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.”
Monday, October 26, 2009
Noodle Movie
Noodle is an excellent Israeli movie about a young Chinese boy who was left behind in the house of an Israeli woman and her amazing journey to bring him back to his mother- נודל
Israel's Illegal Immigrants — and Their Children
Mila Valdez, 40, lives near the central bus station in Tel Aviv. It is thousands of miles from where she was born, in the Philippines. She and her 7-year-old son live a cramped existence in three small rooms plus kitchen and bathroom — plus eight other people. But she is fighting for the right to stay in Israel.
Valdez is among 200,000 foreign workers from East Asia, Africa and Latin America who have found their way to Israel. About half of them are illegal, as Valdez is now. She went to Israel legally but her visa lapsed at about the time she gave birth to her son Jerry. Her apartment is among the Eritrean cafés, Sudanese restaurants and Filipino bars in the streets around the old central bus station — underneath a police advertisement inviting residents to inform on their neighbors' visa status. "I am working as a house cleaner because I'm now illegal," Valdez tells TIME. "My husband was caught in 2007 and he was deported. My son Jerry loves Israel. We're hoping to stay."
And it is Jerry who may be key to her chances. He and another 1,200 children are at the heart of a political battle that cuts across traditional political loyalties, raising fundamental questions about the mission of the Jewish state. Interior Minister Eli Yishai, leader of the ultra-orthodox Shas Party, wants to expel the foreign workers, many of whom are devout Christians, like Valdez, a Roman Catholic. Yishai says their presence "is liable to damage the state's Jewish identity, constitute a demographic threat and increase the danger of assimilation." The government says the illegals and their children must leave Israel once the school year ends in June.
A new police unit, Oz (from the Hebrew for "strength"), has been rounding up illegals and shipping them home. Since July, 800 have been deported while more than 2,000 have left voluntarily. But the government decision to expel children born in Israel has split the ruling Likud party. "Those 1,200 children that were born in Israel and didn't ever know another country are not to be blamed. They should stay here and we should resolve their status," Likud minister Limor Livnat tells TIME. The government is still debating the order and it may yet be countermanded or changed. It has happened before. In 2006, Israel naturalized 567 families with school-age children.
The municipality of Tel Aviv, where most of the immigrant workers live, together with about 17,000 refugees mainly from Darfur and Eritrea, provides free health care and day care for children, including vaccinations and education. Adult health services are provided by Physicians for Human Rights. The Hotline for Migrant Workers has people on call 24/7 to provide welfare and legal advice. "Whoever is in our territory deserves our services," deputy mayor Yael Dayan tells TIME. "It's not a question of grace, it's really a question of right. It's not doing them a favor and it's not how moved we are by these little children. They have added a lot to Tel Aviv society in many ways."
The uncertainty of residency and the constant threat of arrest takes its toll on the children. Parents report nightmares, bed-wetting and clinginess. "I've been there in that situation they are going through right now. I was illegal and I was afraid whenever I saw men in uniforms," says Jenalyn Zuno, 22, a Filipina granted permanent residency in 2006.
The problem may be becoming cyclical. Israel started recruiting workers from East Asia 20 years ago, after the first intifadeh ended the flood of day laborers from the West Bank and Gaza. The migrants support entire families back in their home countries. Noa Kaufman of the Israeli Children pressure group, says Israel encourages deporting workers after five years or when they have children. But then those departing workers are simply replaced by new arrivals who go through the same turmoil. "The recruitment companies only get money for new workers. If a worker moves jobs once he's here, the recruitment company doesn't get any money," she says. "It doesn't make sense that there is no naturalization process for someone who was born here or someone who lived here as a refugee for 10 years. They are people, not machines. You can't expect them not to fall in love, not to give birth."
By MATTHEW KALMAN / TEL AVIV wEDNESDAY 21 OCT. 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Take Action! - Tome Accion!
Write a Letter
Approximate Time: 5-10 minutes/person
Few people take the time to write letters to public officials so a handful of letters can make a big impact. That’s why we recommend that as many people as possible write about human trafficking. It is best if public officials receive a “flood” of letters but writing on behalf of many people is also an effective way of showing that many people care about this issue. If your friends are unlikely to send letters themselves, you might ask them if you can include their signatures on your letter. Personally written letters make a much bigger impact than form letters. By taking the time to write your own letter, you demonstrate that you care deeply about this issue and thought carefully about what you have written.
Escriva una carta
Aproximadamente 5-10 minutos/ persona
Pocas personas utilizan su tiempo para escribir cartas para oficiales publicos, por lo tanto una gran cantidad de cartas haria impacto. Por eso recomendamos que la mayor cantidad de personas posibles escriban sobre el trafico de personas. Es mejor que los oficiales publicos reciban un gran flujo de cartas, pero escribir en nombre de muchas personas ( pedir para que sus amigos firmen la carta) tambien sirve. Cartas personales son mucho mas efectivas que cartas formales. Por tomarse el tiempo para escribir su propria carta mustra que se importa profundamente por el asunto y que penso cuidadosamente sobre lo que escribio.
Sample Letter/Carta exemplo
Your Excellency/Consul General:
I am writing to you as someone who cares deeply about Israel and its reputation in the international community.
I am appalled by the phenomenon of human trafficking in Israel. Thousands of women have been smuggled into the country to “work” as sex slaves. These women are beaten, raped, starved and caged. The state of Israel cannot and must not allow slavery to exist within its borders.
The government must make this issue a national priority. More resources need to be dedicated to cracking down on perpetrators, assisting victims and preventing the continued smuggling of women across the Egyptian border.
