Israel Day 7 – Sunday – Politics in Israel

Labor Party's Jerusalem HQ

We closed Shabbat with the Havdalah blessing (more on that later) and visited the Labor Party, as it was 3 days before national elections in Israel.  Labor, a historic socialist party in Israel, had fallen to its lowest numbers in the last election, and our hosts were fighting to rebound.  They were focusing on what we call ‘bread and butter issues’ in this election – fighting austerity measures in Israel and concentrating on the price of groceries and wages. (Interestingly, the price of groceries in Israel is actually set by the government, not the market).  Labor, along with other center-left parties, did much better than expected, while Likud, that had been running the government for the last 5 years, took a beating. 

St. Georges Anglican Cathedral, Jerusalem

After attending Episcopalian services in English Sunday morning (with a perfectly inspiring sermon; ‘Paul does not intend for us to sit on the premises while singing, “Stand on the Promises of Christ My King”), we spent the day learning about social issues and advocacy in Israeli society.  There are 34 political parties in Israel that function in a coalition government (which means when people vote, rather than geographic representation, each party receives a percentage, and that percentage of their chosen representatives joins the Knesset.)  Each party prepared a list of 120 names prior to a national election.  If the party were to win a majority, their first name would be their candidate for Prime Minister (and if they got 10% of the vote, the top 12 names would join the Knesset).  But, this is only the beginning – from here it gets complicated.  The party that wins the most, (this time 19 & 17% respectively), spends the next three weeks horse-trading with the other parties to bring together a unified group that has received 61% of the vote.  If successful, this will be the ruling majority, who will control the Prime Minister position, fill the portfolios (something like a cabinet that heads each section of government), and pass most of the laws over their term.  The minority can draft laws, but they must make creative alliances to be successful in passing any legislation.  If the top vote-getting party fails to bring together this majority in the time allowed, the Knesset President selects a different party to make the same attempt.  This happened in the last elected government, which is why Netanyahu, who came from the second vote-getting party, was able to be Prime Minister.

There are parties in Israel ranging from Labor (center left worker party) to Likud (right wing security party) to the Jewish Home Party (believes that Palestine should be abolished).  The surprise winner (2^nd place) in January’s elections was the Yesh Atid (translated; ‘There is a Future’) party, headed by a well-known (and handsome) former news anchor.  The main platform of the party in this election is to change military conscription to include ultraorthodox men. Currently, military service, mandatory for all Israeli men, is waived for the ultraorthodox if they choose to study Torah until age 45.  The policy echoes the respect Israeli society has for the very religious; however, there is growing backlash towards this group because, in order to study until age 45, most ultraorthodox men do not work and receive housing and other government subsidies, averaging around $1200 a month.  Demographically, this group is primed to become the majority in Israel by 2050, as they average 6.5 children per family.  (Incidentally, although ultraorthodox women have a subservient status in their society, they not only do the childrearing but also work outside the home to support the family. More on this later.)     

Both the visit with the Open House GLBT Center and the Israel Religious Action Center talked about the peculiarities of balancing the elements of theocracy in Israel with modern laws, since there is no separation of religion and politics in Israel. In matters of family law, citizens of Israel must go through the rabbinical court system. For example, Israel recognizes marriages from any country, and you can be married according to your faith tradition or in civil court. However, the religious authority for Jewish marriage is the Chief Rabbinate and Rabbinical Courts, which, as I’ve said, has always been ultraorthodox up to the present.  That can be challenging for a secular couple, or an interfaith couple, as well as a gay couple.  So many people simply leave Israel to get married in Cyprus or Canada.  This becomes a major problem, however, in divorce.  For Jews, the Rabbinical Court is the only court that can grant divorce, and this must be with agreement of the husband (women are not allowed to testify), according to Jewish Law.  If a man doesn’t agree, the woman, or partner, is stuck.  Family court may decide matters of custody or alimony, but if the divorce proceedings are filed first in rabbinical court, the process can stall.    

