My good friends: I invite you to join me in a HUNGER STRIKE, which will be started at Sunday, August 29, in order to make Minister Eli Yishai to revoke his order of expulsion of the sons of foreign workers in Israel. If a large number of people join us, and the message about the strike reaches Yishai on time, the expulsion decree will be canceled and so will be the strike. If only a few will agree to join, it will not be enough to move Yishai from his ruthless decree. So please let this message reach as many people as you can, and ask them to send me a message saying just 'I agree'.
Davy Bogomoletz
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Estas crianças somos nós
Yehudah Atlas, escritor israelense:
Estas crianças somos nós.
Carta aberta ao Primeiro Ministro.
Ilmo. Senhor Primeiro Ministro:
O momento se aproxima cada vez mais. Em algumas semanas, ou menos, irão se reunir equipes de televisão e jornalismo de todo o mundo para fotografar, registrar e exibir para muitas platéias ao redor do mundo como Israel expulsa crianças aqui nascidas, com suas famílias, apenas porque lhes faltavam um ou dois anos, ou alguns meses, para preencher os ‘critérios’ decididos por seu governo. O exílio dessas crianças – e se trata com certeza de exílio – sem sombra de dúvida – será visto nos quatro cantos da Terra e ficará marcado na memória coletiva como uma crueldade, um gesto desumano e uma torpeza sem igual de um povo e de um governo que nada aprenderam com sua própria história. Pessoas de todas as cores, algumas de olhos amendoados, outras de cabelo encrespado, algumas cristãs, outras muçulmanas, mas todas elas seres humanos, abraçarão seus filhos em pranto, e serão empurradas, talvez com a ajuda dos relhos da famosa Unidade ‘Oz’, para o interior dos aviões. Algumas levarão, por falta de alternativa, os mil dólares da indenização – na verdade um ‘cala a boca’ por sua ‘concordância’ em deixar o país que seus filhos vêm como sua pátria.
Erich Kastner, num de seus livros, escreveu que as lágrimas de uma criança não são menores que as de um adulto. Lágrimas de adultos é possível esquecer. Lágrimas de crianças são inesquecíveis, e não serão perdoadas jamais. Elas chamuscam a alma, e quem as provocou será para sempre lembrado como um homem mau, cruel, como alguém que não se apieda de crianças pequenas. E você será esse homem. Como Primeiro Ministro, a responsabilidade recairá sobre você.
De fato, depois de ‘Chumbo Fundido’ e da ‘Flotilha’, e todos os outros acontecimentos e circunstâncias que nos tornaram afamados no mundo, este outro episódio será mais um reforço à excelente campanha de relações públicas ultimamente realizada para a glória do Estado de Israel.
Mas não estou, agora, interessado em relações públicas, e sim em relações humanas. Os pais dessas crianças não entraram em Israel como clandestinos, ou aqui chegaram graças a empresas de recursos humanos, para roubar nossas riquezas e aqui viver como reis. Eles vieram para cá fugindo da miséria, vieram para ganhar a vida. E ganhá-la modestamente. Pergunte a seus assistentes, com seus salários de várias dezenas de milhares de shekels mensaid, quanto ganha o lavador de pratos num restaurante, o faxineiro, ou aquele que cuida de pessoas incapacitadas. Eles de modo algum ‘chuparam o nosso tutano’. Não vieram atrás de diamantes, ou de petróleo. Eles não vieram aqui ‘passear’, como os descreveu o seu Ministro do Interior (Eli Yishái). Vieram trabalhar e nos servir com fidelidade e por uma remuneração modesta, e por esse motivo merecem de nós um agradecimento, não a expulsão. Eles limparam nossas casas e cuidaram de nossos doentes crônicos, dos quais nós não nos dispusemos a cuidar. Fizeram aqui todos os trabalhos ‘sujos’, difíceis, desagradáveis, em que nós, os mimados, não queríamos sujar nossas mãos.
Mas na verdade eles também viveram aqui. Amontoaram-se em vizinhanças pobres. Rezaram para os seus deuses. Enviaram dinheiro para suas famílias. Alguns encontraram com quem se relacionar, alguns amaram, alguns tiveram filhos. Não há lei no mundo que impeça as pessoas de amar, e de trazer ao mundo o fruto de seu amor.
Gostaria de sugerir a você que deixe seus afazeres por algumas horas e venha visitar a escola Bialik-Rogozhin em Tel Aviv. Você verá ali essas crianças, e não conseguirá acreditar no que vê. Se ainda restam neste país alguns lugares que lembram o ‘lindo Israel’ de antigamente, este é um dos mais emocionantes e maravilhosos. Nessa escola estudam uns oitocentos alunos, em sua maioria filhos e filhas desses trabalhadores imigrantes e de refugiados vindos de uns cinquenta países, e freqüentam desde a educação infantil obrigatória até a décima segunda série. Uma equipe maravilhosamente devotada de professores e outros funcionários transformou essa escola num pedaço do paraíso para essas crianças. A equipe está à sua disposição 24 horas por dias. Eles recebem ali três refeições diárias. Estudam. Cantam músicas hebraicas e as canções das nossas festas. Em Purim eles fazem um colorido desfile pelo bairro. Têm à sua disposição uma biblioteca incrível em hebraico, como não há em nenhuma outra escola. E eles lêem! Eles falam, cantam e dançam em hebraico. Escrevem poesias em hebraico. Os alunos da décima segunda série estudam para o Exame de Madureza (exame de conclusão dos estudos obrigatórios, em Israel), e seu índice de aprovação é de 70%! Eles querem prestar o serviço militar, e preferem justamente servir nas unidades de combate. E não, definitivamente não por acaso, a escola fica na esquina das ruas ‘haAliyáh’ (a imigração a Israel) e ‘Molédet’ (Nossa Pátria).