As a member of the American Jewish community, I call upon the government of Israel to step up its efforts to fight this atrocity. Israel must invest greater time and resources to become a world leader in the fight to end modern slavery.
I urge you to use every opportunity to help raise this issue to the top of the national agenda.
Sincerely,
Jane Doe
http://tfht.org/index.php?section=article&album_id=20
If you want more ideas to take action, click on the title.
Si quieres mas ideas para Tomar Accion, de un click en el titulo.
Approximate Time: 5-10 minutes/person
Few people take the time to write letters to public officials so a handful of letters can make a big impact. That’s why we recommend that as many people as possible write about human trafficking. It is best if public officials receive a “flood” of letters but writing on behalf of many people is also an effective way of showing that many people care about this issue. If your friends are unlikely to send letters themselves, you might ask them if you can include their signatures on your letter. Personally written letters make a much bigger impact than form letters. By taking the time to write your own letter, you demonstrate that you care deeply about this issue and thought carefully about what you have written.
Escriva una carta
Aproximadamente 5-10 minutos/ persona
Pocas personas utilizan su tiempo para escribir cartas para oficiales publicos, por lo tanto una gran cantidad de cartas haria impacto. Por eso recomendamos que la mayor cantidad de personas posibles escriban sobre el trafico de personas. Es mejor que los oficiales publicos reciban un gran flujo de cartas, pero escribir en nombre de muchas personas ( pedir para que sus amigos firmen la carta) tambien sirve. Cartas personales son mucho mas efectivas que cartas formales. Por tomarse el tiempo para escribir su propria carta mustra que se importa profundamente por el asunto y que penso cuidadosamente sobre lo que escribio.
Sample Letter/Carta exemplo
Your Excellency/Consul General:
I am writing to you as someone who cares deeply about Israel and its reputation in the international community.
I am appalled by the phenomenon of human trafficking in Israel. Thousands of women have been smuggled into the country to “work” as sex slaves. These women are beaten, raped, starved and caged. The state of Israel cannot and must not allow slavery to exist within its borders.
The government must make this issue a national priority. More resources need to be dedicated to cracking down on perpetrators, assisting victims and preventing the continued smuggling of women across the Egyptian border.
As a member of the American Jewish community, I call upon the government of Israel to step up its efforts to fight this atrocity. Israel must invest greater time and resources to become a world leader in the fight to end modern slavery.
I urge you to use every opportunity to help raise this issue to the top of the national agenda.
Sincerely,
Jane Doe
http://tfht.org/index.php?section=article&album_id=20
If you want more ideas to take action, click on the title.
Si quieres mas ideas para Tomar Accion, de un click en el titulo.
El barrio Neve Shaanan
Aprtir del ano 2007, el barrio en Tel Aviv que al principio del siglo pasado albergo a zapateros, carpinteros, matelurgicos, e imprentas, entre otros, se convirtio en un barrio de delincuentes, drogas, indigentes, mafiosos, pobres y trabajadores extranjeros
En el barrio podemos encontrar:
- Mas de 45 casas de masajes
- Mas de 30 casinos ilegales
- Iglesias africanas
- Clubes chinos
- Cafes turcos
- restaurantes rusos
- Sinagogas sefaradies
Es la zona mas contaminada de Tel Aviv, donde los servicios basicos como salud e higiene faltan.
Llaman a la zona "La anarquia del sur", donde la prostitucion callejera y el narcotrafico son cosa del dia a dia.
En el medio del barrio, esta la zona que llaman el triangulo del sexo, limitado por las calles Erlinger, Shlomo Eliasberg y Pin.
En la calle Erlinger, podemos encontrar, 8 casas de sexo y 2 casinos ilegales. En la calle Eliasberg encontramos, 3 casas de sexo, 2 casinos ilegales y la zona de los travestis. En la calle Pin hay 9 casas de sexo, casillas porno 24 horas y 2 casinos ilegales.
Las mujeres que trabajan como prostitutas y los demas trabajadores extranjeros, vienen, en su mayoria enganados con promesas de trabajo de limpieza, cuidar ninos o ancianos. De Ucrania, Moldava, Uzbekistan, Rusia y Latinoamerica. Muchas de las mujeres entran por contrabando desde la frontera con Egipto y en el camino son violadas y maltratadas por los beduinos que las comercializan.
Estas mujeres trabajan 7 dias a la semana, mas de 18 horas por dia y cobran por cliente aproximadamente 120 shekalim; de los cuales 100 van para su empleador y 20 para ellas. Tienen un dia al mes libre (el mismo dia en que les viene su periodo) y son obligadas a trabajar en un regimen de penalizacion y castigo fisico en el cual reciben constantes amenazas de abusos y asesinato, crimenes que la policia y el gobierno israeli no solo no castiga, sino que tampoco hace nada para impedir.
En el 2003, el gobierno aprobo una ley que le permite al estado confiscar las ganancias de los traficantes, pero no se aplica debido al circulo de corrupcion que hay en torno al tema, circulo en el cual hay implicados desde mafiosos hasta parlamentarios, sin dejar de lado a la policia, que colabora con el trafico de trabajadores extranjeros y tambien usa y abusa de lso servicios de las prostitutas y los narcotraficantes al igual que los innumerables religiosos que antes de entrar a la cama cuelgan su kipa, segun testimonios de la propias prostitutas.
Un informe del comite de investigacion parlamentaria, mostro que entre 3000 y 5000 mujeres entran en contrabando anualmente a Israel, son vendidas por sobre lso 8.000 y 10.000 dolares y residen, privadas de su libertad, en aproximadamente 400 burdeles.
