Guy Grossman, a member of the Israeli refusal movement spoke at Brandeis on Tuesday night. Grossman, whose arrival in Boston garnered coverage by the Boston Globe, spoke in the filled lower lobby of the Usdan Student Center: Once every seat had been filled, students, faculty, staff and visitors overflowed unto the lobby, sitting on the steps and standing up around the corners.
The refusal movement, known in America as the Courage to Refuse movement, originates from a letter -- a sort of call to action -- by Israeli soldiers who refuse to return to the occupied territories.
"We hereby declare that we shall continue serving in the Israel Defense Forces in any mission that serves Israel's defense," reads the letter signed by 443 soldiers. "The missions of occupation and oppression do not serve this purpose -- and we shall take no part in them."
Associate Director of Hillel, Ora Gladstone, introduced Grossman, commenting on the large turnout for the event.
"When we booked this event, we did not realize that the Globe would come out with an article listing Brandeis as an only venue," she said explaining the choice fo venue for the event.
Grossman, a soft-spoken man, began by telling his personal story to the audience, tracing his childhood and his time in the Israeli army -- a group her perceived as an inherently moral institution.
"The soldiers are moral, the occupation is not," he said.
Grossman said that for him as an individual the decision to refuse was guided by his service and experience in the occupied territories.
"The worst part is," he said of the violence he saw in the territories, "I realized that everything was legal. Something must be wrong if everything is legal."
"Then, I understood there is no benign occupation," he added. "My presence there perpetuates the problem ... I won't go there again."
In addition to using the forum to tell his personal story of refusal, Grossman also discussed Israel's position in the territories.
"There is a myth in Israel that we have to be in the occupied territories," he said.
He went on to discuss the fear in Israel, describing the violence in the country as a vicious cycle.
"We've gotten to the situation where Palestinians won't stop the terror attacks until we withdraw," he said. "And we won't withdraw until the terror stops."
Essentially, Grossman said, it was these issues of rights and violence, as well as personal experiences on the part of the soldiers which served as a catalyst for the letter stating refusal.
"The letter reminds people in Israel that the continuation of occupation is not an option," he said. "The continuation of the immoral and unjust occupation is not an option."
"We are reminding them of the faces that we kill," he added. "We are telling them of the everyday life of the occupation and its cruelty."
In addition, the letter provided a support network for soldiers, like Grossman, who chose to refuse.
"On a very personal level, the letter helped people who might have wanted to refuse, thought to refuse, take the step," he said.
Concluding, Grossman urged the audience to act.
"If you care about Israel, this is the time to raise your voice," he said.
Still, as the question and answer session which followed Grossman's speech showed, the audience was not filled with supporters.
Students wearing buttons and stickers in opposition, challenged Grossman and his message.
According to Scott Selinger '02, who along with a number of other students disagreed with Grossman, the group was made up of independent students who chose to listen and ask questions rather than stage a protest to express disagreement.
Selinger added that while many of the visitors from outside the Brandeis campus came to support Grossman, Brandeis students wanted to show their disagreement with the speaker.
"As opposed to a protest, we went, we listened to what he said," Selinger said. "But, we wanted to show that we disagree ... that there is another side to the story."
"He didn't have a plan for anything," he added, speaking of Grossman. "He is in favor of a movement but he can't provide a concrete plan."
The organizers of the event and members of the Courage to Refuse movement in America -- who passed around baskets for donations -- said they brought Grossman to Brandeis as an outreach effort.
"I think its important to reach out to young people," Hilda Silverman, one of the event's off-campus organizers said. "If you want to reach out to Jews and reach out to young people, Brandeis is the ideal place."
Silverman said she was happy to hear dissenting voices at the event.
"I was glad that people came who didn't agree," she said.
Grossman is part of a nation-wide campaign to raise awareness of the refusal movement. In addition to Brandeis, he has already spoken at Tufts University and Harvard University, as well as two Boston-area synagogues.
Other "refuseniks" will be speaking in other parts of the nation.