Nessa escola funciona um comitê de voluntários, presidido pela Sra. Rina Zamír. Uma estrutura de mais de cem voluntários protege como um guarda chuva essas crianças e seus pais, e os ajuda em tudo, nos estudos, em sua defesa, com recursos de todos os tipos. Os voluntários provêm de um amplo espectro de ocupações e instituições: da indústria, dos escritórios de tecnologia avançada, da Academia, da Justiça, de lugares como a Organização pelos Direitos Humanos, de instituições de ensino como o Seminário dos Kibutzím, do Centro de Auxílio a Cidadãos Estrangeiros, dos ‘Médicos pelos Direitos Humanos’, e de outros mais. Entre esses voluntários há pessoas que fizeram contribuições decisivas ao País em diversos campos.
Qualquer pessoa que visita essa escola apaixona-se por ela imediatamente. Apaixona-se pelos alunos e por seus professores, e torna-se voluntário/a na mesma hora. Esse é um amor ao Bem, à Generosidade, ao Ser Humano. O múltiplo colorido e a profusão de semblantes, de tipos de cabelo e de matizes epidérmicos criam uma sinfonia festiva universal magnífica, uma Festa da Família Humana, que demonstra a possibilidade de vivermos todos, apesar das muitas diferenças, juntos em paz e afeição. Visitei essa escola muitas vezes, e a cada vez senti novamente que qualquer um de seus alunos poderia ser – e de fato é – eu mesmo.
Devido às decisões de seu governo uns cem de seus alunos estão ameaçados de expulsão, além de cerca de outros trezentos que estudam em outros lugares. Quatrocentas famílias vivem à sombra do medo e da incerteza, da ruptura e da separação, devido à expulsão. Trata-se de pais que aqui derramaram seu suor para nos servir, e de crianças que sentem este país como o deles, e o hebraico como sua língua. Crianças que adoram as flores que aqui crescem, que são loucas por falafel e por humos e por tahine, crianças que jogam queimado (mahanáyim) e brincam de pegar (tofésset), crianças que cantam ‘Hava Naguíla’ e ‘Lo Shárti Lach Artzí’ (‘Não Cantei para Ti, minha Terra’).
Oitocentas crianças, que preencherão os ‘critérios’, ficarão. Quatrocentas, que não preencherão, serão arrancadas daqui de modo cruel. Como explicar a uma criança por que seu amigo ficou e ela teve que ir? Como você suportará as suas lágrimas? O que, afinal, perderá o Estado de Israel se ele superar o impulso de expulsar que o atacou e permitir que todas as crianças e suas famílias fiquem aqui? Está claro para todos nós que eles não representam nenhuma ameaça demográfica ao país. A verdadeira ameaça demográfica é o aumento da crueldade, o estranhamento e a maldade entre nós, e a indiferença pelo destino alheio.
Diante da enxurrada de imigrantes ao país e da dificuldade em selar nossas longas fronteiras, são realmente necessárias leis e regulamentos e critérios. Mas que sua vigência se volte para o futuro. As crianças que já estão aqui conosco, as criaturas que em nada pecaram, a essas temos que deixar aqui. A gratidão das crianças e das famílias que permanecerem só fará bem ao Estado de Israel. Assim como Ben Gurion ansiava por um Chefe do Exército yemenita (isto é, descendente de judeus vindos do Yémen), nada impede que um dia tenhamos um Primeiro Ministro que descende dessas crianças que aqui ficarem.
Os tubarões das empresas de mão de obra, e disto você bem sabe, já enriqueceram o bastante com a importação de trabalhadores. Seu único interesse agora é a reciclagem – que venham novos trabalhadores, para que eles lucrem ainda mais. Corte as quotas de novos ‘importados’ e dê um status legal aos que aqui já estão. Inclusive àqueles que, pelos ‘critérios’, são ‘residentes ilegais’. Eles não se infiltraram no país para lucrar, vieram porque estavam na miséria. Não são pessoas mal intencionadas. São apenas gente que tentou – e tenta – sobreviver num mundo difícil e cruel. Mesmo que tenham transgredido a lei, seus filhos em nada pecaram. Não é aceitável, não é humano, que justo o povo judeu, um povo de imigrantes, os expulse de dentro de si de modo tão insensível. Judeus não expulsam crianças.
As muitas vozes de pessoas com consciência, que a cada dia aumentam mais em todos os segmentos da população, pedem a você e ao seu governo que revele humanidade e compaixão e deixe que fiquem no País TODAS essas crianças. Essas pessoas todas não o perdoarão, nem a você nem ao seu governo, se as crianças forem expulsas. O mundo também não perdoará. E você tampouco vai conseguir perdoar a si próprio.
Por favor, deixe todas as crianças ficarem!
Seu,
Yehudáh Atlas.
Tel Aviv, 13/08/201
Estas crianças somos nós.
Carta aberta ao Primeiro Ministro.
Ilmo. Senhor Primeiro Ministro:
O momento se aproxima cada vez mais. Em algumas semanas, ou menos, irão se reunir equipes de televisão e jornalismo de todo o mundo para fotografar, registrar e exibir para muitas platéias ao redor do mundo como Israel expulsa crianças aqui nascidas, com suas famílias, apenas porque lhes faltavam um ou dois anos, ou alguns meses, para preencher os ‘critérios’ decididos por seu governo. O exílio dessas crianças – e se trata com certeza de exílio – sem sombra de dúvida – será visto nos quatro cantos da Terra e ficará marcado na memória coletiva como uma crueldade, um gesto desumano e uma torpeza sem igual de um povo e de um governo que nada aprenderam com sua própria história. Pessoas de todas as cores, algumas de olhos amendoados, outras de cabelo encrespado, algumas cristãs, outras muçulmanas, mas todas elas seres humanos, abraçarão seus filhos em pranto, e serão empurradas, talvez com a ajuda dos relhos da famosa Unidade ‘Oz’, para o interior dos aviões. Algumas levarão, por falta de alternativa, os mil dólares da indenização – na verdade um ‘cala a boca’ por sua ‘concordância’ em deixar o país que seus filhos vêm como sua pátria.