A esta altura, todos se deben estar preguntando lo mismo: y el gobierno no hace nada para impedir esto?
Es uno de los negocios que deja mas dinero en el pais, en el que quien participa, se ve envuelto en un circulo de corrupcion hermetico que una vez que se entra ya no se puede salir. Por otro lado, es muy dificil no verse tentado por la cantidad de dindero que se maneja, aunque se pierda de vista el alto precio que se paga y el dano que causan en personas que muchas veces vienen a buscar una oportunidad que su pais no les da y terminan con graves danos fisicos, psicologicos o muertos.
En el barrio podemos encontrar:
- Mas de 45 casas de masajes
- Mas de 30 casinos ilegales
- Iglesias africanas
- Clubes chinos
- Cafes turcos
- restaurantes rusos
- Sinagogas sefaradies
Es la zona mas contaminada de Tel Aviv, donde los servicios basicos como salud e higiene faltan.
Llaman a la zona "La anarquia del sur", donde la prostitucion callejera y el narcotrafico son cosa del dia a dia.
En el medio del barrio, esta la zona que llaman el triangulo del sexo, limitado por las calles Erlinger, Shlomo Eliasberg y Pin.
En la calle Erlinger, podemos encontrar, 8 casas de sexo y 2 casinos ilegales. En la calle Eliasberg encontramos, 3 casas de sexo, 2 casinos ilegales y la zona de los travestis. En la calle Pin hay 9 casas de sexo, casillas porno 24 horas y 2 casinos ilegales.
Las mujeres que trabajan como prostitutas y los demas trabajadores extranjeros, vienen, en su mayoria enganados con promesas de trabajo de limpieza, cuidar ninos o ancianos. De Ucrania, Moldava, Uzbekistan, Rusia y Latinoamerica. Muchas de las mujeres entran por contrabando desde la frontera con Egipto y en el camino son violadas y maltratadas por los beduinos que las comercializan.
Estas mujeres trabajan 7 dias a la semana, mas de 18 horas por dia y cobran por cliente aproximadamente 120 shekalim; de los cuales 100 van para su empleador y 20 para ellas. Tienen un dia al mes libre (el mismo dia en que les viene su periodo) y son obligadas a trabajar en un regimen de penalizacion y castigo fisico en el cual reciben constantes amenazas de abusos y asesinato, crimenes que la policia y el gobierno israeli no solo no castiga, sino que tampoco hace nada para impedir.
En el 2003, el gobierno aprobo una ley que le permite al estado confiscar las ganancias de los traficantes, pero no se aplica debido al circulo de corrupcion que hay en torno al tema, circulo en el cual hay implicados desde mafiosos hasta parlamentarios, sin dejar de lado a la policia, que colabora con el trafico de trabajadores extranjeros y tambien usa y abusa de lso servicios de las prostitutas y los narcotraficantes al igual que los innumerables religiosos que antes de entrar a la cama cuelgan su kipa, segun testimonios de la propias prostitutas.
Un informe del comite de investigacion parlamentaria, mostro que entre 3000 y 5000 mujeres entran en contrabando anualmente a Israel, son vendidas por sobre lso 8.000 y 10.000 dolares y residen, privadas de su libertad, en aproximadamente 400 burdeles.
A esta altura, todos se deben estar preguntando lo mismo: y el gobierno no hace nada para impedir esto?
Es uno de los negocios que deja mas dinero en el pais, en el que quien participa, se ve envuelto en un circulo de corrupcion hermetico que una vez que se entra ya no se puede salir. Por otro lado, es muy dificil no verse tentado por la cantidad de dindero que se maneja, aunque se pierda de vista el alto precio que se paga y el dano que causan en personas que muchas veces vienen a buscar una oportunidad que su pais no les da y terminan con graves danos fisicos, psicologicos o muertos.
Aumenta el tráfico de mujeres
EL testimonio desgarrador de una chica explotada en IsraelMICHAEL SPECTE(The New York Times. Especial para Clarín).- Irina siempre supuso que su belleza la rescataría de algún modo de la pobreza de su vida de aldea. Hace unos meses respondió a un vago anuncio en un diario de Ucrania, y se subió a un barco que la llevó a Haifa, Israel, con la esperanza de un trabajo como bailarina nudista.A los 21 años, se sentía segura de sí misma, y se alegraba de haberse ido de Ucrania. Israel le ofrecía un mundo nuevo donde por dos semanas todo pareció posible. Pero una mañana la llevaron a un prostíbulo en el que su jefe quemó su pasaporte ante sus ojos.Soy tu dueño, le dijo. Sos mi propiedad y vas a trabajar hasta que te ganes la salida. No trates de escapar. No tenés documentos y no hablás hebreo. Te van a detener y deportar. Entonces te vamos a ir a buscar de nuevo.Negocio globalizadoPasa todos los días. No sólo en Israel, que deportó cerca de 1.500 mujeres rusas y ucranianas como Irina en los últimos tres años. Sino en todo el mundo, donde vender mujeres jóvenes y desesperadas para la servidumbre sexual se ha convertido en la empresa ilegal de más rápido crecimiento en la economía global.La venta internacional de mujeres no tiene nada de nuevo. Durante décadas las asiáticas fueron la mercadería básica. Pero la desesperación económica del mundo eslavo abrió lo que los expertos llaman el mercado más lucrativo de las organizaciones criminales que prosperan desde la caída del comunismo: mujeres blancas que no tiene otro sostén que el de sus sueños. Los mismos explotadores, autoridades policiales y grupos de ayuda acuerdan en que las mujeres rusas y ucranianas son la mercadería más apreciada.Ni Rusia ni Ucrania tienen estadísticas de desempleo, pero presentan una situacion de caos y desquicio económico. Más