Israel’s Caretakers

            Within the past few decades, the aged and the disabled are beginning to need more care and attention by others. In the Foreign Workers in Israel, chapter five discussed the Filipino Caregivers.  Women from the Philippines come to Israel mostly for domestic work and care giving. Drori writes how Filipino caretakers have been in Israel for work since the 1990s. The chapter goes on to say that “Filipino caregivers are working in Israel en masse and dominate the home care and domestic labor market”(p. 90).  Since 2002, there have been 30,000 Filipino immigrants coming to Israel for work. They come here for job opportunities to help their families and children back home.  Social networks between the Philippines and Israel organize jobs with potential clients.  The employment agency has certain rights and benefits such as their pay, living situation, and break times during their shifts. These parameters can easily be abused within certain families such as working longer than the caretakers are supposed to, which can be stressful and unfair at times. The Filipino women have gained a sense of community within Israel among other caregivers. On their days off, they spend times together and go to church. These women do not have family so this support system is all they have here when they work.

            The Drori piece was a few years outdated so it was interesting to try to find current news about Israel’s caregivers. Although it was a bit difficult, Irin news published new law targets migrant care workers. Irin news is a website that is coordinated by the Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations. This article focused on the humanitarian treatment and issues the caregivers are facing which is why it was on this site. Although this article was published in 2012 and has no author, the points that it addressed are in the same issues that Drori’s article touched on. Although many women come from the Philippines, others come from Europe, and Asia.  Irin news reports that a Sri Lankan woman came to Israel for the job opportunity in order to pay for her children’s education. This same reason was stated in the Drori chapter as well. Pay was an issue for this caretaker. The Sri Lankan woman complained how she gets paid for an eight hour shift when she actually works all day. That is extremely unfair and stressful for a foreign worker to endure and deal with.  The eight hours that a caretaker does for an elderly person is already a lot on their hands and if they did not sign up for a 24 hour shift, it should not be allowed to force that on the caretakers.  The article goes on to inform that in 2011 a law passed in Israel where the caretakers are forbidden to change assignments more than three times and are also restricted to the locations they work. The happiness of the caretakers are clearly not a priority or concern by implementing this law. The fear of losing their jobs since they are also seen as disposable workers (since they are foreign) also is another reason why these women accept these laws.

            In March of this year, Times of Israel published an article about the rights of domestic workers saying that is Still dirty, dangerous, and demeaning.  The opinion piece by Jacob Udell compared America’s gain in domestic workers’ labor protection rights versus Israel’s. He stated that Israel has failed to protect the predominantly women caretakers in Israel.  This article discusses about the mistreatment that the caretakers endure such as working around the clock instead of their set hours.  This concern was mentioned in the previous article and in Drori’s. According to Udell, the care giving sector faces discrimination in labor laws that are passed in Israel. In 2013, the Israel High Court of Justice ruled that work and rest hours do not apply to caregivers. This law ensures that “other” jobs in the labor sector are required to have break times when they work over however it does not apply to caregivers. It seems they are ousted from the labor rules and law of other jobs.  This extends to also getting near or less than minimum wage for the work they put in which is manual labor and exhausting to a person.

            Within the chapter of Filipino workers, the article from the UN and the 2014 opinion piece on the Times of Israel, the population of migrant workers has grown from 30,000 to 60,000. Filipino women and other parts of Asia are the women who come to take these domestic positions. The presence of these women is growing in Israel and their mistreatment should be taken seriously since the elderly need caretakers. If there is not respect given to these workers, it will show in their work down the line which wont be fair to the workers or the clients.

The Debate About Marijuana is Everywhere…

In Donna Rosenthal’s The Israelis: Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Land, Chapter 18 is titled, “Hookers and Hash in the Holy Land”.  Rosenthal goes in depth about the drug and sex trafficking that is going on with the Israeli people. Every country faces these issues. Sex trafficking that occurs within Israel, Rosenthal explains that they are mostly not Israelis; instead they are illegally coming into the country with fake passports and identification cards. As for the drugs, it is not only on a local level but an international level. The drug of use in Israel ranges from marijuana, ecstasy, to cocaine. The Israeli youth are just as into marijuana but they are also into ecstasy.  Rosenthal also quotes the Israel Anti-Drug Authority (IADA) saying that, “Tel Aviv is now in the same league as Amsterdam or New York in terms of soft drugs”(p. 394).  There was one line in the chapter that really captures the entire purpose Rosenthal presumably was trying to inform the readers; which David Ben-Gurion said. He believed, “When Israel has prostitutes and thieves we’ll be a state just like any other”(p. 382). The point is, is that Israel is like every other country.  

