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Zulat Wages a Battle Against Initiatives Aimed at Harming Democracy

>> Read all messages from Zehava Galon

This week marks the end of the Knesset’s summer session amid the ultra-Orthodox parties’ withdrawal from the government, the rekindled fighting in Syria, the enduring killing/destruction/starvation in Gaza, and the condemnation to certain death of hostages and soldiers. The government continued to pursue the regime revolution, the efforts to oust the Attorney General, the appointment of a “friendly” Shin Bet chief, the onslaught on the free press, the suppression of protests, the de-facto annexation in the territories, and the deepening discrimination and racism against Israel’s Arab citizens. The Prime Minister hopes this will become the last session where the Knesset functions as the parliament of a democratic state. He wants it to remain standing, but mainly as an empty facade.

Zulat waged a rearguard battle against initiatives and laws aimed at harming democracy. Our intensive work, led by our executive director Einat Ovadia and our excellent team, reached new peaks. We managed to block some of these initiatives, while some others we only succeeded to delay or slow down. However, delaying and slowing down are just as critical because the strategy of the architects of the regime revolution is clear: they want to get to the next elections in a way that will allow them to engineer their outcome. These elections won’t be free, equal, or democratic.

Over the past year, we submitted four petitions to the Supreme Court, some of which are still pending, while others led to substantial changes that forced the authorities to face the public and provide answers. We participated in dozens of Knesset committee discussions, provided drafted legal opinions and position papers for opposition MKs, who were also briefed by our various experts. We held webinars and conferences and increased public involvement in the what’s happening through social media and the broad network of supporters we’ve built.

Israel has never had a government so disconnected from the public. At a time when dark forces threaten our democracy and our rights, your support for those who are not afraid to speak the truth will allow us to better organize and bolster our struggles, so that we can go on fighting the danger at our doorstep. Your support is a declaration of hope for change, a striving for equality, and a commitment to protecting human rights and democracy.

Yours,

Zehava Galon

President of Zulat

 

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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.