JERUSALEM - July 20, 2010 - The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights launched the blog “Action-a-Day” in order to connect the Palestinian village of Twaneh, located in the South Hebron Hills under full Israeli control, to running water. For two-and-half months, we encouraged activists volunteering for the projects to participate in one action a day via our blog and Facebook, each action taking only a few minutes. For each action, a new objective was chosen. The activists worked in complete coordination despite the fact that most of them had never met one another or the residents of Twaneh.

Last week, ACRI received a letter  from the Civil Administration, announcing the decision to connect Twaneh to running water.

Among the campaign actions, activists “bombarded” Knesset Members Haim Oron and Dov Khenin with letters, who accordingly sent a query to Defense Ministry; to Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilna’i, who investigated the matter; to and Communications Minister Moshe Kahlon, who also promised to check into the situation. The activists advised Deputy Foreign Minister Dani Ayalon to connect the village to running water for the sake of Israel’s international image.

In addition to the letters, activists were invited to take part in a number of innovative projects: they took pictures of their faucets at home as a sign of solidarity with the residents of the village, produced a short, satirical film in which Israeli youth “thanked”  the residents of the village for “giving up” water for them, created a Wikipedia entry on Twaneh as well as a computer game, both attempting to convey the tangible ramifications of the lack of building and planning infrastructure in the village.

The major turnaround came following our appeal to the Civil Administration. After Brigadier Yoav Mordechai, head of the Civil Administration, received a barrage of appeals from Action-a-Day activists, he personally contacted two of them, thanked them for their letters, and informed them of his intention to convene a special meeting to discuss the village’s access to water. Subsequently, ACRI received the welcome news.

“We are excited and happy about the Civil Administration’s decision to connect the village to running water after thirty years,” stated the activists. “However, it is important to remember that this is only part of a larger problem. In normal circumstances, running water and shelter constitute a basic matter, not a reason to launch an entire campaign. The important lesson here is that complaining about the situation does not suffice. We can change things through concrete action. We must engage through civic activism – and someone is listening.”

“Israel is responsible for about 150,000 Palestinian residents of Area C, many of them living in villages which are unrecognized by Israel and therefore lacking official plans, explained Alon Cohen-Lifshitz, architect at Bimkom. ”As a result, many residents are not allowed to build houses legally, making it difficult to provide entire villages with basic infrastructure connections to water and electricity”, he said.

“We decided that if we were not able to change things on a large scale, we would start small”, explained Ehud Uziel, a coordinator of ACRI’s public activities. “The challenge we set for ourselves was to provide the village of Twaneh with access to running water. Residents of the village use water which they buy in shipping containers and for which they pay seven times more than the average Israeli. Two hundred meters from the village a pipe from the Israeli water company “Mekorot” provides clean water to the settlements of Maon and Carmel and to the adjacent outpost of Chavat Maon.”

“We weren’t sure if we would succeed,” continued Uziel. “We told ourselves that even if it doesn’t happen, the project itself will raise awareness about the issues of water shortage and housing rights of the Palestinians who live under Israeli control in Area C. The ‘Action- a -Day’ Campaign offers a new kind of activism, for those who care and want to bring about change”.

Ramit was married in 1993, after she and her future husband became religiously observant. The couple lived in a Charedi neighborhood.   Her husband’s violent behavior began soon after their marriage. After 12 years of continuous suffering, Ramit and her daughter were compelled to leave their home , and Ramit filed for divorce. As often happens, despite the fact that Ramit and her husband jointly purchased their apartment , the title to the apartment was in his name. He took advantage of the situation and claimed full ownership of the apartment. To make matters worse, the Beit Din demanded that Ramit should give up the apartment in exchange for a get and pressured her to transfer jurisdiction over the apartment’s ownership from the civil courts to the bet din. Ramit refused.

In all hearings relating to the apartment Ramit was represented, in both the rabbinical and the family court, by Gittit Nachliel, Mavoi Satum’s lawyer. Without giving up on her share of the apartment, the rabbinical court recommended that the husband give Ramit a get, though they did not compel him to do so.

In addition, through The Center for Women’s Justice, Ramit submitted a damages claim for divorce refusal. This move caused the judges in the rabbinical court to decree that until Ramit retracted her damages claim they would not arrange for her to receive a get. Luckily, the civil court ratified that Ramit was entitled to half of the apartment and to compensation from her husband for refusing her divorce. When her husband saw that he was fighting a losing battle and was going to lose on all counts, he agreed to give her a get. With our help, the two sides were able to arrive at a fair divorce agreement. As of today Ramit is a free woman.