The Open House host shared how challenging rabbinic law is regarding issues of surrogacy (at least, until May of last year).  The Rabbinate had declared that surrogacy from a Jewish woman who is already married is considered adultery, and the child will be a mamzer – someone barred from participating in the religious fabric of life (as in, they won’t be allowed to marry in rabbinical courts).  This designation of Mamzerim follows all children of this individual.  In addition to advocacy, the Open House focuses on counseling, HIV testing, and networking for LGBT people.  They are they only LGBT agency in Jerusalem, which is the religious center of Israel, and it’s an inspiring site to see their series of rainbow flags waving outside on the street.

The IRAC, an organization grounded in Reform Judaism, centers its advocacy through Jewish scripture (this is my kind of advocacy, as you may have guessed).  Our speaker said that too many secular Jews who only have contact with religion in terms of Orthodox Judaism link it with corruption, racism, and homophobia.  IRAC hopes to help progressive and secular Jews connect with Judaism, and reject those negative aspects.  (Essentially the same reason I went to Seminary).  In some instances, they act as watchdogs, such as to call out racist statements sourced in Jewish scripture or when spoken by state-employed rabbis. (For example, it’s against Jewish law to kill unless you are saving a life. One rabbi said that if you are killing to save a Jewish life, then it’s not against the law – essentially validating brutality in the Israel occupation.)  The employees of IRAC issue counter interpretations and call out the racism in the media.  IRAC is also part law firm, part grassroots organizing for equal rights.  In 1999, gender segregation began on public buses in Israel.  (Yes, I said buses became segregated in 1999).  The ultraorthodox created this policy because they believe that men need to exist in a sphere that is pure of women, so they don’t become distracted from their studies.  Women were to enter and sit in the back of the bus, men in the front.  IRAC fought this policy in 2002 and won in the Supreme Court in 2010, causing statements to be posted in all buses that all are welcome to sit where they choose.  However, in ultraorthodox neighborhoods, segregation continued.  So IRAC has been organizing groups of ‘freedom riders’ – women who enter ultraorthodox neighborhoods and purposely ride in the front of buses.  They have heard from many ultraorthodox women that the presence of these women gives them the cover to resist the social pressure to ride in the back of the bus.  IRAC also takes on the marketing bias in Jerusalem, where the pressure from the religious conservatives pressures advertisers to censor or remove the women from their billboards, lest the women be considered inappropriately dressed.  (While in some ways, I think this de-sexualization of advertisement is something I’d support, IRAC points out that swapping out a smiling, fully dressed woman for a cartoon character is a systematic removal of women from the public sphere). 

Moriel Rothman discusses the situation in Silwan

We ended the day in Silwan with Moriel Rothman and the Rabbis for Human Rights.  Silwan is a neighborhood just past the ‘green line’ border in East Jerusalem, which is being steadily gentrified by incoming Israelis.  And while legal, the situation is one of the worse perversions of legality that we saw.  Prior to the 1948 war, Silwan was a strong Jewish neighborhood.  When the armistace lines were drawn, and Arabs were expelled out of Israel territory, likewise the (mostly orthodox) Jews living in Silwan were expelled from East Jerusalem.  These Palestinians who still live within Israel (and all their descendants) are called ‘present absentees’, or internally displaced Palestinians (IDPs), and are not allowed back to their homes or land.  Although those remaining inside of Israel were made citizens, their rights are not the same as Jewish citizens.  In 1950, Israel passed the Absentee Property Law and required anyone who wanted to claim their home to be present when Israeli officials visited; if not, their home was seized and likely demolished or given to Jewish refugees, which were flooding Israel’s shores in the years following the Holocaust. This is regardless of documents of ownership or intercession from Palestinian heads of government. (Wikipedia explains itbetter than I do.)