Erich Kastner, num de seus livros, escreveu que as lágrimas de uma criança não são menores que as de um adulto. Lágrimas de adultos é possível esquecer. Lágrimas de crianças são inesquecíveis, e não serão perdoadas jamais. Elas chamuscam a alma, e quem as provocou será para sempre lembrado como um homem mau, cruel, como alguém que não se apieda de crianças pequenas. E você será esse homem. Como Primeiro Ministro, a responsabilidade recairá sobre você.
De fato, depois de ‘Chumbo Fundido’ e da ‘Flotilha’, e todos os outros acontecimentos e circunstâncias que nos tornaram afamados no mundo, este outro episódio será mais um reforço à excelente campanha de relações públicas ultimamente realizada para a glória do Estado de Israel.
Mas não estou, agora, interessado em relações públicas, e sim em relações humanas. Os pais dessas crianças não entraram em Israel como clandestinos, ou aqui chegaram graças a empresas de recursos humanos, para roubar nossas riquezas e aqui viver como reis. Eles vieram para cá fugindo da miséria, vieram para ganhar a vida. E ganhá-la modestamente. Pergunte a seus assistentes, com seus salários de várias dezenas de milhares de shekels mensaid, quanto ganha o lavador de pratos num restaurante, o faxineiro, ou aquele que cuida de pessoas incapacitadas. Eles de modo algum ‘chuparam o nosso tutano’. Não vieram atrás de diamantes, ou de petróleo. Eles não vieram aqui ‘passear’, como os descreveu o seu Ministro do Interior (Eli Yishái). Vieram trabalhar e nos servir com fidelidade e por uma remuneração modesta, e por esse motivo merecem de nós um agradecimento, não a expulsão. Eles limparam nossas casas e cuidaram de nossos doentes crônicos, dos quais nós não nos dispusemos a cuidar. Fizeram aqui todos os trabalhos ‘sujos’, difíceis, desagradáveis, em que nós, os mimados, não queríamos sujar nossas mãos.
Mas na verdade eles também viveram aqui. Amontoaram-se em vizinhanças pobres. Rezaram para os seus deuses. Enviaram dinheiro para suas famílias. Alguns encontraram com quem se relacionar, alguns amaram, alguns tiveram filhos. Não há lei no mundo que impeça as pessoas de amar, e de trazer ao mundo o fruto de seu amor.
Gostaria de sugerir a você que deixe seus afazeres por algumas horas e venha visitar a escola Bialik-Rogozhin em Tel Aviv. Você verá ali essas crianças, e não conseguirá acreditar no que vê. Se ainda restam neste país alguns lugares que lembram o ‘lindo Israel’ de antigamente, este é um dos mais emocionantes e maravilhosos. Nessa escola estudam uns oitocentos alunos, em sua maioria filhos e filhas desses trabalhadores imigrantes e de refugiados vindos de uns cinquenta países, e freqüentam desde a educação infantil obrigatória até a décima segunda série. Uma equipe maravilhosamente devotada de professores e outros funcionários transformou essa escola num pedaço do paraíso para essas crianças. A equipe está à sua disposição 24 horas por dias. Eles recebem ali três refeições diárias. Estudam. Cantam músicas hebraicas e as canções das nossas festas. Em Purim eles fazem um colorido desfile pelo bairro. Têm à sua disposição uma biblioteca incrível em hebraico, como não há em nenhuma outra escola. E eles lêem! Eles falam, cantam e dançam em hebraico. Escrevem poesias em hebraico. Os alunos da décima segunda série estudam para o Exame de Madureza (exame de conclusão dos estudos obrigatórios, em Israel), e seu índice de aprovação é de 70%! Eles querem prestar o serviço militar, e preferem justamente servir nas unidades de combate. E não, definitivamente não por acaso, a escola fica na esquina das ruas ‘haAliyáh’ (a imigração a Israel) e ‘Molédet’ (Nossa Pátria).
Nessa escola funciona um comitê de voluntários, presidido pela Sra. Rina Zamír. Uma estrutura de mais de cem voluntários protege como um guarda chuva essas crianças e seus pais, e os ajuda em tudo, nos estudos, em sua defesa, com recursos de todos os tipos. Os voluntários provêm de um amplo espectro de ocupações e instituições: da indústria, dos escritórios de tecnologia avançada, da Academia, da Justiça, de lugares como a Organização pelos Direitos Humanos, de instituições de ensino como o Seminário dos Kibutzím, do Centro de Auxílio a Cidadãos Estrangeiros, dos ‘Médicos pelos Direitos Humanos’, e de outros mais. Entre esses voluntários há pessoas que fizeram contribuições decisivas ao País em diversos campos.
Qualquer pessoa que visita essa escola apaixona-se por ela imediatamente. Apaixona-se pelos alunos e por seus professores, e torna-se voluntário/a na mesma hora. Esse é um amor ao Bem, à Generosidade, ao Ser Humano. O múltiplo colorido e a profusão de semblantes, de tipos de cabelo e de matizes epidérmicos criam uma sinfonia festiva universal magnífica, uma Festa da Família Humana, que demonstra a possibilidade de vivermos todos, apesar das muitas diferenças, juntos em paz e afeição. Visitei essa escola muitas vezes, e a cada vez senti novamente que qualquer um de seus alunos poderia ser – e de fato é – eu mesmo.