In the drug section of this chapter, I noticed that Rosenthal was discussing the drug trade a lot and the use of ecstasy and cocaine among Israelis. I was curious as to what the issue is with Marijuana since in the United States people have such strong opinions about its legality. Well, Israel has a lot of the same viewpoints! Although the United States and Israel face similar issues today about recreational use, Israel is actually one of the pioneers that legalized marijuana for medical use. According to The American Botanical Council which is a website about herbal medicine information, Israel has been providing medicinal marijuana since 1995. The article informs that since 2012, there have been around 9,000 medicinal cannabis prescriptions. Dr. Baruch who is the Deputy Director explains that the purpose of the medicinal marijuana was to help those in need that don’t have any other option for relief. They too enjoy the recreational high like people who do not need it medically.  The article explains that any patients are prescribed for chronic pain.  Also, it states that Israel is more accepting of marijuana as a medical purpose.

The issue of legalizing Marijuana has come up recently within the past few years in Israel.  In Haaretz news, earlier this month, there was an article released about “The Israel Police’s to-do about pot smoking”.  The article gave examples of famous Israeli celebrities that smoke Marijuana for recreational use. They also make it very clear that they do not see an issue with it and the police should not be concerned about it as well.  Fashion designer Motty Reif and actress Keren Mor casually admitted to their use of marijuana. Reif goes on to express that the recreational use of soft drugs should be more accepted.  The article also mentioned the IADA admitting that marijuana has not influenced criminal behavior unlike other hardcore drugs.  These same viewpoints have been expressed in the United States and various other countries.  The other point of this article was that the police should use their man power on more serious issues than searching for a person who is smoking a joint. Police can use their resources to bust bigger drug issues such as cocaine versus marijuana.

On April 20^th of this year there was a protest in Israel called the “Big Bong Night” . The Times of Israel covered the incident reporting that thousands rally in Jerusalem for pot legalization.  With the savvy use of technology this Facebook event organized around 2,000 protestors near the Knesset. Some of the demonstrators smoked publicly as they were actively protesting.  The article goes on to say that earlier that week members of the Knesset have admitted to smoking marijuana as well. Aside from this, former attorney general Menachem Mazuz also was mentioned in the article saying that the pursuit of soft drug arrest from the police is a waste of law enforcement.

The articles about recreational use make a point that the police should put their energy in other serous issues in the state than looking for people who smoke marijuana for recreational purposes. The issue of legality for personal use is yet to be determined in Israel, however it is interesting to know that Israel has long history of providing marijuana for medical purposes.

The Bride and Groom in Israel

Marriage is a ceremonial union that brings two people together. In Israel, marriage is also defined intensely by religious traditions. Religion is an extreme factor in a marriage ceremony and recognition in the country. The book, The Israelis by Donna Rosenthal, goes into depth of all the different religious people and their marriage traditions in Israel. If a person is Jewish, Ultra Orthodox, Orthodox, Secular, Christian or Muslim, he or she must be recognized by their religious courts in order to have a marriage ceremony recognized or performed in the state of Israel. Amongst all these religious groups, the Jews and the Muslims had the most traditional rituals that were expected to be performed and present in a marriage ceremony by a couple. Based on my reading from Rosenthal’s chapter on marriage (Chapter 16), I feel that the Jewish people in Israel seem to experience the strictest rules with their religious courts and rabbis, even more so than the Muslims. Rosenthal stated certain guidelines that a Jewish couple must follow in order to be considered to marry by the rabbinate. One being, the niddah course which is a set of laws about family purity when a woman can actually have sex with her husband (p.344). In addition to this, it is emphasized that a couple should not get married if the bride is on her menstrual cycle. In some cases, Rosenthal described how some marriages were not recognized in Israel because of the destination or by what Rabbi held the ceremony.