de los dos tercios de desocupados en Ucrania son mujeres. Más del 80 por ciento de las personas que perdieron sus empleos desde la caída de la URSS son mujeres.Las estadísticas de mujeres vendidas son más difíciles aun de establecer porque se trata de inmigrantes ilegales pero la ONU calcula en 4 millones la cantidad de gente traficada por año, obligada mediante engaño y coacciones a alguna forma de la servidumbre. Sólo a Europa occidental, son traficadas 500 mil mujeres por año.Muchas terminan como Irina. Consternada ante la orden de su jefe de prostituirse, simplemente se negó. Entonces fue golpeada y violada hasta que cedió. Por fin aprovechó una brecha. Hubo un allanamiento del prostíbulo y fue llevada a la única cárcel de mujeres de Israel. Ahora espera ser repatriada, como otras mujeres rusas y ucranianas indocumentadas.No creo que el hombre que me arruinó la vida sea sancionado, dice. Pueden considerarme una estúpida por venir aquí. Ese fue mi delito, ser una estúpida chica de aldea. ¿Pero se puede comprar y vender mujeres como si nada?Con centro en Moscú y en Kiev, las redes de tráfico de mujeres se extienden hacia el este hasta Japón y Tailandia, donde miles de jóvenes eslavas trabajan contra su voluntad como prostitutas.Viaje al infiernoLas mujeres suelen iniciar su viaje al infierno por opción. En busca de una mejor vida, son atraídas por anuncios locales que prometen empleos, en países extranjeros, con sueldos que en el suyo no podrían ni imaginar.Una vez que pasan la frontera, les confiscan los pasaportes, les coartan las libertades y les quitan todo el dinero. Aun las que están dispuestas a trabajar como prostitutas por unos meses, no sospechan lo que les espera: son obligadas a trabajar en departamentos y prostíbulos clandestinos a razon de 15 clientes diarios, por lo menos 25 días al mes. Lo mejor que les puede pasar es que las deporten. Rara vez hacen denuncias, porque se juegan la vida.El año pasado en Estambul dos mujeres rusas fueron arrojadas desde un balcón y murieron ante la mirada de sus compañeras. En Serbia una chica ucraniana que se negaba a prostituirse fue decapitada en público. En Milán, una semana antes de Navidad, la policía capturó una banda que subastaba mujeres secuestradas en la ex URSS a menos de mil dólares cada una.El Tropicana, uno de los prostíbulos más activos de Tel Aviv, es propiedad de Jacob Golan, A los israelíes les gustan las chicas rusas- dice-. Son rubias, hermosas y diferentes, y están desesperadas, Interrogado sobre si las prostitutas trabajan voluntariamente, se ríe mucho antes de contestar que ése no es su problema. De vez en cuando la policía hace una requisa más o menos anunciada y las chicas que no tienen documentos falsos bien hechos terminan en la cárcel.Situaciones análogas se dan en todos los países donde las bandas de explotadores son poderosas, como Turquía, Alemania e Italia.Traducción: MARTA VASSALLO
La llevaron engañada y luego la obligaron a trabajar en un prostíbulo
La mercancía más apreciada son las rusas, subastadas a 1.000 dólares
Un reparto crudo para las trabajadores emigrantes
por Sigal Rosen
El dia internacional de los emigrantes, 18 de diciembre, fue pensado originalmente para dar a los paises enfitriones una oportunidad de agradecer a los trabajadores emigrantes por los servicios que proporcionan. En realidad, el dia es observado principalmente por las organizaciones de los derechos humanos y las organizaciones de inmigrantes alredor del mundo.
En Israel las autoridades del estado no dan importancia al dia internacional de los emigrantes. Entonces otra vez, tambien no dan importancia a los emigrantes. Aqui, no hay trabajadores emigrantes, solamente "trabajadores extranjeros". Los trabajadores vienen aqui trabajar solamente. Son extranjeros. Extranjeros. No permaneceran. La palabra emigrante connota permanencia; suena casi como "inmigrante", cielo prohibido. Todo el mundo utiliza el termino "trabajadores emigrantes", pero Israel se aferra obstinado en los "trabajadores extranjeros".
En el mundo occidental, hay dos acercamientos importantes para trabajar la migracion: algunos paises animan a emigrantes de ciertos sectores de la poblacion que vengan y se asienten en su territorio, mientras que otros paises intentan proteger su propria identidad cultural guardando a trabajadores emigrantes hacia fuera. Israel, por lo que se, es el unico pais en el mundo que hace ambos. Solamente Israel invita diez mil trabajadores emigrantes cada ano, y al mismo tiempo lo declara desea reducir su numero, asi justificando su propria politica cruel de la deportacion.
Sin embargo, el hecho que Israel no desea que los trabajadores emigrantes se queden permanentemente no significa que deben ser sujetados al abuso mientras que esten aqui. Hace ocho meses, se cancelo la ley la cual ataba a los trabajadores ilegales a sus trabajos y patrones.
Ocho meses han pasado. En la pratica, nada ha cambiado.
El dia internacional de los emigrantes es una buena ocasion para pensar en los trabajadores emigrantes que viven en nuestro pais y como las tratamos. Esperemos que este dia deje algun dia de ser un acontecimiento para crear los derechos humanos basicos para las trabajadores emigrantes, y lo convirtamos en un dia que responde a su proposito original, un dia en el cual expresamos gracias a los trabajadores que llevan en hombros las cargas que deseamos evitar: cuidando a nuestros padres mayores, labrando nuestra tierra, y la construccion y la limpieza de nuestros hogares.
