Israeli Draft Resister Faces Arrest

It's not a very popular stand and the teenager is keenly aware of it. "People say, 'Why don't you serve [in the army] and then criticize it from the inside?' " says Matar. "But I think it's terrible that you have to commit war crimes and only then can you protest. I myself won't serve in the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] because I think the entire army today — its energy and its resources — is devoted to the occupation. It does nothing for the security of Israel. "

Meeting Through the Barrel of a Gun

When it comes to charges of a lack of patriotism however, Matar gets defensive but not unduly ruffled. "If by patriotic you mean wanting your society to live in peace and justice toward yourself and toward others, then I am a patriot," he says. "Patriotism does not mean going into the army and oppressing people and intimidating them and detaining them and denying them freedoms."

If Matar's views are somewhat unusual for an Israeli teenager, he says that's because unlike most kids his age, he has actually had the opportunity to meet Palestinian kids his age while volunteering with several rights groups through the years.

"Most Israeli kids will not have a chance to meet Palestinians at all, and the first time they will meet them will probably be through the barrel of a gun," he says.

As Israel is currently building a controversial security fence, which when completed, will separate the West Bank from Israel, Matar rattles off a list of his Palestinian friends in the West Bank and Gaza, some of whom he has lost touch with since the current intifada began.

Friends they might be, but he's no apologist for Palestinian suicide bombings. "I think they're terrible," he says. "I think they go against the interests of the Palestinians, just as the occupation does not serve the interests of us Israelis."