The strictness on who is entitled to marry a Jewish couple is a hot issue to this day in Israel. Rosenthal’s book was written in 2003. Ten years later, these same issues are quite relevant in Israel among the Jewish communities and want modernization.  Within these past few years, there are articles written about how the law should be changed and people should have the freedom to choose who can marry them. In the Times of Israel, the Knesset set to pass marriage registration reform, which was written by Haviv Rettig Gur. The article discusses the intent of the Tzohar law and how it will push for major reform in marriage registration.  The Knesset bill passed 56-13. This was seen as a positive way to face the Orthodox rabbis and give Jewish couples more marriage freedom. In the article, Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin said this law would be more optimistic in the traditional and secular Jewish communities.  Even though there are positive reactions, there are negative responses to this new bill as well. Haredi activists reacted negatively with the passing of the bill. The Haredim believed that the intent of the bill was there to weaken the position of the rabbis.

 In the article, Rabbis in Israel Quarrel over the nixing of Registration Zones by Jeremy Sharon, he writes about the law as well that has been passed in Israel over marriage. This article was published in the Jerusalem Post in March 2014.  The Tzohar law passed in late February this year abolishing marriage registration zones. This law has allowed couples to now register at any rabbinate they choose to versus which city they are a resident in. The article goes on to say that thousands have already taken advantage of this new law. Even though this is a serious blow to the rabbinate and their strict tradition, this is easier for secular couples to register for marriage. Modern Jewish couples have gained leverage over where they want to marry and by which rabbinate by this new law. 

Both articles mention the advantage that the Jewish people have gained over the rabbinate. Not that they are overthrowing the positions of the Jewish Rabbis in a marriage ceremony, they are emphasizing the significant right to more marriage freedom by the passing of the Tzohar law.  This is change and reform in a long held tradition among Jews in marriage recognition in the state, however, I think this change is necessary since there are diverse practicing Jews from the Orthodox to the Secular Jews.  After reading Rosenthal’s chapter on marriage and researching these two articles I feel like there is tension between prospective Jewish couples and the rabbis. The Tzohar law allows Jewish couples to freely choose whom to marry them and where to register their wedding, which is still keeping it traditional, but with a minor twist.

After 10 Years, There Are More Conspiracies to Yasser Arafat’s Death

For more than three decades, Palestine’s long time political leader was Yasser Arafat. He was in his mid 70’s, sick and very weak. According to The History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Ian J. Bickerton and Carla L. Klausner, Arafat was flown to Paris and soon after, “Mr. Palestine was dead” on November 11, 2004 (p. 355). Arafat was a significant political figure for the Palestinians since the Palestinian-Israeli conflict surfaced from the late 1940’s and onward. He founded the Fatah in the late 1950’s, which was a political organization that advocated armed resistance against Israel. Since the death of Arafat, there have been many conspiracy theories as to how he actually died so suddenly. Some have blamed Israel and there have been new theories as to focus the blame on Palestinian politicians.             

Mahmood Abbas & Mohammad Dahlan!

The Jerusalem Post published a new article by Reuters News, reporting that the Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, is accusing Mohammad Dahlan for Arafat’s death. Both men used to be in the Fatah movement until 2011. That year, Abbas ousted Dahlan from the party and has been living in exile in Dubai. He was not only accused of corruption but also mentioned that President Abbas should be replaced.  These two issues escalated a sense of rivalry between the two Palestinian men. The article goes on to report that during Arafat’s rule six people were killed under Dahlan’s authority, which was said by President Abbas. Even though he is accused of this, President Abbas has no actual evidence to prove this crime. While in exile, Dahlan made contacts with Egypt’s military chief, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and also reached out to Hamas to shore up support for his cause, which is to discredit President Abbas’s theory that hints his association with Arafat’s death. After reading this article it is clear that Abbas and Dahlan are political rivals with each other. Abbas goes on to accuse Dahlan of many other corrupt accusations such as plotting to kill the Hamas leader as well. It seems that the President’s authority is tested by Dahlan’s presence in the Palestinian political arena.

