OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 25 September 2003 — Twenty-seven Israeli Air Force pilots have signed a letter in which they said they would no longer take part in airstrikes on densely-populated residential areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel Channel 10 News reported last night.
“We, veteran pilots and active pilots ... refuse to obey illegal and immoral orders to carry out the kind of attacks which the State of Israel carries out in the territories,” the letter, addressed to Israeli air force commander Maj. Gen. Dan Halutz, said. “We, who were taught to love Israel and contribute to the Zionist enterprise, refuse to take part in attacks by the air force in civilian population centers,” added the signatories, the highest-ranking of whom was a brigadier.