Sigal Rosen es el coordinador para Moked - el telefono directo del orden publico para las trabajadores emigrantes.
The Hotline for migrant workers(HMW), established in 1998, is a non-partisan, not for profit organization, dedicated to (a) promoting the rights of undocumented migrant workers and refugees and (b) eliminating trafficking in persons in Israel. We aim to build a more just, equitable and democratic society where the human rights of all those residing within its borders are paramount civic and political values. http://www.hotline.org.il/english/index.htm
26/12/2006
El dia internacional de los emigrantes, 18 de diciembre, fue pensado originalmente para dar a los paises enfitriones una oportunidad de agradecer a los trabajadores emigrantes por los servicios que proporcionan. En realidad, el dia es observado principalmente por las organizaciones de los derechos humanos y las organizaciones de inmigrantes alredor del mundo.
En Israel las autoridades del estado no dan importancia al dia internacional de los emigrantes. Entonces otra vez, tambien no dan importancia a los emigrantes. Aqui, no hay trabajadores emigrantes, solamente "trabajadores extranjeros". Los trabajadores vienen aqui trabajar solamente. Son extranjeros. Extranjeros. No permaneceran. La palabra emigrante connota permanencia; suena casi como "inmigrante", cielo prohibido. Todo el mundo utiliza el termino "trabajadores emigrantes", pero Israel se aferra obstinado en los "trabajadores extranjeros".
En el mundo occidental, hay dos acercamientos importantes para trabajar la migracion: algunos paises animan a emigrantes de ciertos sectores de la poblacion que vengan y se asienten en su territorio, mientras que otros paises intentan proteger su propria identidad cultural guardando a trabajadores emigrantes hacia fuera. Israel, por lo que se, es el unico pais en el mundo que hace ambos. Solamente Israel invita diez mil trabajadores emigrantes cada ano, y al mismo tiempo lo declara desea reducir su numero, asi justificando su propria politica cruel de la deportacion.
Sin embargo, el hecho que Israel no desea que los trabajadores emigrantes se queden permanentemente no significa que deben ser sujetados al abuso mientras que esten aqui. Hace ocho meses, se cancelo la ley la cual ataba a los trabajadores ilegales a sus trabajos y patrones.
Ocho meses han pasado. En la pratica, nada ha cambiado.
El dia internacional de los emigrantes es una buena ocasion para pensar en los trabajadores emigrantes que viven en nuestro pais y como las tratamos. Esperemos que este dia deje algun dia de ser un acontecimiento para crear los derechos humanos basicos para las trabajadores emigrantes, y lo convirtamos en un dia que responde a su proposito original, un dia en el cual expresamos gracias a los trabajadores que llevan en hombros las cargas que deseamos evitar: cuidando a nuestros padres mayores, labrando nuestra tierra, y la construccion y la limpieza de nuestros hogares.
Sigal Rosen es el coordinador para Moked - el telefono directo del orden publico para las trabajadores emigrantes.
The Hotline for migrant workers(HMW), established in 1998, is a non-partisan, not for profit organization, dedicated to (a) promoting the rights of undocumented migrant workers and refugees and (b) eliminating trafficking in persons in Israel. We aim to build a more just, equitable and democratic society where the human rights of all those residing within its borders are paramount civic and political values. http://www.hotline.org.il/english/index.htm
ISRAEL: Migrant workers denied rights
Photo: Mel Frykberg/IRIN
Migrant Turkish workers Shaheen Yelmaz (right) and Hikmat Tekin say they are fighting for better working conditions in Israel.TEL AVIV, 23 November 2006 (IRIN) - Impoverished Turkish labourer Shaheen Yelmaz arrived in Israel four months ago dreaming of helping his father pay off his mounting debts.But today the 23-year-old faces a US $14,000 debt of his own, deportation and the possible loss of his family home in Turkey after challenging his employer over non-payment of wages and shocking working conditions."I never wanted money for myself, I just wanted to pay off my father’s huge debts. We were told by Yilmazlar [a Turkish manpower agency that supplies construction workers to a number of companies in Israel] that we could make up to $1,400 a month and more with overtime if we worked in Israel," he told IRIN."Yilmazlar assured us we would be well treated and be housed in good accommodation. However, when I arrived, my dream turned into a nightmare."Yelmaz was sharing a room with eight others - furnished with bunk beds - that was so small that there was no space for their suitcases. They were fed a monotonous diet of rice and lentils and there were only three toilets with no running water for 130 workers."The conditions of the toilets were so disgusting, they were not fit even for an animal," said Yelmaz."We were forbidden from using mobile phones on pain of confiscation and fines and were forced to work an average of 11 hours a day, without being paid overtime. And in our half-hour lunch break we were expected to go home, eat and return to the construction site."In addition to our passports being taken away [by the employer], we needed special permission to leave the premises after work and on our day off. If people left without permission, they were fined and threatened with deportation by the management."The final straw came when Yelmaz found out that he and the other workers would only receive their first payment after three months. He and a friend, 41-year-old father-of-three Hikmat Tekin, decided to challenge their boss."We were told by the management that if we didn't like it, we would be deported without payment and barred from employment elsewhere in Israel," Tekin said.Strict visa regulationsAs he began his battle against his employer, Yelmaz became aware of the strict Israeli visa regulations governing conditions for migrant workers."The issuance of these visas is subject to the workers staying with the same employer stated on the visa and if this condition is broken then the migrant worker is deemed illegal and liable for deportation,” said Sigal Rosen, spokeswoman for Israeli human rights organisation Hotline for Migrant Workers.The Hotline has received more than 20 requests for help from Turkish