I felt that there was more than just “corruption” to this political rivalry for Abbas to accuse such a serious crime on Dahlan. In another article, it can be said that Abbas really added a lot of fuel to the fire with issues in Palestine. Over the decades, there have been many attempts between Palestine and Israel to come to a peace settlement. In The Telegraph, an article had been written recently about Abbas accusing his political rival, Dahlan in the role of Arafat dying. Not only, was Dahlan accused of money laundering and the six killings like the previous article, another blame was bestowed on Dahlan that the previous article did not mention.  He was accused of collaborating with the United States and Israel undermining the negotiations for Palestinians at the Camp David summit in 2000. This resulted in another failed peace deal between Israel and Palestine. It would be a heavy blame for a politician to absorb for a failed peace deal. If this was true, Abbas and Dahlan would have a little more than a decade of political rivalry between each other.

            The original article about the suspicious accusations that President Abbas was blaming Dahlan for Arafat’s’ death was published in Reuters News.  On the Jerusalem Post, there is no author stated, however, the Reuters article states that Ali Sawafta wrote the article. Sawafta is a correspondent at Reuters who focuses his journalism mostly in the Palestinian territory. It is interesting that this article even got to the Jerusalem Post and that the reporter was not mentioned in it as well. Perhaps the Post was purposely not mentioning Sawafta? I am not sure. The articles that I read and researched all are guesses and assumptions blaming rivals. These accusations that are bestowed on Dahlan have no evidence or support by Abbas. President Abbas has no hard proof on the blames he is putting on Dahlan. I think that Dahlan is a political threat to Abbas’s authoritative leadership more than anything else. And to accuse him of being linked to Arafat’s death is just another major news story to make Dahlan appear worse than Abbas to the Palestinians.

New Jewish Tourist Center in Palestinian Neighborhood

Palestinian Territories in Israel, 2014

            The Jewish and Palestinian people have had a never-ending issue on land in the area where the state of Israel is currently situated.  Since the years of the British Mandate in the 1920’s to the 1940’s the issue of territory claims have been a conflict between the Jews and the Palestinians.  In 1948, the state of Israel had been created and the Palestinians in the region have ever more been scattered.  In 2014, you can see where there are Palestinian settlements inside the Jewish state.  These territories are very precious to the Palestinians since they do not have much to claim.  According to the Ma’an News Agency, Israel is planning to build a Jewish tourist center on private Palestinian land.  The project is government sponsored by the Ir David Foundation.  One of the foundation’s commitments is development for tourism. Israel is planning to develop a Jewish history museum and national park in the eastern part of the neighborhood of Saliwan. 

Saliwan and threatened Palestinian neighborhood

This city is near the Al-Aqsa Mosque. This mosque is the third holiest site to the Islamic religion. Already you can see there is tenseness on the decisions by the Jews for the location of this proposed Jewish tourist center. The article goes on to address that the Wadi Hiweh Info Center condemned this project since it is threatening the many Palestinian homes in this area. There is a notice of the project posted in the area with language that states that the homes of the occupants will  essentially go into eminent domain if the occupants of this area do not leave. It is in Hebrew, so I cannot really see what it says.  Additionally, the article explains how some of the lands that the Palestinians are on have not really been registered, so they can be kicked off regardless. But I do not think that it should be Israel’s decision to make that happen.  The Wadi Center( linked above) also mentions that Jews have no historical roots in this area which contradicts the whole purpose of this project since the Israeli government wants to make a Jewish museum and a national history park.

            I tried to look into different opinions about this new project that Israel has decided to embark on because of the lack of information and shortness of this article. I unfortunately could not find different articles other than the information from the Wadi Hiweh Center.  Both articles did not display authors.  After reading the source from Ma’an News, I was curious as to why did Israel want to build another historical Jewish museum.  I thought about this after reading that the location the Israeli government chose was not really historical to the Jews. I wanted to know how many museums there were in Israel already. Israel and the Middle East alone, have fifteen museums providing history about the Jewish people. Globally there are much more than that in the UnitedStates, Europe, Canada, and Australia just to name a few. I thought this was really interesting to find that there are so many museums dedicated to the history of the Jewish people.  If Israel decides to build another historical park or museum, they should opt a more suitable area for a tourist center in their state and not on Palestinian land.  I think it would keep a sense of peace within the two cultures and keep them away from unnecessary conflicts. I hope there will be a follow up on this article as this develops more.