Devido às decisões de seu governo uns cem de seus alunos estão ameaçados de expulsão, além de cerca de outros trezentos que estudam em outros lugares. Quatrocentas famílias vivem à sombra do medo e da incerteza, da ruptura e da separação, devido à expulsão. Trata-se de pais que aqui derramaram seu suor para nos servir, e de crianças que sentem este país como o deles, e o hebraico como sua língua. Crianças que adoram as flores que aqui crescem, que são loucas por falafel e por humos e por tahine, crianças que jogam queimado (mahanáyim) e brincam de pegar (tofésset), crianças que cantam ‘Hava Naguíla’ e ‘Lo Shárti Lach Artzí’ (‘Não Cantei para Ti, minha Terra’).
Oitocentas crianças, que preencherão os ‘critérios’, ficarão. Quatrocentas, que não preencherão, serão arrancadas daqui de modo cruel. Como explicar a uma criança por que seu amigo ficou e ela teve que ir? Como você suportará as suas lágrimas? O que, afinal, perderá o Estado de Israel se ele superar o impulso de expulsar que o atacou e permitir que todas as crianças e suas famílias fiquem aqui? Está claro para todos nós que eles não representam nenhuma ameaça demográfica ao país. A verdadeira ameaça demográfica é o aumento da crueldade, o estranhamento e a maldade entre nós, e a indiferença pelo destino alheio.
Diante da enxurrada de imigrantes ao país e da dificuldade em selar nossas longas fronteiras, são realmente necessárias leis e regulamentos e critérios. Mas que sua vigência se volte para o futuro. As crianças que já estão aqui conosco, as criaturas que em nada pecaram, a essas temos que deixar aqui. A gratidão das crianças e das famílias que permanecerem só fará bem ao Estado de Israel. Assim como Ben Gurion ansiava por um Chefe do Exército yemenita (isto é, descendente de judeus vindos do Yémen), nada impede que um dia tenhamos um Primeiro Ministro que descende dessas crianças que aqui ficarem.
Os tubarões das empresas de mão de obra, e disto você bem sabe, já enriqueceram o bastante com a importação de trabalhadores. Seu único interesse agora é a reciclagem – que venham novos trabalhadores, para que eles lucrem ainda mais. Corte as quotas de novos ‘importados’ e dê um status legal aos que aqui já estão. Inclusive àqueles que, pelos ‘critérios’, são ‘residentes ilegais’. Eles não se infiltraram no país para lucrar, vieram porque estavam na miséria. Não são pessoas mal intencionadas. São apenas gente que tentou – e tenta – sobreviver num mundo difícil e cruel. Mesmo que tenham transgredido a lei, seus filhos em nada pecaram. Não é aceitável, não é humano, que justo o povo judeu, um povo de imigrantes, os expulse de dentro de si de modo tão insensível. Judeus não expulsam crianças.
As muitas vozes de pessoas com consciência, que a cada dia aumentam mais em todos os segmentos da população, pedem a você e ao seu governo que revele humanidade e compaixão e deixe que fiquem no País TODAS essas crianças. Essas pessoas todas não o perdoarão, nem a você nem ao seu governo, se as crianças forem expulsas. O mundo também não perdoará. E você tampouco vai conseguir perdoar a si próprio.
Por favor, deixe todas as crianças ficarem!
Seu,
Yehudáh Atlas.
Tel Aviv, 13/08/201
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Yishai: The field trip is over for foreign workers’ kids
By JPOST.COM STAFF
08/10/2010 03:14
Interior Minister Eli Yishai on Monday defended the expulsion of 400 children of foreign workers, saying that “the children need to be told that their field trip has ended.”
“Is one of them going to stand up and cry?” he asked.
Yishai repeated his oftheard stance on the subject in a Knesset debate initiated by Meretz MKs to discuss the recent government decision to deport an estimated onethird of the children born to foreign workers in Israel.
“They have grandparents who want to see them,” he argued.
“Those who violated the law are treated in a respectful manner. They even receive funding to leave,” Yishai continued, adding that the children’s parents should acknowledge that they had come to Israel to make money, had in fact made money, and were returning to their families and countries much wealthier than they had eft.
“Whether or not the person was born here, whether or not he speaks Hebrew, whether or not he raises the flag every day or wants to serve – these criteria mean nothing to me,” he said.
Yishai, who supported a plan to deport all of the children born to foreign workers in Israel – as opposed to the current, more limited plan – reiterated his argument that the plan did not target the children themselves, but their parents, who “see the children as a way to automatically be allowed to stay in Israel.”
Intense verbal sparring erupted between MK Ilan Gilon (Meretz) and Yishai, with Yishai telling Gilon to “shut up” and Gilon calling Yishai a “racist primitive” and alleging that foreign workers’ children participated in the army more than Yishai’s children. Amid threats by Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin to have Gilon expelled from the hearing for his repeated disturbances, Gilon left on his own, only to return minutes later.
While the two yelled back and forth, two daughters of Filipino foreign workers sat in the visitors’ gallery, pigtails bobbing as they drew pictures and listened to the handful of MKs debating their fates.
The government decision issued last week determined that an estimated 400 children of foreign workers would be expelled; 800 children and their families were granted the right to stay in Israel once they show that they fulfill the criteria established by the cabinet.
Foreign workers’ families begin paper push
By RON FRIEDMAN
08/09/2010 05:37
Sunday morning saw the first wave of foreign workers’ families arrive at the Interior Ministry office in Tel Aviv to submit applications they hope will allow them to remain in the country. This follows a cabinet decision last week that determined that children of foreign workers who meet several criteria would be given permanent residence status.
The criteria are: They must be registered in the school system; they must speak Hebrew; they have to be either Israeli-born or in the country prior to their 13th birthday; they must be in Israel for at least five consecutive years; and their parents must have a legal work permit.
The parents and siblings of children who are allowed to stay will be granted temporary residency permits. Barring any new developments prejudicing their status, the family permits will be renewed annually until the child turns 21, at which time the other family members may request permanent resident status.
The families of children meeting the government’s criteria were lining up, forms in hand, at daybreak. By 6 a.m., there were already 20 families waiting for the ministry’s doors to open.