Home labeled as Jewish by new Israeli residents

This home is now divided in half and occupied by both a Palestinian and Israeli family

In recent years, however, Jewish families who hold deeds to properties in Silwan have been petitioning the Supreme Court to reclaim their home, and they have been winning.  Granted permission by the Supreme Court, these Jews (mostly Ultraorthodox) return with assistance from Israel’s government, which forces whichever Palestinian family has been living there to leave.  So while Palestinians have no claim to their former land, they are also, still, being pushed off of their current property in what is technically Palestine.  In response to this abuse of power, progressive rabbis and Israelis have been staging demonstrations in Silwan every week for several years – at their high point with 5000 rally attendees.  This was extremely controversial and emotional at first; when CTS’s first Israel trip joined the demonstration, several of the new Jewish residents came out of their homes to photograph them.  (This is a form of intimidation in Israel, as once you get on the watch list, you can get blacklisted.)  The protests have continued and seemed to slow – but not stop – this housing takeover.  Moriel Rothman writes about it in his blog here.  It’s heartening to see this show of solidarity and protest coming from within Israel…I just wish we could multiply them by 100.

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Reflection: Movement

Israel’s government system is a maze that is fascinating and rife with challenges.  First and foremost, there is the tragic and infuriating conflict and abuse of the Palestinian population.  I think there’s a fair argument to be made that those Palestinians who stayed within the Israel nation and became naturalized citizens ended up with a better, albeit still shortchanged, political situation.  They have the right to vote, bring cases up against the court, and have the potential to collaborate with Jewish Israelis to fight for fairness – a long road, no doubt, but one with potential.  I heard conflicting accounts of the voting rate in the Palestinian territories.  One comment said that Palestinians vote only in the range of 20% as a protest to the state of Israel, another said the turnout was recently at 70%. Perhaps it varies depending on the area.  (This article claims that turnout of Palestinians was up 3% to 56%, the highest since 2000). At our Shabbat dinner at Ron Cronish’s house, joining us was a Palestinian Israeli lawyer who fights for human rights.  He was part of a protest to prevent road construction through Palestinian parkland, which was small in size, but promising in aspiration.  As it was 4 days before the election, our hosts asked him to heavily encourage all his acquaintances to vote, alluding that better turnout might make a difference in the outcome of the road construction.  Their hope that Palestinians might be able to move development plans through amassing political power felt familiar and auspicious.

As an organizer, I couldn’t help but be excited about today’s contents.  Just like the light show at Herod’s Castle, it’s a fascinating juxtaposition of ancient law and modern expectations.  Israel is a young society with so much potential movement, in contrast with the American governmental system which was designed, admittedly, to prevent any rash change.  In America, the burden of caring about the future of your country can be so exhausting.  You can feel like Atlas, holding the weight of the world on your shoulders, while pushing against intractable pillars of greed, media dominance, and paranoid partisanship.  We tried to pass national health care 9 times over the course of 100 years, and we still barely squeaked by with a market-based, conservative-inspired plan that has become the battle cry of socialist takeover.  Of course, being an activist in Chicago, the bedrock of organizing, is worse.  People see you coming a mile away; they know exactly what you are after, and they’ll try to blow you off like a dandelion fluff.  You have to arrive with the numbers, credibility and attitude to boot.  I’ve often longed for a professional situation where you could feel the impact you were making, rather than blindly hope until the vote is cast.

Israeli society, on the other hand, feels so unfinished.  From the absence of a constitution to the complicated dilemmas between religious and civil law, what I saw was potential.  Everything you do is pioneering and innovative.  I have always felt so fortunate to be in the narrow niche of faith and liberal politics, where methods are still being molded, leaders are still being discovered, and hearts are still being inspired in new ways.  IRAC is using this model to change laws, change minds, and change the face of what it means to be religious. Open House supports people challenging the Chief Rabbinate on matters of modern society – and winning.  Rabbis for Human Rights are able to make a media splash just by joining in solidarity with their Palestinians.  The potential for movement-building is wide open, inviting, and beautiful to these hungry activist eyes.