workers placed by Yizmazlar over the past few years."Many employers take advantage of the visa conditions by withholding wages from uninformed workers and then firing the employees when they owe them significant amounts of money," Rosen said."Often the employer will then inform police that the workers he has just fired are now illegal aliens. The police then arrest and deport them before they can challenge the employer in court,” said Rosen.About 200,000 migrant workers live in Israel, mostly from Turkey, the Philippines and Eastern Europe. Half of them are deemed illegal, with about 5,000 getting deported annually on average, according to Rosen.In March this year, an Israeli Supreme Court judge described the conditions of migrant workers in Israel as a "form of modern slavery" following a petition from human rights organisations.The court further ordered the State to adopt a new employment scheme within the next six months allowing workers to resign without losing their legal status."Although it is difficult for migrant workers to change employers if they find the conditions too terrible, they can ask the manpower agency to find them new employment after three months,” Sabine Haddad, a spokeswoman for the Israeli Interior Ministry, said.But in reality this does not happen. In general, manpower agencies are reluctant to help migrant workers find new employment as there is no further financial incentive for them once the workers have already been placed, said Rosen.Furthermore, this provision is not available to workers placed by Yizmazlar who are not entitled to seek employment elsewhere.In huge debtMeanwhile, as Yelmaz awaits the Supreme Court's decision on 13 December, following a successful stay of deportation filed by his lawyer, he has found out that he cannot possibly pay off his father's debts.Before leaving Turkey, he and other Turkish workers were obliged to sign blank promissory notes and a labour contract by Yilmazlar, which they said they were not allowed to read or keep a copy of."When the company found out I was leaving, they filled in one of the blank promissory notes that I had signed before coming to Israel," he said."They stated I owed the company $14,000 and that they would repossess my family's home if I did not pay up. The Turkish Embassy couldn’t help me because my signature was on the notes.”He said that he was warned by the company manager that if he returned to Turkey quietly he would be forgiven but if he made any trouble, he would disappear.Yilmazlar’s lawyer, Tal Benenson, told IRIN that he had affidavits signed by Yelmaz and Tekin before a Turkish-speaking notary in Israel, admitting that they were only using Yilmazlar to get into Israel and had no intention of staying with the company once in the country.“They have told a pack of lies which they planned beforehand in Turkey with the help of Turkish workers already in Israel and the aim of these lies is to try and justify their fraudulent behaviour.“Our client has laid out a huge sum financially for air tickets and medicals and is now suing Shaheen and Tekin for 200,000 Shekels [about US $46,450] to retrieve these expenses,” he said.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
LILYA 4 EVER
Movie/Pelicula: "LILYA 4 EVER"
Author/Autor: Lukas Moodyson
Synopsis/Sinopsis:Lilja is 16 years old. Her only friend is the young boy Volodja. They live in Estonia, fantasizing about a better life. One day, Lilja falls in love with Andrej. He is going to Sweden, and invites Lilja to come along and start a new life.
Lilja es una adolescente rusa de 16 años, abandonada por su madre, que lleva un vida miserable en una empobrecida ciudad de la antigua Unión Soviética. Rodeada de droga y miseria, la única manera que tiene de poder comer es vendiendo su cuerpo. La esperanza llega el día que conoce al atractivo Andrei, que la promete un vida mejor en Suecia.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkHFc8-DzOU
Author/Autor: Lukas Moodyson
Synopsis/Sinopsis:Lilja is 16 years old. Her only friend is the young boy Volodja. They live in Estonia, fantasizing about a better life. One day, Lilja falls in love with Andrej. He is going to Sweden, and invites Lilja to come along and start a new life.
Lilja es una adolescente rusa de 16 años, abandonada por su madre, que lleva un vida miserable en una empobrecida ciudad de la antigua Unión Soviética. Rodeada de droga y miseria, la única manera que tiene de poder comer es vendiendo su cuerpo. La esperanza llega el día que conoce al atractivo Andrei, que la promete un vida mejor en Suecia.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkHFc8-DzOU
Haaretz Hamuvtachat
Movie/Pelicula: "Promised Land" / "La Tierra Prometida"
Author/Autor: Amos Gitai
Synipsis/Sinopsis: A night in the Sinai desert. A group of men and women keep warm around a camp fire under the moonlight. The women come from Eastern Europe. The men, who normally walk their herds in the area, are Bedouins. Tomorrow, they will secretly cross the border. Tomorrow, Diana and the others will be beaten, raped and auctioned off. They will be passed from one hand to another, merchandised by Anne into Hanna's hostess club, victims of an international network of trafficking women. One night in the club, Diana meets Rose. Their encounter is a sign of hope into the women's descend into hell.
Una noche en el desiero de Sinai. Un grupo de hombres y mujeres se calientan alrededor de un fuego de campamento bajo la luna. Las mujeres vienen de Europa del este. Los hombres son beduinos. Al día siguiente, cruzarán la frontera en secreto, y las mujeres serán golpeadas, violadas y subastadas como mercancía.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy7-mXFJdGE
Author/Autor: Amos Gitai
Synipsis/Sinopsis: A night in the Sinai desert. A group of men and women keep warm around a camp fire under the moonlight. The women come from Eastern Europe. The men, who normally walk their herds in the area, are Bedouins. Tomorrow, they will secretly cross the border. Tomorrow, Diana and the others will be beaten, raped and auctioned off. They will be passed from one hand to another, merchandised by Anne into Hanna's hostess club, victims of an international network of trafficking women. One night in the club, Diana meets Rose. Their encounter is a sign of hope into the women's descend into hell.