Israel’s Humanitarian Aid to Syria

         Since 2010, there have been civil uprisings in Middle Eastern countries due to the people’s exhaustion of their extreme authoritarian governments.  Beginning with Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria, the countries’ people have been trying to overthrow their governments to acquire more political freedoms and civil rights. Syrians revolted against their President, Bashar al-Assad’s ruthless rein. The frustrations and anger he has brought on his people has fueled a civil war in Syria. In the article “IDF Allows First Peek IntoSecret Golan Heights Field Hospital” in Times of Israel, Yifa Yaakov, describes the critical and tense situation that Syria is enduring in their civil war during these recent months.  The reporter says, Israel has opened their arms to help the people in need.  Yaakov continues to point out in her article the humane acts of kindness Israeli soldiers are showing towards the wounded Syrians during this difficult time. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) established a secret medical facility in Golan Heights to treat the Syrians. This location is in the northern border region between Israel and Syria, which could be easy to travel to for the Syrians. Many are wounded critically on their bodies to the point of amputation. The facility in Golan Heights has the IDF trained for these severe conditions. The interesting part of this article was that the Syrian patients had preconceived judgments on the Israelis and were suspicious of their help. This being said, in this desperate time of need, the Syrian patients turned to the Israelis for help regardless.

Yifa Yaakov makes a cautious objective to show how the Syrian patients were skeptical about the Israeli efforts to provide humanitarian aid.  This preconceived thought was based on what was being presented to them by the Syrian government as a tool to install fear and prevent any form of harmony between the two nations. The author goes on to show how the Israeli Defense Force was willing to risk their safety to help the wounded Syrians despite what opinions they had of them. Some patients said that their government said they were Satan and the enemies of the Syrians.  The patients quickly pointed out how their own government in Syria would not help them but the Israelis cared for them and have been aiding their needs in this critical time.  This situation has shed a new light on how the Syrians that were treated feel towards their neighboring country, Israel.  As Israel continuously helps the wounded from the civil war, Syrians are making their own opinions on the Israelis and not relying on their President’s word. Yaakov displayed this trend a few times quoting different patients on how appreciative they are receiving aid from the Israelis and their bitter feelings toward their own Syrian government in this difficult time.

In the article, Yifa Yaakov provides a fair amount of information to prove what the IDF is doing for the Syrians in Golan Heights. She not only writes about it, but she has a few pictures displaying the hospital as well, which was broadcasted in the Channel 2 news on Israel television.  Yaakov also writes how many patients have been treated in the facilities, which are over 700 Syrian patients since the hospital has been open less than a year ago in 2013. She also points out how important this hospital is in Golan Heights because of how many wounded Syrian patients come in and out of the facilities and are treated because of them. Without this humanitarian aid by the Israelis, many more Syrians would have suffered and possibly died because of no help from their own country. It is heartening to see how human beings help others in difficult times of need regardless of what others think or say about each other’s cultures.

In Yaakov’s article, she had continuously shown a positive light on what Israel is doing for their neighboring country, Syria. I was curious that she did not report what happens after the wounded Syrian patients are taken care of. Do they go back to Syria? Are they safe to even return home, or do they stay in Israel? In my research I did stumble upon an article that addressed my questions I had for Yaakov’s article.  It was frightening to read that these patients in the Golan Heights facilities were actually “afraid to return home”.  The wounded Syrians face risks crossing the boarder to be treated and to go back to their broken home. They also go to this hospital secretly, so they are not framed as traders of their own country, which they could be killed for.  Yaakov did not mention any of this, which led me to my curiosity. Even though the IDF is doing something nice, it is not completely in the Syrians’ favor to risk their lives because of potential persecution by their own government.  After my research, I feel like this situation for the Syrian people who are seeking treatment is a double-edged sword.

My First Post!

I am not very good on computers.