July August Law: Webinar on the Next Round in the Fight for Democracy

On Thursday, July 20th 2023, Zulat Institute conducted a webinar called “July August Law: Webinar on the next round in the fight for democracy,” discussing the topic of the fight, in which members of Zulat’s Steering Committee participated. The webinar was hosted by former MK and journalist Daniel Ben Simon, a Zulat Steering Committee member.

Zulat President Zehava Galon opened and said: “The coalition has a different vision from us. They promote Jewish supremacy regime, work towards annexation, and deprive women of their rights. We cannot compromise democracy”.

Here is an overview of the key points raised by the participants during the discussion:

Dr. Meital Pinto: “Restricting the usage of reasonableness standard opens the possibility to intervene in the appointments. It paves the way to remove the legal advisor from her duty and cancel the assembly of the Judicial Selection Committee. Now is the time to escalate the protest and continue pushing forward with determination. I do not support violent actions; however, civilians should disobey wherever they can. Until now, all the delays and setbacks we have achieved are due to our active protest and persistence. The Israeli public has woken up; dividing our country into Israel and Judah is not what I hope for. Despite the profound rifts, I would still prefer to remain in the Israel I am familiar with. Finding common ground deserves more of our effort. Although quite challenging, it is not entirely beyond reach”.

Prof. Adam Shenar: “The amendment to the bill, restricting the usage of reasonableness, approved by Law and Justice Committee, protecting the Prime Minister and the Ministers from judicial review, is very extreme. The protesters are highly perspective regarding what lies ahead. They are keenly aware that the change will occur in small increments, taking one step at a time. [MK Simcha] Rothman and [Minister of Justice MK Yariv] Levin (Likud) said this is only the beginning, and we have all the reasons to believe they will continue.”

Dr. Maha Sabbah Karkabi: “Arab leaders are conscious of the grave repercussions their society may face. However, they perceive the protest as being driven primarily by Jewish Liberals. Nevertheless, the protest will challenge the balance on multiple fronts, presenting a potentially historic opportunity for action, which Arab communities are acutely aware of.”

Alon Pinkas, former Consul General of Israel in New York: “We have an army which is the People’s Army, and it is genuinely a melting pot. Unlike other protest movements, our protest has a direct connection to maintaining the GDP and national security; the socioeconomic military profile of the protesters is closely intertwined with the existence of the Israeli country. We all did our military service.”

(Translation from Hebrew: Moran Yellin)

Watch (Hebrew, no subtitles):

 

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Dr. Maha Sabbah Karkabi

 

Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Tel Aviv University (2015), a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Gender Studies, SOAS, University of London (2015-2016), a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Sociology at Tel Aviv University (2016-2017), and a postdoctoral fellowship Ph.D. at the Humphrey Institute for Social Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (2018-2020).
Dr. Maha Karbahi’s areas of interest focus on the connection between social change, family behavior, and gender inequality in societies in the process of change and specifically in Palestinian Arab society in Israel. Her research draws attention to the study of family life and employment, using a combined “ethnic lens” and “gender lens” and paying attention to the perspective of Palestinian Arab women, a group characterized by intersections between multiple marginal locations, which over the years has remained hidden from the research eye. Dr. Karkabi-Sabah’s research is published in professional journals and chapters in scientific books that are considered pioneers in family research, work, and gender equality.

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Prof. Frances Raday

Professor Emeritus in the Lieberman Chair in Labor Law, in the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University and serves as a full professor in the College of Management’s academic track, where she also serves as chair of the graduate program and as honorary president of the Concord Center for International Law Absorption. Radai was a member of a working group of the UN Human Rights Council on discrimination against women. In addition, she is a prominent and feminist human rights activist.

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Dr. Rawia Aburabia 

Faculty member of Sapir Academic College’s School of Law, received her PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research deals with the interface between law, gender, minorities, and human rights. Has published in leading journals on the subject of the matrimonial laws pertaining to Muslim women in Israel. Her book Under the Law, Outside Justice: Polygamy, Gendered Citizenship, and Colonialism in Israeli Law is expected to be published as part of the Gender Series of Kibbutz Meuhad Publishing House.

Dr. Aburabia has extensive experience in international human rights and public law. She has worked as a jurist for the Association for Civil Right and has been invited as a specialist to address such international forums as the United Nations and the European Parliament on the subject of indigenous communities and minority rights. She has interned with Human Rights Watch in Washington DC, and has been a member of the executive board of Amnesty International. In 2018, she was selected by the magazine Globes as one of the 40 most promising young persons in Israel under the age of 40.

 

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Ron Kessler

With over two decades of experience in the field of digital content, Ron has participated in numerous political and social campaigns. He helped run the digital activity of senior public officials, and worked in various NGOs. Ron is a fundamentally optimistic man, who believes that Israel can be changed and so can people. Lives in Tel Aviv.