Once inside, they discovered that the ministry had prepared for them. Signs in English and Hebrew pointed the way to a specially designated section of the building, where six officials from the Population, Immigration and Borders Authority (PIBA) waited to meet with them.
Forms were available for those who needed them, and a waiting section with rows of chairs and a water cooler had been set up. The line was managed by a wellordered numbering system, and ushers made sure that proper order was maintained.
Also on hand was the ministry’s public relations mechanism.
PIBA spokeswoman Sabine Hadad welcomed reporters who came to report on the process, and introduced them to the head of the ministry’s Foreigners Department, Yossi Edelstein, who is overseeing the process.
“Right now we have 20 people working on the project here in Tel Aviv, and if we need more personnel, they will be here within minutes,” Edelstein said. “Our objective is to make the process as quick and simple as possible.
“When a family arrives, they take a ticket and wait for their number to be called. Every family must fill out an application form and provide supporting documents.
The type of documents we require are those that anybody who has lived in Israel for any amount of time should have on hand – things like passports, birth certificates, marriage certificates, school registration forms and things like that,” he said.
“Here, we check all the papers and notify the applicants if anything is missing. We won’t be able to tell them whether their applications are approved on the spot, but we will tell them if they need to provide any additional documents. The in-depth analysis and decision-making will be done in the back office by PIBA staff,” he said.
Edelstein, who chaired the interministerial committee that determined the criteria for granting children (and their families) resident status, said the committee had not made its recommendations with specific numbers in mind, and stressed that the numbers mentioned in the media could change.
“Everybody reported that 800 children will stay and 400 will be deported, but there is no guarantee that those will be the actual numbers. Our committee didn’t work toward meeting a quota; we established what we believed were reasonable criteria,” he said.
“There will be people who leave here today with bad news as far as they’re concerned,” Edelstein said. “Those who can’t meet the criteria will be requested to leave the country within 30 days. We will be setting up a desk here for people who are willing to leave voluntarily. Those whose applications are denied will be able to come, and we’ll help them make the travel arrangements and even help them purchase flight tickets.”
Many of the families arrived confident in the knowledge that their children met all the requirements, and that they had all the necessary papers. Over the past week, since the cabinet adopted the recommendations of the interministerial committee, volunteers from human rights organizations have been hard at work, coaching the families on how to fill out the forms and how to prepare for the interviews.
“We have all the listed documents. Barring any surprises, we should be all right,” said Oscar Olivier, a foreign worker from Congo.
Olivier, who has lived in Israel for 16 years, hopes that with the aid of his seven-year-old daughter, he will finally gain the security he and his family long for. But as a longtime activist in the foreign workers community, he knows to expect the unexpected.
“There are always surprises. There are always exceptions to the rules. We think that we are safe, but you never know which exception will prove to be the vital one that will pull the carpet from under you,” he said. “As long as the Interior minister [Eli Yishai of Shas] is against the move, we know we are on shaky ground.”
After a three-hour wait and an hour-and-a-half with a PIBA official, Olivier found he’d have to come back the next day. He had forgotten to bring a copy of his rental agreement, which he needed in order to prove his residency.
“I hope that that will be it,” he said.
Sigal Rozen, policy director for the Hotline for Migrant Workers, was one of the people on hand to help the families fill out their applications. She said that the biggest challenge many of the families faced was dealing with the state bureaucracy and the strict demands of the ministry.
“I’m sorry to say that some families will be deported simply because of cumbersome regulations and inefficiency. People who have or in principle can get their hands on all the necessary documents simply won’t have enough time to retrieve them,” Rozen said. “Someone who is missing a birth certificate, for example, has to wait for the ministry itself to issue it. This might take weeks and I’d like to remind you that the families have only three weeks to submit an application.”
The hotline, together with a coalition of five other NGOs, submitted a petition to the High Court of Justice on Sunday asking that the court extend the time for applications from three weeks to 90 days.
“We are hopeful that with the aid of the court and with the backing of some of the cabinet ministers, we will be able to assure that none of the children will be deported,” Rozen said.
Also on Sunday, the heads of various Holocaust survivor organizations sent a joint letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu asking him to cancel the decision to deport 400 children.
“The look in the sad eyes of those children and their tears cannot leave us, children of the Holocaust, apathetic to their situation,” read the letter penned by Noah Flug, chairman of the Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel. “It is not acceptable that a Jewish government act so inhumanely and without conscience.
“We believe that the government should be stricter in the issuing of visas for foreign workers and begin expelling foreign workers who are here illegally. We appreciate that there may be judicial and economical rationales for the move. At the same time, it is worthy that we show compassion, heart and humanity toward those children whom fate brought to Israel through no fault of their own,” the letter said.
08/09/2010 05:37
Sunday morning saw the first wave of foreign workers’ families arrive at the Interior Ministry office in Tel Aviv to submit applications they hope will allow them to remain in the country. This follows a cabinet decision last week that determined that children of foreign workers who meet several criteria would be given permanent residence status.
The criteria are: They must be registered in the school system; they must speak Hebrew; they have to be either Israeli-born or in the country prior to their 13th birthday; they must be in Israel for at least five consecutive years; and their parents must have a legal work permit.
The parents and siblings of children who are allowed to stay will be granted temporary residency permits. Barring any new developments prejudicing their status, the family permits will be renewed annually until the child turns 21, at which time the other family members may request permanent resident status.
The families of children meeting the government’s criteria were lining up, forms in hand, at daybreak. By 6 a.m., there were already 20 families waiting for the ministry’s doors to open.
Once inside, they discovered that the ministry had prepared for them. Signs in English and Hebrew pointed the way to a specially designated section of the building, where six officials from the Population, Immigration and Borders Authority (PIBA) waited to meet with them.
Forms were available for those who needed them, and a waiting section with rows of chairs and a water cooler had been set up. The line was managed by a wellordered numbering system, and ushers made sure that proper order was maintained.