To date Israel has not had a general immigration law. The Law of Return relates only to people who are Jewish, or are of Jewish descent, and leaves the question of immigration of non-Jews as a lacuna, which is covered by a plethora of sometimes conflicting administrative and judicial decisions. This leads both to confusion, bureaucratic arbitrariness as well as infringements of human rights.  The current state of affairs is detrimental to Israel’s vital interests, a situation which is intolerable for Israel as a state and as a nation. Israel needs an immigration policy. In this Position Paper, the authors, for the first time in Israel, propose a strategy for thought and action ahead of the formulation of an immigration policy that promotes Israel’s interests as a Jewish and democratic state.

Metzilah’s publications – mostly position papers – serve to explore the legitimacy and implications of Jewish national self-determination in the State of Israel, as well as of Jewish self-fulfillment around the world. Moreover our publications seek to shed light onto the compatibility of Zionism and Judaism with Human Rights and Liberalism in the context of a Jewish and democratic State of Israel.  The goal is to create a platform for ideological clarification of the presuppositions and validity of Zionism as well for informed public discourse and decision-making.

The papers are meant to serve as a basis of support for decision makers by framing complex issues and providing policy recommendations that will ensure a Jewish and democratic State of Israel, as well as the welfare of the Jewish people. They also seek to deepen the public discourse and sharpen its understanding on issues that are on the State of Israel’s agenda.

The combination of these two rationales contributes to consolidating a consensus among the public and decision makers, which calls for action on these issues.

ICAR has initiated a Study Day throughout Israel on the subject of agunot and mesuravot get, on and there about International Agunah Day that is marked on the Fast of Esther every year. ICAR sees great importance in exposing the public to the halakhic sources that refer to the problem of the agunah and the mesurevet get and to the varied solutions that appear within these sources to this difficult problem.

In this booklet the halakhic sources are organized by topic. Within each topic the sources are cited chronologically reflecting their precedence according to the halakhic era of each source.

In addition, at the end of the booklet a is sample lesson plan, which is useful for study groups that covers a number of sources that relate to the problem of the agunah from the large variety of sources  included in the booklet, as well as the various solutions that appear in the halakhic sources.

The booklet can be downloaded directly from the following link

We debated long and hard before filing this lawsuit. Mostly, because we know that the problem is not mutual. Women suffer much more. Let’s face it. The halakha is gender-biased. It gives men almost unfettered power to determine their wives’ destiny, recognizes little grounds for divorce, and exercises almost no force over recalcitrant men, and when it does, it is often too little, too late.

All that said, men still suffer from the current way that the halakha allows for the dissolution of failed marriages.Thanks to Rabbenu Gershom, they too can be held hostage to their wives. Religious men, and even men who are not religious, want closure. They want to get on with their lives, correct mistakes, find new love. Sometimes the rabbis in Israel, bending backwards to prove that the halakha is mutual, will refuse to issue any order whatsoever against recalcitrant women. The husbands of these women, like the wives we represent at CWJ, can spend their entire lives in the rabbinic courts.

So we debated for about 6 months whether or not to represent a man in his claim for damages against his wife. Finally we took the case and filed it 2 months ago. At the pretrial hearing, the wife agreed to accept the get and the parties were divorced last week.

At about the same time that out client got divorce, Judge HaCohen –who gave CWJ its first damage award against a get recalcitrant in the amount of 425,000 NIS — issued the attached decision (in Hebrew) that also awarded damages to an 83 year old man (not our client) whose wife refused to accept a get.

Bottom line: The halakhic divorce regime does not work. Certainly not for women, and not really for men. We need to be able to have a third party declare a failed marriage over if the parties, for whatever not very healthy reason, are not able to.

For the full article

For more information about this and other Mavoi Satum’s legal precedents, contact Gitit Nachliel.

The stories are not so easy to watch. They are not so easy for our clients either.

The 5 YouTube clips tell 5 different stories. The following clip is in English and describes how a woman spent 9 years in the rabbinic courts—a never ending rabbinic court story….

Click here to view the embedded video.

The other clips are in Hebrew but with English subtitles:

Other YouTubes: From the Beginning — how marital property issues are reopened in the rabbinic courts at the request of the husband, leaving both the wife’s personal status and property at the mercy of the husband and court. (Hebrew with English subtitles) http://sites.google.com/site/cwjhebrew/savta-bekorta

Taking Testimony in the Rabbinic Courts — how the rabbinic courts are clueless when it comes to evaluating the weight of evidence, and the near impossibility of proving domestic violence. (Hebrew with English subtitles)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkesLzoq6yg&feature=related

Oops, You’re not a Jew — how the rabbinic court can undo a conversion of many years with sleight of hand, and when you’re not even expecting it and thought you were just going for a get. (Hebrew with English subtitles) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqp-3CoyuQI&feature=related

No Fault — how no fault of the husband is grounds for divorce. Even when a husband has molested his own child, the rabbinic courts do not view this as ground for divorce. (Hebrew with English subtitles) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NJi9S4zOCc&feature=related

The idea for the conference came after many complaints were made to AlManarah by people with disabilities who have experienced discrimination and negative attitudes from stakeholders such as the National Insurance Institute and the Welfare & Social Affairs Ministry who are supposed to be supporting them and meeting their needs. The conference, held in AlManarah’s Multi-Services Centre, brought stakeholders to the ‘home ground’ of the Blind and persons with disabilities, allowing those attending the conference to feel “at home” during the sessions.

