Archive | 2010 | March | 25

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‘Hagar & Miriam’ opens center to assist African women living illegally in Israel with birthing process

A new project by the Topaz organization and Brit Olam will assist female African refugees and migrant workers in giving birth to children in Israel.

Almost 20% of the African refugee, migrant worker, and asylum seeker population in Israel are women, mainly between the ages of 15-35. Many of these women arrive pregnant, some following rape they underwent on the way to Israel, and many others become pregnant in Israel.

At the ‘Hagar & Miriam’ center (Photo: Alex Livak)

Around 200 babies are born to these women each year, but because the mothers are not eligible for welfare or health services the births are often difficult. The language barrier and distance from home also contribute to the mothers’ difficulties.

The project, ‘Hagar & Miriam – African Israeli Women in Friendship and Motherhood’, aims to support and accompany the women throughout the pregnancy and birth.

V, a 23-year old Eritrean migrant and new mother to a three-month old baby, says she came to Israel illegally.

“It’s hard for me to say if all women feel comfortable with the things they teach at ‘Hagar & Miriam’, but I know that they are important – how to prevent diseases, birth control, hygiene lessons – all of these are things I didn’t know about where I came from,” she says.

Assistance with birth and beyond (Photo: Alex Livak)

But the activists working for the project stress that ‘Hagar & Miriam’ is not a medical center. “It is a support and assistance organization for the pregnancy and after it, providing explanations about birth and breastfeeding, explanations about prevention of pregnancy, and empowerment workshops,” says Debbie Harden, an obstetric nurse by profession who is responsible for the project’s medical side.

Harden says the organization cooperates with doctors, social workers, and psychologists who donate their time to help the women. “We mainly guide them,” she says, and adds that it was founded due to Israel’s lack of policy when it comes to illegal migrants and refugees.

A number of celebrities have also contributed to the organization, among them musician Ofer Eini, whose band produced a music video for its benefit.

“We took well-known faces and filmed them in situations from the lives of the refugees, in order to replace the ‘faceless’ we don’t notice on a daily basis,” Eini said, adding that all proceeds from the clip will go to ‘Hagar & Miriam’.

“I just want to say thanks,” says V, who does not know Hebrew and speaks little English. “I can’t know where I would be today without ‘Hagar & Miriam’. I tell as many women as possible to come to the center because it really helps.”

* The ‘Hagar and Miriam’ organization requires volunteers who can donate some of their time to accompany the women to visits and volunteer for other activities. Baby products, new or used, are also needed. For additional details: Avital Banai, 050-209-9968.

Source: Ynetnews

In response to court regarding petition of couple Itai Pinkas, Yoav Arad to allow them parenthood via surrogacy, State also notes time may have come to rethink concept of family

The State Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday submitted its response to the High Court regarding the petition of gay couple Itai Pinkas and Yoav Arad to allow them to have a child according to the surrogacy law. While it expressed its opposition, it also made some surprising observations.

The State claimed that permitting the request would have far-reaching implications, and that the most suitable body for deciding such an issue is the Knesset, and not the High Court.

“The honorable court is reaching beyond the already dramatic step of repealing a law or a clause within a law, and actually legislating, adding text to the law, which is the task of legislators and not of the court,” the State wrote.

“Permitting this request means significant social change which we must be aware of, in two areas, both of which are complex: direct (or deepened) recognition of single-sex family units, and significant broadening of the surrogacy arrangement.”

In addition, since these implications are so significant, the State said “they extend beyond the legal aspect and have various philosophical, ethical, moral, educational and social aspects, and the most suitable body for addressing these issues is the Knesset.”

However, the State also noted that the time may have come to reexamine the significance of the concept of family unit: “The social and cultural changes, technological developments, the separation between biological parenthood and social parenthood – all these things undermine basic premises that reigned supreme in the conception of family and present a social, moral and even legal challenge before us all.”

The couple petitioned the court last month to instruct the State to permit them to become parents via surrogacy. They noted they had all relevant medical authorizations, yet the committee refused to recognize them because the surrogacy law determines that parents are “man and wife.” They claim there is no essential reason not to interpret the law as applicable also to “man and man.

Source: Ynetnews.com

Beaufort (Cedar, 2007) – A war movie without enemy and full of psychological thrill, depicting the lives of common Israeli youth in a military outpost in Lebanon

Guest Speaker: Yaniv Rivlin – Sauvé Scholar from Israel (born during the first Lebanon war and fought in the second)

The 2010 Israeli Film Festival is organized by Hillel Montreal and Hillel McGill, and is honored to have the guidance of Prof. Lea Fima, Chaim Maizel Lecturer in Hebrew Studies, Department of Jewish Studies, McGill University and an expert in Israeli Cinema.

James’ Journey to Jerusalem (Alexandrowicz, 2003) – A comedy about an African pilgrim who ends up in forced labor and is corrupted by Israel

The 2010 Israeli Film Festival is organized by Hillel Montreal and Hillel McGill, and is honored to have the guidance of Prof. Lea Fima, Chaim Maizel Lecturer in Hebrew Studies, Department of Jewish Studies, McGill University and an expert in Israeli Cinema.

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