Also on hand was the ministry’s public relations mechanism.
PIBA spokeswoman Sabine Hadad welcomed reporters who came to report on the process, and introduced them to the head of the ministry’s Foreigners Department, Yossi Edelstein, who is overseeing the process.
“Right now we have 20 people working on the project here in Tel Aviv, and if we need more personnel, they will be here within minutes,” Edelstein said. “Our objective is to make the process as quick and simple as possible.
“When a family arrives, they take a ticket and wait for their number to be called. Every family must fill out an application form and provide supporting documents.
The type of documents we require are those that anybody who has lived in Israel for any amount of time should have on hand – things like passports, birth certificates, marriage certificates, school registration forms and things like that,” he said.
“Here, we check all the papers and notify the applicants if anything is missing. We won’t be able to tell them whether their applications are approved on the spot, but we will tell them if they need to provide any additional documents. The in-depth analysis and decision-making will be done in the back office by PIBA staff,” he said.
Edelstein, who chaired the interministerial committee that determined the criteria for granting children (and their families) resident status, said the committee had not made its recommendations with specific numbers in mind, and stressed that the numbers mentioned in the media could change.
“Everybody reported that 800 children will stay and 400 will be deported, but there is no guarantee that those will be the actual numbers. Our committee didn’t work toward meeting a quota; we established what we believed were reasonable criteria,” he said.
“There will be people who leave here today with bad news as far as they’re concerned,” Edelstein said. “Those who can’t meet the criteria will be requested to leave the country within 30 days. We will be setting up a desk here for people who are willing to leave voluntarily. Those whose applications are denied will be able to come, and we’ll help them make the travel arrangements and even help them purchase flight tickets.”
Many of the families arrived confident in the knowledge that their children met all the requirements, and that they had all the necessary papers. Over the past week, since the cabinet adopted the recommendations of the interministerial committee, volunteers from human rights organizations have been hard at work, coaching the families on how to fill out the forms and how to prepare for the interviews.
“We have all the listed documents. Barring any surprises, we should be all right,” said Oscar Olivier, a foreign worker from Congo.
Olivier, who has lived in Israel for 16 years, hopes that with the aid of his seven-year-old daughter, he will finally gain the security he and his family long for. But as a longtime activist in the foreign workers community, he knows to expect the unexpected.
“There are always surprises. There are always exceptions to the rules. We think that we are safe, but you never know which exception will prove to be the vital one that will pull the carpet from under you,” he said. “As long as the Interior minister [Eli Yishai of Shas] is against the move, we know we are on shaky ground.”
After a three-hour wait and an hour-and-a-half with a PIBA official, Olivier found he’d have to come back the next day. He had forgotten to bring a copy of his rental agreement, which he needed in order to prove his residency.
“I hope that that will be it,” he said.
Sigal Rozen, policy director for the Hotline for Migrant Workers, was one of the people on hand to help the families fill out their applications. She said that the biggest challenge many of the families faced was dealing with the state bureaucracy and the strict demands of the ministry.
“I’m sorry to say that some families will be deported simply because of cumbersome regulations and inefficiency. People who have or in principle can get their hands on all the necessary documents simply won’t have enough time to retrieve them,” Rozen said. “Someone who is missing a birth certificate, for example, has to wait for the ministry itself to issue it. This might take weeks and I’d like to remind you that the families have only three weeks to submit an application.”
The hotline, together with a coalition of five other NGOs, submitted a petition to the High Court of Justice on Sunday asking that the court extend the time for applications from three weeks to 90 days.
“We are hopeful that with the aid of the court and with the backing of some of the cabinet ministers, we will be able to assure that none of the children will be deported,” Rozen said.
Also on Sunday, the heads of various Holocaust survivor organizations sent a joint letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu asking him to cancel the decision to deport 400 children.
“The look in the sad eyes of those children and their tears cannot leave us, children of the Holocaust, apathetic to their situation,” read the letter penned by Noah Flug, chairman of the Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel. “It is not acceptable that a Jewish government act so inhumanely and without conscience.
“We believe that the government should be stricter in the issuing of visas for foreign workers and begin expelling foreign workers who are here illegally. We appreciate that there may be judicial and economical rationales for the move. At the same time, it is worthy that we show compassion, heart and humanity toward those children whom fate brought to Israel through no fault of their own,” the letter said.
ADL to Israel: Let foreign workers’ kids stay
By RON FRIEDMAN
08/11/2010 03:41
The Anti-Defamation League on Tuesday joined the chorus of groups and individuals calling on the government to reverse its decision to deport children of foreign workers and their families.
The ADL called on the government to extend, on humanitarian grounds, the protection of legal status to all of the children of foreign workers now in Israel rather than create a distinction that would result in about 400 of them being deported. The organization said it would be more humane to apply Israel’s new policy for determining whether children of foreign workers can stay in Israel to future cases.
“The issue of status for the children of foreign workers is complex, and the government of Israel has had to weigh numerous considerations, including the impact on Israeli society, current Israeli immigration law, and the impact on the families of these foreign workers,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL national director.
“That being said, the 400 children now in Israel who do not meet the guidelines for legal status as determined by Israel’s new policy should be grandfathered in and permitted to stay on humanitarian grounds. Going forward, this new policy can be implemented.”
The ADL’s statement echoes those of many of Israel’s human rights organizations as well as dozens of liberal ministers and MKs.
On August 1, the cabinet established criteria for children of foreign workers to remain legally in Israel.
Under this new policy, an estimated 800 children of foreign workers will be permitted to stay in the country, and approximately 400 children who do not meet these conditions are to be deported within a month.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Trafficked women neglected
By REBECCA ANNA STOIL
18/05/2010 04:06
MK Zuaretz: We have such a problem and no rehabilitation center?