One of the sessions of the conference included a panel of persons with disabilities, facilitated by Adv. Abbass, and hosted by Mr. Nidal Essawi and Ms. Fatima Zoabi, both discussing the relationship between the stakeholders and persons with disabilities. They talked about the gap in expectations from both sides and they blamed both sides: on the one hand, the stakeholders should learn more about the needs and the importance of human dignity; and on the other, persons with disabilities should understand the limitations and the work pressures that these stakeholders are under while trying to meet their needs.

A number of sessions were presented by staff members of various institutions and highlighted the difficulties of both clients and stakeholders. At the conclusion of the conference a list of conclusion and recommendations were presented. Participants shared their impressions and opinions. Mr. Ronnie Shechter, Chairman of the Israeli Human Rights Organization of People with Disabilities, thanked AlManarah for organizing this special conference and he sent a clear message to persons with disabilities to cooperate together as Arabs and Jews working together in Israel in order to achieve their rights. He criticized stakeholders, claiming that there is a need to invest greater efforts and be more committed towards facilitating the needs of persons with disabilities. Abbass recommended that a steering committee be established that will include stakeholders and persons with disabilities in order to develop the constructive ideas presented within the conference into an action plan to be implemented.

The conference ended on an optimistic note: all the participants thanked Al-Manarah for addressing some very important issues. Adv. Abbass Abbass said that the success of the conference and Al-Manarah’s great achievements of 2009, illustrates AlManarah as a leading organization not only in the Arab society, but in Israel as a whole.

Sponsored by the Association of Civil Rights (ACRI) in Israel, the Human Rights March will begin at 11am on Friday at Rabin Square and finish in the courtyard of the Tel Aviv Museum.  Thousands of participants are expected and more than 100 civil organizations including those dealing with human rights, worker rights, Ethiopian immigrants, women, refugees, the Arab minority, social justice, special needs, environmental issues and more are sending representatives.

At the end of the march, Sami Michael, the President of ACRI, will present an award to Ruth and Paul Keidar, among the founders of the human rights organization “Yesh Din”, and a posthumous award to Nir Katz, the counselor who was killed at the “Youth Bar”.  The award will be accepted by Nir’s family.

The march has developed an extensive internet following – thousands have joined the cause on Facebook, and the march’s blog www.noway.org.il has had broad exposure.

The ceremony itself will have simultaneous signing.

Hagai Elad, Director of Acri: “Over the last year, we are witness to two conflicting trends: on the one hand the dangerous deterioration to human rights being carried out by the government and its officials, and on the other the personal activism and voluntary civil organizing being carried out to protect the civil rights of us all; people are coming out to defend our democracy and human rights. These are our rights and our future. There is no way we can allow ourselves to fail. On December 11th we begin to change direction. We will not wait for the next elections. We will not continue to grumble in the privacy of our homes. We will no longer rely on “someone” to do “something”. We remind all those who perhaps have forgotten: We are here. And there is no way we will surrender our rights.”

Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin was assassinated by a Jew  14 years ago. Could it happen again?

Despite the passage of 14 years since the Rabin assassination, Yesodot’s work continues to be vital. A recent YNET Survey found that 40% of the Israeli public does not commemorate Rabin Memorial Day and of the religious Zionist population 33% commemorates the death of the Matriarch Rachel on Rabin Memorial Day!

51% of the religious Zionist population believes that their sector — not the peace camp and not all of society– but they alone, were hurt the most by the political assassination since they are the ones continually accused of encouraging violence for political gain. Shoshi Becker, Yesodot’s Educational Director, points out that these results make one question whether the religious Zionist population is attuned to the pain of the other segments of society.

When asked how to improve matters, most of those questioned said that we must educate non-stop for tolerance and against violence toward the different sectors of Israeli society. This is the exact message that Yesodot continues to spread through its in-service training programs for religious teachers on Judaism and democracy and through its innovative curricula in Talmud, Jewish Thought and social studies for religious elementary and high school students.

With the help of skilled facilitators, religious elementary and high schools throughout Israel made Yom Rabin Memorial Day a day to focus on the importance of democracy and the rule of law. The central message of the day was “Yes To Protest, No To Violence,” even when the government makes decisions that conflict with your deeply held beliefs.

To watch the video about Yesodot’s programming click here!