NCJW Israel Program Report August 2010
In this edition:
- Message from Shari Eshet
- Jewel Bellush Israel Feminist Award 2010
- New Head of the NCJW Women’s Studies Forum
- NOW President Terry O’Neill Visits Israel
- Anat Hoffman arrested at the Western Wall
- Save the Date: NCJW’s 45th National Convention
Dear Friends,
As summer draws to an end, I wanted to update you on some of the NCJW Israel-related events that have taken place this summer — especially the Israel Benefit Luncheon that took place on June 10, 2010 at the Harmonie Club in New York City. As director of the NCJW Israel office, I was delighted to be present when NCJW honored philanthropist, advocate, and dedicated volunteer Jan Schneiderman, who served as NCJW’s president from 1999 to 2002 and was the first chair of the NCJW Yad B’ Yad program. The 2010 Israel Benefit Luncheon also celebrated NCJW’s pioneering Israel Program and the continuing partnership of NCJW and US/Israel Women to Women (W2W). Together, we are creating progressive social change in the lives of Israel’s women, children, and families. With over 140 people in attendance, we exceeded our fundraising goals for 2010, and once again NCJW members and donors reaffirmed their commitment to Israel and its people. And as Shirley Katzir, executive director of the EDEN Hostel for Girls, an IGP grantee, spoke of the need to support young girl victims of domestic violence, there was not a dry eye in the audience.
Israeli feminists, including Irit Rosenblum, founder of New Family; Anat Hoffman, founding member of Women of the Wall; and Dr. Daphne Hacker, new head of the NCJW Women’s Forum have also been busy this summer and NCJW has been busy supporting their efforts. I invite you to read on about their activities as well.
And after you read these other updates, please take a moment to share this Israel Program Report with friends and family who may also be interested in receiving news from Israel.
With Rosh Hashanah coming early this year, I would like to take this opportunity to wish us all a year of true peace and calm for the State of Israel, its people, and its neighbors.
Shana tova,
Shari Eshet
Director, NCJW Israel Office
Jewel Bellush Israel Feminist Award 2010
More than ten years ago, Barbara Dobkin, an outstanding feminist and defender of Israel’s women’s rights, established the Jewel Bellush Israeli Feminist Award in honor of Jewel Bellush, a founder of US/Israel Women to Women. This year’s award was presented to Irit Rosenblum in honor of her leadership and her unique contribution to women’s equality by breaking new ground in defense of every woman’s right to establish a family and in securing equality for all families. In the belief that equality within the family is a precondition of true equality in society, Rosenblum pioneered a new focus on women’s human and civil rights in the family. Recognizing the need for an organization dedicated to family rights that would provide women of all faiths, nationalities, and sexual orientations with information, legal tools, and a voice to advocate with policy makers, Rosenblum founded New Family in 1998. She set out to break down women’s barriers to equality and put human rights in the family on the agenda. In two decades of trailblazing work, she reformed the legal establishment to accommodate global changes in the structure of the family, including the emergence of women-headed, interfaith, common-law, and same-sex families. Her many accomplishments and personal qualities made her the ideal candidate to receive this year’s Jewel Bellush Israeli Feminist Award. We at NCJW wish her continued success in her work to advance Israel’s women and new families.
New Head of the NCJW Women’s Studies Forum
Every two years, a new volunteer head of the NCJW Women Studies Forum at Tel Aviv University is appointed. It is a delight to welcome Dr. Daphna Hacker to this position. Many of us remember Daphna as a young woman just out of the Israeli army who spoke in Detroit at our 1996 National Convention. Daphna went on to receive her LLB from Hebrew University and her LLM (magna cum laude) from American University Washington College of Law. She received her PhD (also magna cum laude) from Tel Aviv University (TAU). Today Daphna teaches in both the NCJW Women and Gender Studies Program and the Faculty of Law at TAU, as well as serving as the head of the NCJW Women and Gender Studies Forum. Daphna received the NCJW/DeRoy Testamentary Award for Excellence in Education in 2003. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Professor Amy Singer, who is the outgoing head of the forum, and wish her well. In that role, Amy kept the spirit of volunteerism and feminism alive and well on the TAU campus.
NOW President Terry O’Neill Visits Israel
A few weeks ago, I was invited to attend a small meeting in Tel Aviv with Terry O’Neill, president of NOW (the National Organization for Women). Invited to Israel as a guest of the American Embassy’s cultural department, the meeting was organized by WePower — the Organization for the Advancement of Women’s Leadership in Israel. While Israeli women marveled at the achievements of NOW in the United States, O’Neill was amazed and excited to hear of the successes of Israeli women’s achievements in getting the Knesset to endorse CEDAW and UN Resolution 1325, which requires all conflict resolution committees to have women represented at the table. As O’Neill was quick to note, these are two actions that the US Congress has still not taken. O’Neill praised the work of NCJW and NOW who join in coalition in the US on issues such as reproductive rights and judicial nominations.
Anat Hoffman arrested at the Western Wall
Once again, our friend, our sister, our colleague Anat Hoffman, executive director of IRAC in Israel and founding member of Women of the Wall (WOW), has been arrested in Israel, this time for carrying a Torah Scroll to the Wall. As a result of this and other arrests of WOW members, as well as violent confrontations at the Wall — the holiest site in Judaism— the Knesset held an open session on pluralistic prayer at the Wall that would allow all streams of Judaism to pray as they see fit, without interference from the Orthodox establishment. Clearly, advocacy on the part of the women themselves and supporters such as NCJW has brought this issue to the forefront and it is finally the subject of democratic debate in the Israeli Knesset. We urge all of you who may be meeting with Israeli leaders and lawmakers in any forum, to please bring this issue up. Our voices are being heard. Read more in NCJW’s press release and a special guest column on the NCJW Insider blog.
Save the Date: NCJW’s 45th National Convention
NCJW’s 45th National Convention takes place on March 3-5, 2011, and will feature a strong program of events connected by the theme “Our Collective Strength: Powerful Action, Progressive Change.” Highlights include an international program and dinner, as well as the presentation of NCJW’s Faith and Humanity Award to Hannah Rosenthal, special envoy to monitor and combat anti-semitism for the US Department of State. Learn more about Convention and save the date to join NCJW in Dallas next March.