breaking the silence" , in reference to the Israeli left-wing group that collects and publishes testimonies from IDF veterans about the alleged misconduct of the army against Palestinians in the West Bank and during conflicts with terrorists in Gaza.

His testimonies are often anonymous and the main allegations of abuse have been refuted in the past by other eyewitnesses.

Itai Glazer, a high school student from Ramat Gan (a city bordering Tel Aviv), claimed that Bennett underestimates Israeli students. "I heard about this law when she spent her first reading – and even then it bothered me … I think this law denigrates students and does not give young people a chance to decide by themselves, "he said.

"Bennett thinks he can make decisions for us, he underestimates youth," he added. "There are people who believe that these conferences can influence us, hear them and decide for ourselves: in general, schools do not allow political conferences and, in my opinion, that mine our ability to develop independent thinking.

Rena Miriam Simanovski, a grade 10 student at Ramla High School, said that it was "scary that the government and the Ministry of Education are trying to silence the voices of all those who If you are giving a lecture on Jewish values ​​in schools, why not let students attend a conference of Breaking the Silence? "

Ido Even-Paz, the activist of Breaking the Silence who gave the lecture to students, encouraged students to fight and make their voices heard. "The government is unleashed in the territories, the situation is worsening and the pressure on the Palestinians is increasing."

"The break the silence law is only the precursor of the actions taken to silence the opposite voices," Even-Paz adds.

"It has been easier, but similar laws that will pbad in the future will only lift the fence against whoever dares to resist, now we have to be brave and fight," he concluded.

In the past year, representatives of the organization met with about 200 high school students nationwide.

Breaking the Silence CEO Avner Gvaryahu says Ynet "Bennett has long been tried to silence "Breaking the Silence" and not really, but this law is only another step, so we asked to give a lecture to students of the Knesset. "

Students ask questions about our activities and the reality in the territories, these are fundamental questions of citizenship and democracy.The organization does not advocate insubordination, but encourages knowledge and transparency and, in my opinion, it is dangerous to turn the clbad into sterile.

The Breaking the Silence organization said in response to the law: "Bennett can try to fight the students and silence the soldiers, but that proves that the more people close us, the more people want to know what happens in the territories will increase. "