Germany: Turkish Guards Wanted in U.S. for Brawl Unwelcome During Erdogan's G20 Appearance

Written by Biagio Della Malva.

German Foreign Ministry takes stand against entry of security guards who brawled with protesters in Washington last month

The German government says it doesn’t expect to see Turkish security agents accused of attacking protesters in Washington during President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to the upcoming Group of 20 summit in Hamburg.

Germany is hosting the leaders of the G-20 powers July 7-8. Police in Washington have issued arrest warrants for a dozen Turkish agents accused in last month’s incident.
German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer said Monday he could “assume with a good conscience that these people who have been incriminated by American judicial authorities won’t set foot on German soil in the foreseeable future, including during the G-20 summit.”

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Israeli Woman Who Refused to Serve in Army Discharged After 110 Days in Prison

Written by Biagio Della Malva.

Atalia Ben-Abba, 19, released on the grounds of unsuitability after a ruling that she was not a pacifist

A 19-year-old woman who served four stints in military prison after refusing to be inducted into the Israeli army was discharged on Tuesday after spending 110 days behind bars.
Atalia Ben-Abba’s release came on the grounds that she was unfit for army service. She is the third woman to be discharged from the Israel Defense Forces over the past year after refusing to serve.
On Monday, a panel that handles cases involving conscientious objectors declined to release Ben-Abba from the army for reasons of conscience, finding that she was not a pacifist.
In her appearance before the panel to determine if her refusal to serve was motivated by pacifist beliefs or political motives, she was asked whether she would prefer a draft exemption or an end to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. The panel ruled that her refusal was not due to pacifism because she replied that she would prefer an end to the occupation.
Ben-Abba also wrote a letter to the panel stating that she refused “to be part of a system that hurts millions of people on the false justification of security.”
Ben-Abba said upon leaving prison: “The army can call the exemption it gave me by any name it likes, but in practice it’s an exemption I was given for my simple refusal to participate in a system that uses violent means to oppress another people, imposing an occupation on it for the past 50 years.”

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