Protest: The black flag above the order — when conscience clashes with the duty to obey

Source: The black flag doctrine: When the order pierces the eye and revolts the heart

The hallmark of a "manifestly illegal" order - must fly like a black flag above the given order, as a warning sign saying: "Forbidden!". Not formal illegality, hidden or half-hidden, not illegality revealed only to the eyes of legal scholars is what matters here, but rather: a blatant and manifest violation of the law, a certain and inescapable illegality appearing on the face of the order itself, a clear criminal character of the order or of the acts the order commands to be done, an illegality that pierces the eye and revolts the heart, if the eye is not blind and the heart is not callous or corrupt - this is the degree of illegality required to void a soldier's duty of obedience and impose upon him criminal responsibility for his actions.

(Military Court 3/57, Military Prosecutor v. Maj. Melinki et al., Pesakim 17 90, pp. 213-214)

Explanation: The tragedy of Kafr Qasim: The test that set the boundary

On October 29, 1956, the IDF Central Command ordered a curfew on Arab villages in the Triangle (the foothills of the Samarian mountains), beginning at 5:00 PM. A Border Police battalion commanded by Maj. Shmuel Malinki was instructed to kill anyone who violated the curfew. One platoon stopped several residents of Kafr Qasim who had no knowledge of the curfew and were returning home from a day of work after the curfew hour, and 43 of the village residents were shot to death by the platoon. In court, the shooters defended themselves by arguing that they were carrying out explicit orders from the battalion commander. However, Judge Benjamin Halevy, presiding over the military court in Jerusalem, ruled that they were guilty because it was a 'manifestly illegal order.' Every soldier and every man and woman must obey moral duty when it is indisputably clear. Those involved in the incident served their sentences in prison.

Perspective: The gray zone: When the obvious becomes complex

The events of Kafr Qasim were a relatively easy test. Out of eight platoons that received the same order, only one opened fire. By the standard of the reasonable person, it is clear that killing laborers returning from work without having known about the curfew is beyond question a manifestly illegal order. Yet in most cases, things are not so stark. In the expanse between a manifestly illegal order and a clear, ordinary one, a major controversy rages. Over the years, orders to evacuate settlements, conscientious refusal to enlist, and road blockades have all been subjects of intense debate.

Going Deeper: Selective conscientious objection: Freedom or disintegration?

HCJ 7622/02 – David Zonsheine v. Military Advocate General

The Honorable Justice Aharon Barak:

In a pluralistic society like Israeli society, recognizing 'selective conscientious objection' may loosen the hoops that hold it together as a nation. Yesterday the objection was to serving in southern Lebanon. Today the objection is to serving in Judea and Samaria. Tomorrow the objection will be to dismantling this or that outpost in the region. The people's army may turn into an army of factions composed of various units, each possessing areas where it is conscientiously permitted to operate, and other areas where it is conscientiously forbidden from operating. In a polarized society like Israeli society, this is a weighty consideration.

The Honorable Justice Dorit Beinisch:

When Israeli society is divided and polarized, encompassing groups and individuals of deep conscientious conviction and fierce belief, each in the justice of their own path, it is exceedingly difficult to draw the line that marks the bounds of legitimacy for 'selective conscientious objection' of various kinds. Many among us seek to establish the limits of obedience according to their faith and conscience, and even according to their political views. The boundary line between 'selective conscientious objection' and a political worldview is indeed, as my colleague the President put it, 'thin, and sometimes exceedingly thin.'

Culture: The unknown man before the tanks: When rebellion becomes an icon

In April 1989, popular unrest broke out across China, demanding democratic reforms in the country. Many students gathered in Tiananmen Square, in the heart of Beijing, while armed troops fired into the crowd. Thousands were killed and wounded, yet one iconic image remains etched in memory: an unknown man stood directly in front of a column of tanks and halted its advance. Only after half an hour was the man taken away by Chinese police, and he has not been seen since. To this day, no one knows who that unknown man was.