NCJW Israel Program Report, October 2008
In this edition:
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Message from Shari Eshet
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The Jerusalem Shelter for Battered Women
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Update on Action Alerts: NCJW Sends Two Israel-Related Action Alerts in September
Message from Shari Eshet
Dear Friends,
This past summer marked the second anniversary of the 2006 war with Lebanon. One of the most significant developments arising from that war was the reawakening of Israel's civil society and its commitment to the country and its citizens. As Israelis we tend to be critical of one another and jaded in our reactions to events. The definition of a true sabra -- hard on the outside and yet soft on the inside -- is one with much wisdom to it. The
outpouring of generosity and mutual help has inspired a new civil awakening, and in the aftermath of that war and the breakdown of the social safety net usually provided by the government, Israeli grassroots organizations have strengthened and flourished. With NCJW's help through its 2008 Israel Granting Program, we have empowered 16 organizations to correct injustices and establish new norms for children and women in Israel.
One of those organizations is the Jerusalem Shelter for Battered Women, which NCJW Dallas (TX) Section President Cheryl Pollman visited recently (see her report below). Each woman who comes to the shelter brings a unique and often complicated story; I want to tell you about Attala, who came to the shelter a broken woman and walked out with her head held high.
Also noted here are two of the most recent action alert issues: gender-segregated buses in Israel and the plight of Africanrefuges from Sudan and Darfur. Both issues are being carefully monitored by the NCJW Israel office.
As we move from late summer into the New Jewish Year, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a most happy and successful year.
Shana Tova,
Shari Eshet
Director of NCJW's Israel Office
The Jerusalem Shelter for Battered Women
Attala was born near Gondar, Ethiopia, 35 years ago, one of five children. She was nine years old when her family announced that she was to be married, and she ran away from home to her grandmother, who managed to get the family to agree to postpone the marriage for at least a while. Attala wanted to study and was encouraged to do so by her grandmother, who raised her until she became 15, when the marriage could no longer be put off.
After the brief wedding ceremony, Attala's new husband and his family allowed her to continue her studies even after the marriage. Attala attests that her husband kept his promise and behaved reasonably toward her throughout their life in Ethiopia, where their eldest son was born. When the family made Aliyah to Israel, however, Attala?s life changed. Five daughters were born in quick succession. Attala's husband could not learn Hebrew,
could not hold down a job, and took out his frustrations on Attala and the children. He became violent, controlling, and oppressive.
When Attala came to the Jerusalem Shelter, she had made up her mind to divorce her husband and make a new life for herself. With the help of one of our volunteers, she improved her spoken Hebrew, moved into a halfway house apartment, and completed a special course for kindergarten teacher aides offered to immigrants from Ethiopia. Today she lives independently and works diligently at a child daycare center, supplementing her salary with cleaning jobs. She is involved in her children's studies and sensitive to their needs, living a life that is far from easy but rich in the independence and gratification it has brought her. Cheryl Pollman, president of the NCJW Dallas (TX) Section, recently sent a firsthand report on the shelter to her
board after a visit there. She told them in part:
"The shelter takes in all kinds of women -- Israeli, Arab,
foreign workers, etc. One thing they have in common is that the
communities they come from are generally not supportive of women
who leave their husbands, for whatever reason, including
violence, and they must re-build their lives without that
support. Most have several children, and the children lose their
connection with their extended families as well. They really
have no place to return to when they leave the shelter....The
women in the program are typically very poor. They come from
orthodox Jewish, secular, Muslim and other various backgrounds,
but at the shelter they put those differences behind them and
pull together to start rebuilding their lives.""I feel very good about our choice to support this project, and
I hope we will continue to be supportive."
NCJW is proud to recognize donors of $2,500 and above to its Israel Granting Program. For more information about partnership opportunities, please contact Alzenia Deverteuil.
Update on Action Alerts: NCJW Sends Two Israel-Related Action
Alerts in September
NCJW members have sent 900 appeals to the Israeli Minister of Transportation regarding gender segregation on public buses, urging that the government abide by its responsibility to assure safe public transportation for all. The matter recently moved to the Advisory Committee on Gender-Segregated Buses of the Ministry of Transportation. NCJW renewed its plea, conveying "our urgent request that the government of Israel act in a manner to preserve the ability of all women to travel freely in
Israel without restriction, as first class citizens of a democracy should be able to do."
NCJW also wrote to the Israeli government objecting to the "hot return" procedure, whereby refugees who enter the country through Egypt are immediately deported. In a message to Tzippi Livni, Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs, NCJW urged the government to protect refugees and asylum seekers after Israel's High Court of Justice this month rejected a petition for a temporary injunction to stop the practice. (At this writing
Livni is attempting to form the next government of Israel after winning the election to lead the Kadima party.)
As always, we continue to monitor theses issues through the NCJW Israel Office. Last week, Sammie Moshenberg, director of Washington operations, had an opportunity to meet Dahlia Itzik, Israel's speaker of the Knesset, at a reception hosted by Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House. Itzik thanked NCJW for all the work we do in Israel for women and children.