Talkbacks (4)
MKs and experts pointed to the need for additional holistic rehabilitation programs for trafficked women during a meeting on Monday of the Knesset Subcommittee on Women Trafficking.
The session, called to discuss possible solutions to the correlation between prostitution and drug use among trafficked women, saw welfare authorities testify that they were able to meet immediate demands, while other witnesses complained that challenges related to funding and the legal status of trafficked women created difficulties.
Subcommittee chairwoman Orit Zuaretz (Kadima) called data from the Knesset Research Center “extremely worrisome” and said they show a clear connection between prostitution and the use of psychoactive chemicals to enable women to confront emotional traumas.
“The fact that there is simply no center for drug and physical rehabilitation in a country that has such a wide-reaching phenomenon of women trafficking and prostitution is highly worrisome,” Zuaretz said. “We must act to immediately establish such a center.”
Zuaretz called on the government to clearly differentiate between women who had been victims of trafficking and foreign workers. The government, she argued, must establish a separate budget for trafficked women.
One woman who had been the victim of trafficking and wished to remain anonymous during her Knesset testimony said she had “used drugs to die” but that “someone up above did not want to take me. I am speaking in the name of those women. I am afraid that every time that there is no money for them, they will go back to prostitution, and it shadows the whole rehabilitation program.”
The woman said that when she was kidnapped in Lithuania at the age of 17 and brought to Israel, her kidnappers provided her with fake documents. As a result, she did not have any legal documentation and could not receive any health care or rehabilitation. Her deliverance, she said, came only after she was arrested, when she was allowed to participate in a drug rehabilitation program in prison.
Beatrice Rosen-Katz, director of the Ofek Nashi program for treating and assisting prostitutes, told the subcommittee that her Tel Aviv and Jerusalem emergency centers were both at 100 percent capacity.
“Women are asked to pay NIS 600 for three weeks of treatment,” Rosen-Katz said. “The message is then for them to go and get a few more customers in order to fund their rehabilitation.”
Galit Geva of the Welfare Ministry argued in response that “there have not been any woman who have waited more than 24 hours” for immediate intervention, adding that government services cooperate to ensure that extra places are found in the event that the 13 available beds are full.
Nevertheless, Dr. Miki Dor, chair of the Interministerial Team for Medical Treatment for Victims of Women Trafficking, said there was a serious problem since “the country doesn’t offer any response” for the 150,000 people in Israel who do not have medical insurance, including women who were brought illegally into the country. Dor recommended that the coverage offered to citizens – which ensures that they are provided with physical rehabilitation – be extended to trafficked women, even if only for a limited period.
Jerusalem Post
18/05/2010 04:06
MK Zuaretz: We have such a problem and no rehabilitation center?
Talkbacks (4)
MKs and experts pointed to the need for additional holistic rehabilitation programs for trafficked women during a meeting on Monday of the Knesset Subcommittee on Women Trafficking.
The session, called to discuss possible solutions to the correlation between prostitution and drug use among trafficked women, saw welfare authorities testify that they were able to meet immediate demands, while other witnesses complained that challenges related to funding and the legal status of trafficked women created difficulties.
Subcommittee chairwoman Orit Zuaretz (Kadima) called data from the Knesset Research Center “extremely worrisome” and said they show a clear connection between prostitution and the use of psychoactive chemicals to enable women to confront emotional traumas.
“The fact that there is simply no center for drug and physical rehabilitation in a country that has such a wide-reaching phenomenon of women trafficking and prostitution is highly worrisome,” Zuaretz said. “We must act to immediately establish such a center.”
Zuaretz called on the government to clearly differentiate between women who had been victims of trafficking and foreign workers. The government, she argued, must establish a separate budget for trafficked women.
One woman who had been the victim of trafficking and wished to remain anonymous during her Knesset testimony said she had “used drugs to die” but that “someone up above did not want to take me. I am speaking in the name of those women. I am afraid that every time that there is no money for them, they will go back to prostitution, and it shadows the whole rehabilitation program.”
The woman said that when she was kidnapped in Lithuania at the age of 17 and brought to Israel, her kidnappers provided her with fake documents. As a result, she did not have any legal documentation and could not receive any health care or rehabilitation. Her deliverance, she said, came only after she was arrested, when she was allowed to participate in a drug rehabilitation program in prison.
Beatrice Rosen-Katz, director of the Ofek Nashi program for treating and assisting prostitutes, told the subcommittee that her Tel Aviv and Jerusalem emergency centers were both at 100 percent capacity.
“Women are asked to pay NIS 600 for three weeks of treatment,” Rosen-Katz said. “The message is then for them to go and get a few more customers in order to fund their rehabilitation.”
Galit Geva of the Welfare Ministry argued in response that “there have not been any woman who have waited more than 24 hours” for immediate intervention, adding that government services cooperate to ensure that extra places are found in the event that the 13 available beds are full.
Nevertheless, Dr. Miki Dor, chair of the Interministerial Team for Medical Treatment for Victims of Women Trafficking, said there was a serious problem since “the country doesn’t offer any response” for the 150,000 people in Israel who do not have medical insurance, including women who were brought illegally into the country. Dor recommended that the coverage offered to citizens – which ensures that they are provided with physical rehabilitation – be extended to trafficked women, even if only for a limited period.
Jerusalem Post
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Hundreds rally for foreign workers' kids in Tel Aviv
Protest against deportation held in Tel Aviv ahead of final decision on future of foreign workers' children in Israel
Yael Branovsky
03.20.10, 21:55 / Yediot Haachronot
Hundreds of people protested in Tel Aviv Saturday, calling on the government to grant citizenship to 1,200 foreign workers' children facing deportation from Israel.
The protestors carried signs reading "Israeli kids – Israeli citizenship" and "No to deportation."
The demonstration was held as the government prepares to reach a final decision regarding the children's future in Israel. An inter-ministerial committee is slated to submit its recommendations to Interior Minister Eli Yishai and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu within several weeks.
