6 | Out in the Mountains |December 2000 ——= feature = CROW’S CAWS by crow cohen N More Reflections on Israel At this time of year, I find it a little difficult to assert my Jewish culture, so I thought I’d bring you more reflections on . Israel—especially since, I’m sure, by the time this article comes out, there will still be a depressing war raging over there. It cheers me up to pass on little—known, information about that tiny country, the size ’ of New Jersey, that is the site of so much turmoil. Consider this article an effort to humanize the country, which, in my opin- ion, is the most efiective way to promote peace. I interviewed a good friend of mine, Lani Ravin, an American feminist who spent. 17 years in Israel, from 1977 to 1995. From 1985 to 1988, she was the coordinator of a femi-. nist woman’s center in Haifa, Isha Z ’Isha (Woman to Woman). She was an architec- ture student at the Technion in Haifa, and read an article in a local newspaper entitled “I0 Percent Lesbians” unfavorably describing the place. (When the reporter had asked the activists running the center, how many were lesbian, they replied, “The same as in the general population—ten per- cent.” In fact the center was 90 percent lesbian.) Lani figured, “If this is described as such a ‘nasty place, it must be great!” so she checked it out. At the time, Lani was hav- ing a hard time landing a job as an architect, because the inter- viewers asked questions such as: Are you married? Do you have any children? If so, how can you work overtime? She‘ knew these questions were ille- gal in the U.S., but what could she do? She was being discrim- inated against because she was married, so she started doing volunteer work at Isha l’Isha. Soon, she was asked to be the coordinator. There, at least, nobody asked if she were mar- ried. “I came to the center want- ing to promote activities that included the mainstream,” she said. “I wasn’t as afraid of the media as a lot of the women involved. I felt I could commu: nicate with a diversity of women. I especially wanted Arab women to be as comfort- able at the center as Jewish women. We’ were bilingual [Arabic/Hebrew], which was completely radical for a woman’s center in a Jewish city.” However, Lani did not shy away from labeling herself a‘ feminist, which was equivalent to coming out as a lesbian. “When I mentioned ‘the f word,’ [feminist] sometimes I thought I’d be physically attacked. Some guy would yell, ‘My wife left me because of your type! Yet Lani said she never felt a lot of pressure from the les- bians she worked with to declare herself one. It was understood that claiming a les- bian identity was often a fluid, unpredictable process. “You didn’t have to take sides. However, if a reporter from the outside asked who was a les- bian, we said we all were, in solidarity, to support the les- bians.” The more strident separatists could be found in the bigger cities I of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, where the move- ment was subject to painful splits between straights .and lesbians. Why,was it different in Haifa? Perhaps because Haifa has a strong socialist his- tory. It was the only large city in Israel where Arabs and Jews lived together in the same neighborhoods. “I wanted to promote coali- tions,” she said. “Heterosexual women were starting to regard their heterosexuality as a choice [rather than a given] because now they had so many role models at the center.” Lani also felt it was a good educa- tion to sometimes allow men to attend events. “All the men who showed up were pretty cowed,” she said. “After all, they were in ‘enemy territory.’ They were very, very polite.” Lani helped launch a some exciting programs. She started a hotline for women who felt they were being discriminated against in their jobs, and "received calls from both Arab "and Jewish women. Isha I ’Is'ha also offered a basic car mechanics class for women offered by a teacher from the voc'€itif3‘ritJal‘i s"cl1°6‘o‘l‘ down’) the block from the center. “A lot of men were disappointed that they couldn’t join the class,” she said, “but we told them they could Ieam these skills all over the country. This was about empowering women.” One of her favorite protests was against a national labor union (the Histradrut), which sponsored a beauty contest in the workplace. “I figured we wouldn’t_ be heard if we were seen as just a bunch of angry, hairy-legged women,” she said, “so we staged a male “beauty contest” of our own as "a counter-demonstration. Here were all these hairy-legged men parading around. The police were relieved it was such a good-natured protest This survey was funded by. Samara Foundation of Vermont - 4 1‘ Mountain Pride Media for filling out our Out In The Mountains Readership Surveyll We gratefully acknowledge the following businesses for their donation of prizes: Urban Travel, Moose Meadow Lodge, Starry Night Cafe, and Sleepy Hollow Ski & Bike Congratulations to our winners! instead of the usual tumult they had to contend with in Israel.” I asked Lani what she thought about the situation over there now. “For the past 10 years, it’s much easier to be a lesbian,” she said. “You can actually find predominately lesbian neighborhoods in Tel Aviv, where women can walk down the street hand in hand.” As a matter of fact, Israel has the most liberal national laws protecting homosexuals in the world. In 1988, the crim- ‘ inal code was amended to no longer prohibit male homosex- ual relations. In 1992, an amendment to the Equality in Employment Law made it ille- gal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in hiring, promotion, dismissal, and other aspects of employment. In 1993, an order from the I Personnel Department of the Israeli Defense forces lifted restrictions on the military ser- vice of lesbians and gay men. And in 1997, an amendment to the law of “Libel and Slander” has forbidden disgracing a per- son based on sex or sexual ori- entation. Granted, these laws are difficult to uphold in a country so influenced by reli- gious fundamentalists, but at least they’re on the books. “Of course it is still a macho :. country,” Lani .said.- .“I .still:.get Isha l ’Isha’s newsletter. They are tackling the issue of female slavery. Ever since the break- down of the Soviet Union, Russian women are being ‘imported’ for Israeli brothels. Unfortunately, Israel is one of this international ring’s biggest ‘customers.’ The other women’s centers haven’t want- ed to touch this scandal. “lt’s hard to put women’s issues on the public agenda, because security is such a pri- ority. At times like these, the Left becomes paralyzed because you can get shot at from both sides. You no longer have Arab partners to work with and vice versa. It’s like being in a bomb shelter. You just wait until it passes. Even though I say bad things about Israel, it’s because I love the place, and I have hope that it can and will change. In the meantime, I just don’t want to shove anything under the car- pet.” 'Cr0wVCohen is a lesbian feminist who lives in Win00skz‘_V ;IZ>?onnaiI§ésc?o‘¢:i ,7 /,~ ": ,l 1,5,1’- 802-453-6677 fax 802-453-6685 dIescoe@together.net PO Box 42 42 Trillium Lane Starksboro, VT 05487 Investment Advisor Representative of, and securities offered through Tower Square Securities, Inc.‘ . 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