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| Israelis with disabilities protest in Jerusalem |
That happened on Thursday when Haaretz revealed that a coalition of 30 advocacy groups representing people with disabilities submitted a report to the UN committee overseeing compliance with the International Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.
They did so to mark the International Day of People with Disabilities.
Israel signed that Convention in 2007 and ratified it in 2012. Its Ministry of Justice recently submitted an official report to that same committee which these organizations deemed "very partial and lacking".
According to this "alternative" report, Israel is blatantly violating several clauses in that Convention while only minimally implementing others.
It cites huge/major gaps between the convention and the status quo by providing an updated, detailed picture of the rights of people with disabilities in Israel in multiple realms including equality, access to justice, health, employment and respect for privacy. It noted the absence of a comprehensive program to reduce those gaps.
According to this "alternative" report, Israel is blatantly violating several clauses in that Convention while only minimally implementing others.
It cites huge/major gaps between the convention and the status quo by providing an updated, detailed picture of the rights of people with disabilities in Israel in multiple realms including equality, access to justice, health, employment and respect for privacy. It noted the absence of a comprehensive program to reduce those gaps.
"The State of Israel... has yet to absorb/assimilate the principles of the treaty and doesn't see it as a "compass" intended to guide its relationship, its laws, its policies and its actions toward people with disabilities neither in the legislative realm nor in the practical realm", write the authors of the alternative report, which has received limited attention.
According to Edith Saragusti, director of monitoring and policy implementation at Bizchut, Odelia Fitoussi (chosen this week to serve on the UN committee overseeing the implementation of the treaty) and social activist Yoav Kraim, notwithstanding significant changes in the last three decades, people with disabilities still do not fully and equally enjoy human rights and basic liberties as required by the Convention. They continue to suffer from discrimination, exclusion and denial of rights.
The two reports describe two different worlds.
Clause 19 of the treaty, for instance, determines that every person with disabilities has the right to live independently in the community "with choices equal to others " and with the support and assistance needed.
While the official report quotes Israeli legislation without reference to segregated residences which the convention opposes or to the number of people living in them, the "alternative" report determines that in fact Israel "violates the right to independent living within the community" and notes that the section dealing with "in-community living and the personal aid package" in the Law on Equal Rights for People with Disabilities has to date not been legislated due to governmental opposition.
While the official report quotes Israeli legislation without reference to segregated residences which the convention opposes or to the number of people living in them, the "alternative" report determines that in fact Israel "violates the right to independent living within the community" and notes that the section dealing with "in-community living and the personal aid package" in the Law on Equal Rights for People with Disabilities has to date not been legislated due to governmental opposition.
"Nearly 20,000 people with disabilities still live in institutions, without the ability to make basic choices such as roommates, when to go to sleep or what to eat. And that's without getting into the widespread abuse, neglect and violence toward people with disabilities in some of the institutions," says Saragusti.
While this report is undoubtedly a step in the right direction, Doron Almog is still doggedly pursuing the entrenchment of that very institutionalization which the Convention decries.
Toward that end, he posted the following news on his new, revamped ADI Facebook page:
"Last week, Israel and Taiwan signed an historic Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Volunteering, the first step in creating a strong and mutually beneficial framework for volunteerism between the two countries... Major General (Res.) Doron Almog, Chairman of ADI Negev - Nahalat Eran, attended the special ceremony in Tel Aviv as the guest of honor, pledging the rehabilitative village’s full cooperation and support in pushing this wonderful initiative forward..."
Please note: This sort of volunteerism is maligned and discouraged in most other developed countries where institutionalization is recognized as the evil it truly is.
A propos Doron Almog and his mushrooming enterprise, ADI, the mysterious chaos there seems to be intensifying. The strange posts on the Aleh Facebook page about which I wondered in earlier posts have vanished - as has the entire Facebook page!
Please note: This sort of volunteerism is maligned and discouraged in most other developed countries where institutionalization is recognized as the evil it truly is.
A propos Doron Almog and his mushrooming enterprise, ADI, the mysterious chaos there seems to be intensifying. The strange posts on the Aleh Facebook page about which I wondered in earlier posts have vanished - as has the entire Facebook page!
If you have any information about the Aleh vs ADI confrontation please share it with me. The suspense is becoming unbearable!
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