Una noche en el desiero de Sinai. Un grupo de hombres y mujeres se calientan alrededor de un fuego de campamento bajo la luna. Las mujeres vienen de Europa del este. Los hombres son beduinos. Al día siguiente, cruzarán la frontera en secreto, y las mujeres serán golpeadas, violadas y subastadas como mercancía.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy7-mXFJdGE
Eize makom nifla
Movie/Pelicula: "WHAT A WONDERFUL PLACE"
Author/Autor: Eyal Halfon
Synopsis/Sinopsis: Franco, an ex- policeman, who became an agent for a violent gangster, rediscovers himself with the help of Jana, a prostitute from Ukraine. Zeltzer, a melancholic farmer follows the tracks of Jana's photograph only to find out that the only person he can trust is one of his Thai workers, Visit. Aloni, A tough ranger, persecutes the Thai workers for illegal hunting as he finds himself preoccupied with his handicap father. The only one who can assist the ranger is Eddie, a Filipino caretaker. Eddie is addicted to gambling and becomes involved with the the Boss, the violent gangster from the first story. All the characters eventually reach the same point in the desert - for different reasons, and one dramatic resolution.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
A living hell
Thousands of sex slaves bought and sold each year face danger, threats, violence; run-aways dealt with quickly: one home in Moldavia firebombed; Tel Aviv exhibit explores 'women as chattel'
By Miri Chason
Published: 03.18.05, 09:18 / Israel News
TEL AVIV - Several dozen women have successfully escaped the grip of pimps that have turned their lives into a living hell. These women live in a secret shelter in Tel Aviv until they testify against their former pimps, then they are deported to their countries of origin.
Thursday, some of them went public as part of a new exhibition in Tel Aviv's Central Bus Station, sharing the harsh details of their experiences.
The exhibit, called "Over the Road," focuses on the public's approach to women as chattel. It is intended to be a harsh protest against the underground brothels that continue to flourish despite legislation banning them.
Thousands sold each year
The women say the exhibit is primarily intended to reach the customers of their former bosses - the individuals who keep the business rolling along.
Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of women, men and children are sold each year. In Israel, 1,000-3,000 women are sold annually, all for the sex industry.
Volunteers from the Center to Help Foreign Workers and the Clinic for the Fight Against Women Trafficking at Hebrew University have collected many testimonies of women victims of trafficking and documented the way in which they were brought to Israel.
Testimonies Testimonies
K., from Russia, worked on Erlinger Street in Tel Aviv. K., from Russia, worked on Erling Street in Tel Aviv. She says her boss would “fine” his workers “for everything—if I asked to have a shower between customers, if I went out without permission. At first we had enough food, but after a while it they said it was too expensive. We barely had enough soap—and during the dirtiest time of my life.”
N. N. says her pimp used the women for bartering. “If he wanted vegetables from the supermarket, he would 'give' one of the girls to a worker in exchange for the vegetables. He bartered us for food, jewelry and other things.”
Y., from Moldava, says she was forced into sado-masochism. Y., from Moldova, says she was forced into sado-masochism. “Customers would beat us. They had special instruments. They would drip hot wax all over my body and force me to do painful, degrading things. Of course they enjoyed it, they paid extra for it. "
One woman, also from Moldava, said she received no wages for her services. “(My boss) told me he bought me for 50,000 shekels, and that I had to 'return' the money (by working for free) before I could start to earn wages. They also made me pay 50 shekels a day for food and condoms "
Locked Door Locked Door
N., from Ukraine, worked on Peretz Street in Tel Aviv, explains why women do not run away. “We all dreamt of escaping, but they even managed to steal the dream from us after someone did leave. A week after she disappeared, her family's home was firebombed in Moldova. "
She says they were given one rest day per month: the first day of their period. “The first day we could take off. The rest of the time I was having my period, I had to use a diaphragm to prevent bleeding. But I had to continue taking customers.”
Nowhere to run Nowhere to run
"We had nowhere to run," says H. from Ukraine. from Ukraine. “The door was always locked, bars on the windows, and there was a closed-circuit TV in each room.
"And even if you managed to get out-where would you go? What would you do? What would you do? Several customers were police officers, and other cops would check our visas and leave. So who would we have turned to for help? So who would we have turned to for help?
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3062297,00.html
Para leer en espanol de click en el link.
By Miri Chason
Published: 03.18.05, 09:18 / Israel News
TEL AVIV - Several dozen women have successfully escaped the grip of pimps that have turned their lives into a living hell. These women live in a secret shelter in Tel Aviv until they testify against their former pimps, then they are deported to their countries of origin.
Thursday, some of them went public as part of a new exhibition in Tel Aviv's Central Bus Station, sharing the harsh details of their experiences.
The exhibit, called "Over the Road," focuses on the public's approach to women as chattel. It is intended to be a harsh protest against the underground brothels that continue to flourish despite legislation banning them.
Thousands sold each year
The women say the exhibit is primarily intended to reach the customers of their former bosses - the individuals who keep the business rolling along.
Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of women, men and children are sold each year. In Israel, 1,000-3,000 women are sold annually, all for the sex industry.
Volunteers from the Center to Help Foreign Workers and the Clinic for the Fight Against Women Trafficking at Hebrew University have collected many testimonies of women victims of trafficking and documented the way in which they were brought to Israel.
