Rotem Cohen and Lian Ram have created a powerful short documentary film about the repression of sexual violence in Israeli society. Yulie Cohen wrote this powerful note addressed to Judge Benny Sagi, who granted a gag order protecting the identity of accused rapist, Yoav Even, from being disclosed in the Israeli media:
I turn to you in this personal way because it seems that lately you’ve taken up a case which features a charge of rape. Due to the gag order, very little is known to me. But I have a growing fear that the file might be closed by you without the public having any idea why. I would like to trust that you do fulfill your responsibilities faithfully toward men and women alike. But I’d like to remind you that most of the women who suffer sexual violence do not report it because they know that the likelihood that justice will see the light of day is low.
Please, your honor, in your decisions, call upon the women of Israel to continue to file such complaints and not to fear that a man does not see their pain.
Thanking you in advance,
Yulie (a woman and mother of two young girls)
My friend, Dena Shunra has translated the Hebrew captions for the documentary. If Yulie or someone can add these captions to the video itself it would make a very powerful statement for English-speaking viewers:
Timestamp
text
0:07
1979: CEDAW – Israel ratifies the Convention for the Eradication of Discrimination Against Women, in any form
0:21
1999-2005 Approximately 54,630 calls were made to the help hotlines relating to sex crimes
0:27
Only 33,871 sex crime cases were opened by the police during those years
0:44
Only about 22% of those who contact the help hotlines go on to file a complaint with the police.
0:47
Which indicates a number of attacks which is double that reflected in police data
1:01
1996-2005: 46,790 sex crimes cases were opened by the police.
1:06
Of these, only 6,986 ended up with a conviction.
1:16
This means that only about 15% of the cases opened end up with convictions
1:26
The Israeli justice system convicts about 98% of cases prosecuted
1:32
Thus, nearly 85% of sex crime cases do not come to trial
1:47
Of every ten women hurt – two get to bring their case before a judge
2:01
[Chart] Rape cases in Israel, 1999-2005
Convictions, police complaints, contacts with help hotlines
3:10
At this time, our lips our sealed in solidarity
3:15
With those who cannot shout out the reckless strategy taken by the State with their own cases
3:42
Find us on FaceBook and join us in a silence that speaks volumes.
3:51
Mitpakdot: We Stand Up and Are Counted
Israel as a country is an abysmal failure as is the United States, where I live. In both cases, the only good has been created by people who have resisted the state builders, the power brokers. The United States was founded on the genocide, oppression and occupation of the native indigenous people and their land. The same thing in Israel. In both cases, the leaders have justified that as necessary. Meanwhile both countries are collapsing. This failure to honor rape victims is another example of that. We can only hope that out of the ashes of both of these corrupt countries, something new and beautiful will arise, like the Phoenix
I wonder what country you consider to be a blooming success?
@Tarak Kauff, I’m afraid you’re talking too much in black & white terms. It’s true that ruling elites in any society work hard to preserve the status quo and keep their power. A lot of good comes from resistance to this, but all too often, when resistance turns into political power, it gives rise to a new elite that succumbs to the same failure.
In my opinion, most good in the world is done by people who have creative, constructive, humanistic attitude which can also be called “pro-life”, people who are passionate about helping the development of themselves, their families, communities, societies, but also people who are just happy and radiant. They can be inventors, educators, community organizers, entrepreneurs, thinkers, activists, but also people of more humble professions. The share of these people in the US and Israel is probably not much different than in any other country of the world. What’s crucial is to what degree the society helps or impedes these people in their progress.
Israel has contributed enormously to the development of technology. What’s less known, for example, is that Israelis (along with the Americans) are the major pioneers democratic education (http://www.democratic.co.il/en/). There are a couple of dozen democratic schools all over Israel that actively encourage everyone to express their uniqueness, promote non-violence, social activism, interactions between people, their communities and their ecosystem.
@Shai, the most successful countries in the world are, in my opinion, the smaller nations of Northern and Western Europe, especially the Scandinavians. While it can be argued that Holland and Belgium profited enormously from their colonies in the past, the Scandinavians (Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Icelanders, and Finns) are truly remarkable in that they have managed to build societies with most social justice, most equality for men and women, most well-being for children, etc.