Vote Labor, Vote Green

     I was lucky enough to have been asked to translate parts of the Labor Party platform (yes they have a platform - which is a lot more than most of the other parties can say), including parts on the environment. In case you are considering voting for the Green Party, the Save-the-Beaches Party, or the Stop-Mistreating-Farm-Animals Party I ask you to please read the Labor Party's environmental platform first.

     

    Here we have a major political party speaking of the desire to re-create Israel's environmental legislation in the spirit of Seattle. While terms like "open-spaces", "green lungs", "walkable cities" and "mixed-use zoning" may just sound trendy in the US, they are so underused in this country that they come off as extremely sincere.

The entire English version platform is available here! But I'll leave you with some quotes from the sustainability section, available here:

"…a healthy environment and environmental justice are cornerstones of the foundation of social justice."

"The Labor Party will advance comprehensive social-environmental legislation which will first and foremost guarantee the rights of all to a healthy and clean environment and will defend the natural resources which belong to the general public."

"…legislation which will allow for the establishment of facilities to produce solar energy panels for the roofs of every building in Israel…"

"The Party will advance formal and informal education that raises the environmental consciousness of the next generation a carbon tax…"

"The Labor Party will work to ensure the welfare of wild animals, pets, and livestock. The Party will work to prevent animal cruelty, harassment, and torture."

-Ilan

Avodah English platform is up!

The English translation of the Labor party platform is online!

http://www.shelly.org.il/node/2011

Go check it out!

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Reading this platform, it's clear to me that the Labor party has taken to heart the demands of the 2011 social justice protests. Here are a few quotes that I was happy to see in the platform: 

"(The Labor party will) promote civil marriage and divorce in Israel and create civil cemeteries accessible to all citizens, while allowing for the possibility of various religious burial ceremonies."

It's time to take control of public Jewish life away from the hands of the Orthodox-only rabbinical court.
 
"(The Labor Party will) decrease inequality between Jewish, Arab, Druze, and Circassian citizens by allocating equal resources for all citizens in health, education, welfare, social services, infrastructure, housing, employment, industrial development, and personal security"

We can't have a society that allows some to prosper and not others. Funding public services for some communities but not others within our borders is racism.

"The Labor Party will work to eradicate racism against olim from Ethiopia which has taken root in parts of Israeli society and is expressed by unequal treatment against Israelis from Ethiopian origin in residential areas, workplaces, schools, and places of recreation. 
The Labor Party will work to implement the Affirmative Action Law in employing Ethiopian olim academics in government ministries, in government companies, and in local authorities.
The Labor Party will work to provide an extensive answer to the difficulties in the absorption of Ethiopian olim and integrating them into Israeli society in the best possible way."

 It is unacceptable that over half of Ethiopian olim to Israel live in poverty.

"The Labor Party sees the Supreme Court as the highest judicial institution in the State of Israel, responsible for maintaining the values of justice, equality, freedom, and the human and civil rights of Israel’s residents.

The Labor Party will work to fortify the institutional status of the Supreme Court and maintain its authority."

Netanyahu feels comfortable defying Supreme Court orders when it suits him to do so:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/13/isarel-evicts-e1-palestinian-peace-camp

Check the whole platform out for yourself!
http://www.shelly.org.il/node/2011

-Dafna 

Why is Daniel voting Labor? Not afraid

I am desperate, not afraid!  

As we get closer to voting day, the day we Israelis have the opportunity and obligation to vote for who we believe should lead Israel and the Jewish people, too many politicians are trying to scare me: whether it's about Iran, Haredim, Arabs, Palestinians, Settlers, Mizrachim, Ashkenazim, education, army … the list is long. But I don’t want to vote because I am scared. I want to vote for a vision, for an alternative to the last four years and an alternative to what seems inevitable—another four years of the deterioration of the Zionist dream. I am tired of politicians trying to scare me into voting for them. I will not vote out of fear. I believe Shelly Yachimovich and the Labor Party are the only alternative to fear.

I may be desperate but I am not afraid, I'm voting Labor because I believe.  

-Daniel, an oleh from Australia 

English Debate in Tel Aviv

Stav Shaffir will be representing the Labor Party in an English-language panel, alongside representatives from Likud Beitenu, HaBayit HaYehudi and HaTnua, tomorrow night (Wednesday, 16th) in Tel Aviv. The panel will focus on issues relating to olim. Registration is free, but limited, so don't miss your chance to sign up and ask the tough questions about the Israeli electoral and democratic processes.

Don't miss out, register now.

For more details visit..

Event page

-Gabe

Stav Shaffir speaks up for democracy

Labor party candidate Stav Shaffir writes about her experience at a debate in Netanya, where candidates from Likud, Kadima, Habayit Hayehudi, and Otzma Leyisrael tried to force Yael Lehrer, the candidate from the Palestinian Balad party, off the stage by yelling and loudly singing Hatikva.

It's already clear which of the parties running for Knesset have racist nationalist ideologies. Now, Stav Shaffir has demonstrated that the Labor party is willing to stand up for democracy and pluralism in Israel.

English language post at the Daily Beast: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/01/11/netanya-s-undemocratic-elections-panel.html

Original facebook post: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151214864946608&set=a.402342761607.177924.508516607&type=1&theater

-Dafna

Why is Nora voting Labor? Real choices in this election

A few days ago I was talking to a friend of mine from ulpan about the elections. When I told her how I was voting, her earnest reply was, "But why not Bennett?" Bennett, is of course Naftali Bennett, the (apparently) unthreatening face of the National Religious Right. His Habayit Hayehudi (The Jewish Home) party has taken this election season by surprise by nabbing votes of disillusioned Likud supporters and moderate youth alike.

A cursory look at the party list shows, for the most part, a compilation of settler rabbis and settler leaders who have vehemently opposed classic threats to the Jewish state such as gay soldiers serving in the IDF (and rights for gay people in general), the Knesset committee for the status of women, and human rights groups. All are DTATWB (down to annex the West Bank). So how has the party earned a reputation for being centrist?

Bennett, whose name in the news is often accompanied by the epithet "charismatic," boasts Californian parentage, sports a clean-shaven face and what some have described as "a very small kippah." He made this innocuous ad targeting English-speaking olim:



In short, he seems relatable. But the fact is that Bennett wants to annex the 60% of the West Bank known as Area C (his plan is to build bridges between Palestinian areas so that Jews don't have to encounter checkpoints) and "believes that, ultimately, the world is busy with the economic collapse of Greece, the United States' fiscal cliff and the slaughter in Syria, and thus it is possible to bring the world to come to terms now with facts on the ground and firm Israeli decisions." (http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/the-success-of-naftali-bennett-is-the-failure-of-the-israeli-center-left.premium-1.490536). His wanton disdain for a sustainable relationship between Israel and Palestine, and cavalier dismissal of the international community should terrify anyone who cares about the future of the Jewish state.

In my encounters with Israelis and other olim, I have, to my surprise and dismay, met many who are deliberating between voting Habayit Hayehudi and Labor. But while Bennett's party represents extreme right views on social and diplomatic issues, Labor's list is one of people who are speaking out against the racism, sexism, and homophobia that are the trademarks of the religious right, and in favor of social and economic equality, and a sustainable, secure relationship with the Palestinians.

-Nora, an olah from the United States

Much work to do, a quarter of Israelis undecided

With eight days to go until the elections, a quarter of Israelis are still undecided, leavening many potential mandates hanging in the balance. Let's work to bring them to the only party that can truly lead this country.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-voters-undecided-support-for-livni-down/

-Gabe