Hi ,
We are happy to present you with the newsletter for the month of March, in which you will find an unprecedented position paper outlining a practical proposal for an Israeli version of a long weekend. Furthermore, we have included a humorous clip in "honor" of Israeli Apartheid Week; select video clips from the book-launching event in honor of a new book by our Institute's chair, Dr. Yoaz Hendel; as well as updates concerning the Institute's latest activities.
Enjoy!
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Launching event for the book In an Unsown Land
The Institute's chair, Dr. Yoaz Hendel, launched his new book – In an Unsown Land – in a special launching event which took place at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center.
The event opened with speeches given by the State President, The Honorable Reuven Rivlin; former Minister, Gideon Sa'ar, CEO of the Yedioth Books publishing house, Dovi Eichenwald, and the director of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center, Hertzi Makov. |
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Following this, a panel titled "Breaking the silence in the Right - what is the political vision of the Centre-Right in Israel?" was held, in which the following people partook: former chair of the Yesha Council, Dani Danon, and the journalists Ben-Dror Yemini, Yifat Ehrlich and Sefi Ovadia. |
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The Israeli Hamshoosh: A practical layout to the Israeli version of a long weekend
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A year or so ago we decided to try and assist in promoting a new initiative whereby Sunday would be declared an additional day of rest. However, soon enough we understood it was not feasible – not in the near future, nor ever. And why was this so?
For numerous reasons - all of which can be found in the new position paper recently published by the team of the Golden Mean Project for the Regulation of Nation, Religion and State ties.
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But what can be done to create a longer weekend nonetheless? For starters, Friday can be turned into a real day of rest. This can be achieved by reforming the current school week schedule: turning it into a five-day week, with longer study days, rather than the current six.
One can also think out of the box. For example, imagine if more employers and employees cut their Thursdays short by two hours, and made up the hours by extending the other work days, Sunday through Wednesday, by half an hour. Do you have any idea what this might do for your weekend?
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Protesting through touring
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In response to Israeli Apartheid Week, which had begun last month (and is expected to continue for about a month and a half in the form of a traveling circus), we have prepared a little token of our appreciation, in partnership with the Elevator entertainment group ( Hama'alit), for all those who have decided to choose the State of Israel as a tourist destination... |
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The He'Halutz program in action
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This past Tuesday, the members of the He'Halutz program in Rehovot met with Dr. Ronen Shoval, founder of the Im Tirzu ("If you will it") movement and chair of the Academic Council for National Policy, who gave a fascinating talk on Zionism and Israeli society.
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This month we also went on a fascinating tour of the Negev, which included the students of all the programs from the Sapir Academic College, the Ashdod College and the Rehovot College. We started our tour in the R&D Center of the Southern Region, which gets most of its funding from the JNF, and it was there that we were shown the latest agricultural developments currently being worked on.
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After the visit to the center, we enjoyed an educational tour given by Meir Deutsch, of the Regavim NGO, whose mission is to preserve the lands of the Jewish people, Israel's natural resources and landscapes.
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Following this tour, we heard a talk from the chair of the Community Center of the Hura local council, Ali Abu Alkian. We ended the visit with an open discussion with the mayor of Yeruham, Michael Biton, on the challenges facing heads of local councils in the Negev.
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During the course of the previous month the movement prepared numerous educational activities and events: The Morality in Warfare organization (Tohar Haneshek) held various activities for students from the Yavne Group; a lecture was given to students of the Amichai pre-military training program in the northern Negev; and an annual workshop was held by Biglal Ha'Ruach ("For the Sake of the Spirit"), an organization that continues to do wonders through its school activities across the country.
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Even the checkpoint activity evolved around the theme of education this month, when we took young American girls studying at Midreshet Emunah on a checkpoint visit.
The visits to the checkpoints are ever so important because they shed light on a very sensitive topic, often misused in anti-Israeli discourse, in order to paint a false picture of a supposed Apartheid reality in Israel.
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Visiting the checkpoints helped the students gain important hands-on knowledge and equip themselves with significant tools in terms of awareness.
Unfortunately, there are a great many people who represent human rights discourse in black and white terms.
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There are also many who forget that in a reality in which the right to life and personal safety is threatened, the need to control certain freedom of movement is crucial. This may sound like something quite obvious and goes without saying to the Israeli public, but there are those who exploit our very complex reality in an attempt to defame Israel's image around the world.
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In articles published by members of the Institute, a variety of current affairs and matters of public concern have been tackled:
English:
- The Institute's chair, Dr. Yoaz Hendel, comes out against "ignorance of the other", prevalent both in ultra-Orthodox and secular communities (Yedioth Ahronoth).
- Miri Shalem, CEO of the Institute, wonders if the change will come from the charedi politicians? (The Times of Israel).
- Yisrael Harel, founding chair of the Institute, expresses his reservation at a security policy which relies on the building of fences and protected areas (Haaretz).
Hebrew:
- Prof. Avraham Diskin, fellow of the Institute, praises the NGO Transparency Bill and compares it to the current law in the USA (Israel National News).
- Prof. Asher Cohen, attacks those from the political left promoting radical discourse that compares right-wingers to Nazis (nrg).
- Nave Dromi, director of Blue&White Human Rights, reminds us that the citizens of Israel have the right to life and personal safety (Walla!).
- Ariel Finkelstein, director of The Golden Mean Project, critiques the Tax Authority's conduct in the matter of the Kabbalist Rabbis (TheMarker)
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