One protestor who declined to be named, the 12-year-old daughter to Filipino parents who was born in Israel and visited her parents' homeland only once, said: "It is strange to me that they want to deport me there. I don't know anything in that country. I was born here and feel that my home is here."
Gabriel Bourdon, an activist in the Israeli Children Organization said that the community is much more Israeli than is generally thought.
"Their whole thinking is based on what happens in Israel and our goal is to show that to the public," he said.
Knesset Member Dov Khenin also participated in the protest, which also featured a song written by singer Ivry Lider and journalist Guy Meroz and recorded with the participation of the children and such figures as Minister Avishay Braverman and MK Yuli Tamir.
3 foreign workers report sexual abuse to help line in 1 day
Photo by: Ariel Jerozolimski
By RON FRIEDMAN
12/03/2010 01:59
Jerusalem Post
Workers’ rights organization Kav LaOved released testimonies on Thursday from three female foreign workers who claim to have been sexually abused by family members of their employers.
None of the women know each other, but all three complained on the same day, marking a new low in the organization’s records. What links the cases, aside from the fact that the complaints were received on the same day in late February, was that in all three cases, the alleged molesters used the threat of job termination and possible deportation to pressure the women into committing or acquiescing to sexual acts.
Kav LaOved refused to disclose the plaintiffs’ identities, but offered their stories to raise awareness of the phenomenon.
The debt made her stay
B. is a Filipino worker who has been working in Israel for six years. Three-and-a-half years ago, she began working as a caregiver for a sick, elderly woman who lives with her son.
On her first day of work, her employer’s son asked B. to massage him “like in Thailand.” B. flatly refused to touch him and also refused to be touched.
After several months, the son offered B. a loan of $13,000 if she agreed to strip her clothes off in front of him. When she refused, the son suggested that he give her the same loan, but instead of undressing, she would pay him $1,000 interest. B., who paid $3,000 in commission fees to come to Israel, needed the money and agreed to the arrangement.
B. made sure to pay the son $1,000 every two months from her earnings. All the while, he continued to harass her, asking her to have sex with him and to massage him. Despite her protests, the son would masturbate in front of her.
B. wanted to complain, but feared that if the loan were revealed, she would be forced to return the money immediately. So she continued to pay and put up with the son’s abuses.
Recently the son fired B., claiming she owed him large sums of money and had refused to pay him back.
B. turned to Kav LaOved to help her return to her job with the elderly woman, despite the terrible harassment and humiliation she had experienced. She explained that since she had large debts in her native country and owed money to her employer’s son, she was willing to work at any cost.
Salary for sex
D. is employed by an elderly Alzheimer’s patient who lives with her son. As a condition for her monthly salary, the son demanded that D. have sex with him. The son would leave her alone for the entire month, only approaching her on the 10th, the day she received her salary.
According to the employee, she did not understand at first that his actions were unusual, unreasonable or illegal.
After several months, when she could no longer cope with his actions and asked him to stop, he told her that if she left, she could never find another job, and that he would see to it that she was deported from the country.
The woman said she was afraid to leave the family or to complain about the son because she feared for her life. She turned to Kav LaOved to learn what social rights she would be entitled to if she ever built up the courage to leave her employer.
All attempts to convince the worker to file a complaint against her employer’s son were unsuccessful.
“Stop telling stories”
J. is employed by a disabled woman who stays at home during the week and whose husband works away from home. Once a week, J. takes her employer out of the house for a while to visit the local community center. While her employer is at the center, J. goes back to the house to cook.
J. said the husband would regularly wait for her at the house, where he would harass her physically and verbally – patting her buttocks when she bent down, cupping her breasts, stroking her face and her belly and pressing up against her – until she left the house to collect her employer and bring her back home.
The employee complained to her employment agency, and the company sent a social worker to the employer’s house. The husband denied the accusations and said the story was the product of J.’s wild imagination. The social worker believed the husband and told J. to stop.
After that, the worker complained several more times, but the company refused to send another social worker and advised the employee to “stop telling stories.”
A week ago, the employer’s husband warned J. that if she complained again, he would fire her immediately. Now she is afraid that next time she tells him no, he will throw her out of the house.
Even in this case, the employee refused to complain or give any details about her employer, and only asked for information regarding her rights in case she were fired.
Idit Lebovitch, who oversees the caregiving section at Kav LaOved, said that though it was unprecedented to receive three complaints in a single day, the phenomenon as a whole was widespread. She also said that the complaints the hot line had received were only the tip of the iceberg.
She explained that the nature of the job, where the workers lived with the employers and their families and were with them 24 hours a day, made discovering cases of abuse of any kind nearly impossible.
“Unless the employees file a complaint, something they are extremely hesitant to do, there is simply no way to know,” said Lebovitch.
Lebovitch added that the traditional background of the workers prevented most of them from speaking up about cases of sexual harassment or abuse.
“Where they come from, it’s simply not talked about, and they suffer in silence,” she said.
She tries to bring the issue up herself in every complaint that she receives, she said, because she knows that the women rarely dare to bring it up on their own.
Lebovitch said that when a worker was willing to come forth and file a formal complaint, she would urge them to open a file with the police, but that in 95 percent of the cases, they would refuse, fearing unknown outcomes.
“What we do is take down a testimony before a lawyer and pass it on to officials at the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry, who can then follow up with an investigation with the employer. The problem is that often, it’s not the employers themselves who do the harassing, and as a result there is not much the officials can do. In some cases, they will freeze or revoke the employer’s permit to employ a foreign worker, but that’s where it stops.”
According to Lebovitch, the only way to combat the phenomenon is to inform the workers of their rights and make the issue public.
“We try to make sure that the workers know what is required of them in the job and what definitely is not,” she said. “We hope that providing them with knowledge will boost their self-confidence and willingness to resist harassment.”
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