Testimonies Testimonies
K., from Russia, worked on Erlinger Street in Tel Aviv. K., from Russia, worked on Erling Street in Tel Aviv. She says her boss would “fine” his workers “for everything—if I asked to have a shower between customers, if I went out without permission. At first we had enough food, but after a while it they said it was too expensive. We barely had enough soap—and during the dirtiest time of my life.”
N. N. says her pimp used the women for bartering. “If he wanted vegetables from the supermarket, he would 'give' one of the girls to a worker in exchange for the vegetables. He bartered us for food, jewelry and other things.”
Y., from Moldava, says she was forced into sado-masochism. Y., from Moldova, says she was forced into sado-masochism. “Customers would beat us. They had special instruments. They would drip hot wax all over my body and force me to do painful, degrading things. Of course they enjoyed it, they paid extra for it. "
One woman, also from Moldava, said she received no wages for her services. “(My boss) told me he bought me for 50,000 shekels, and that I had to 'return' the money (by working for free) before I could start to earn wages. They also made me pay 50 shekels a day for food and condoms "
Locked Door Locked Door
N., from Ukraine, worked on Peretz Street in Tel Aviv, explains why women do not run away. “We all dreamt of escaping, but they even managed to steal the dream from us after someone did leave. A week after she disappeared, her family's home was firebombed in Moldova. "
She says they were given one rest day per month: the first day of their period. “The first day we could take off. The rest of the time I was having my period, I had to use a diaphragm to prevent bleeding. But I had to continue taking customers.”
Nowhere to run Nowhere to run
"We had nowhere to run," says H. from Ukraine. from Ukraine. “The door was always locked, bars on the windows, and there was a closed-circuit TV in each room.
"And even if you managed to get out-where would you go? What would you do? What would you do? Several customers were police officers, and other cops would check our visas and leave. So who would we have turned to for help? So who would we have turned to for help?
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3062297,00.html
Para leer en espanol de click en el link.
Israel's sex trade booming
Human trafficking in Israel rakes in more than USD billion a year, findings in annual parliamentary survey show
By Miri Hasson
Published: 03.23.05, 12:44 / Israel News
TEL AVIV - Thousands of women are being smuggled into Israel, creating a booming sex trade industry that rakes more than USD one billion a year, a parliamentary committee said on Wednesday.
The Parliamentary Inquiry Committee, headed by Knesset member Zehava Galon of the left-wing Yahad party, commissioned the report in an effort to combat the sex trade in Israel. Findings showed that some women are 3.000 and 5.000 smuggler annually to Israel and sold into the prostitution industry, where they
constantly subjected to violence and abuse.
The report, issued annually, said some 10,000 such women currently reside in about 300 to 400 brothels throughout the country. They are traded for about USD 8,000 - USD 10,000, the committee said.
The U.S. State Department ranks Israel in the second tier of human trafficking around the world, saying the Jewish State does not maintain minimal conditions regarding the issue but is working to improve them.
Israel passed a law in 2003 that would allow the state to confiscate the profits of traffickers, but watchdog groups say it is rarely enforced.
Most foreign prostitutes in Israel come from Ukraine, Moldova, Uzbekistan and Russia and many are smuggled in across the Egyptian border.
The committee found that the women work seven days a week for up to 18 hours every day and that out of the NIS 120 paid by customers, they are left with just NIS 20, while the rest of the money is passed on to their traders.
The prostitutes face constant threats of abuse and murder, the report said, and Israeli law does little to help them. Delays in trial dates and prolonged hearings force the women to remain exposed to violence for more than a year until they are called in to provide testimony, and courts rarely collect early testimonies, as permitted by law.
To help combat the problem, the committee recommended that the state prosecutor's office refrain from making plea bargains with sex traders. It also advised to raise the threshold of punitive measures and pushed for financial compensation for sex trade victims.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3060127,00.html
Para leer en espanol de click en el link.
By Miri Hasson
Published: 03.23.05, 12:44 / Israel News
TEL AVIV - Thousands of women are being smuggled into Israel, creating a booming sex trade industry that rakes more than USD one billion a year, a parliamentary committee said on Wednesday.
The Parliamentary Inquiry Committee, headed by Knesset member Zehava Galon of the left-wing Yahad party, commissioned the report in an effort to combat the sex trade in Israel. Findings showed that some women are 3.000 and 5.000 smuggler annually to Israel and sold into the prostitution industry, where they
constantly subjected to violence and abuse.
The report, issued annually, said some 10,000 such women currently reside in about 300 to 400 brothels throughout the country. They are traded for about USD 8,000 - USD 10,000, the committee said.
The U.S. State Department ranks Israel in the second tier of human trafficking around the world, saying the Jewish State does not maintain minimal conditions regarding the issue but is working to improve them.
Israel passed a law in 2003 that would allow the state to confiscate the profits of traffickers, but watchdog groups say it is rarely enforced.
Most foreign prostitutes in Israel come from Ukraine, Moldova, Uzbekistan and Russia and many are smuggled in across the Egyptian border.
The committee found that the women work seven days a week for up to 18 hours every day and that out of the NIS 120 paid by customers, they are left with just NIS 20, while the rest of the money is passed on to their traders.
The prostitutes face constant threats of abuse and murder, the report said, and Israeli law does little to help them. Delays in trial dates and prolonged hearings force the women to remain exposed to violence for more than a year until they are called in to provide testimony, and courts rarely collect early testimonies, as permitted by law.
To help combat the problem, the committee recommended that the state prosecutor's office refrain from making plea bargains with sex traders. It also advised to raise the threshold of punitive measures and pushed for financial compensation for sex trade victims.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3060127,00.html
Para leer en espanol de click en el link.
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