Institutions and abuse - but the funding goes on

Image Source: United Nations

We have learned of yet another instance of abuse against a person with disabilities living in an institution. Once again, it has received no media coverage and laconic police attention. 

The victim's mother reported to the police that upon visiting her son the day after the alleged attack, he had a broken elbow, blue marks, and hemorrhaging on his face and in his eye. The employee "simply beat him up with blows".  

It is truly incomprehensible that Israel remains stuck in its backward attitudes toward institutionalization. Doling out mass cash gifts, for instance, to institutions as it just did several weeks ago. And it did so despite the outcry of Bizchut, the Israeli organization dedicated to defending the human rights of people with disabilities.

In its end-of-year report, Bizchut summarized [see my unofficial translation into English that follows] that now infamous cabinet meeting which authorized the handover of millions of shekels to ADI Negev, the large, closed and isolated institution founded and headed by Major General (Res.) Doron Almog - the darling of Israel's elite and powerful. 

No to Funding for Institutions!

Our first initiative relates to Adi Negev, an institution in the Negev where 150 people with disabilities reside.

A month ago we learned that in a closed  meeting the government will decide whether  or not to allot millions of shekels to its development. 

We do not have and never have had anything specific against Adi Negev, only against the very idea of institutions. 

When people with disabilities live, work and receive services in one place which is designated for them alone - they are isolated/cut off  from the community outside, which deepens their separation from the society. This harms equality. This harms their quality of life. In such a place, they have no control over the most basic decisions in life. 

The State of Israel understood this as well when in 2012 it ratified the international Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which, according to its official interpretation by the United Nations, orders the closure of all institutions.

We Received Word of the Government Meeting only 24 Hours Beforehand and We Understood We Had to Act Immediately

In no time (from one day to the next) we embarked on a campaign which called on ministers to oppose reaching a decision without first holding a communal, transparent, open debate, with the participation of people with disabilities in line with the principle of "Nothing about us without us", which views people with disabilities as an inseparable part of the decision making process. 

We said that it cannot be that the State will allocate millions of shekels to a policy that affects people with disabilities - without hearing them and their representative organizations. We also said that in light of the Convention and in light of the demand that arises on the ground - from people with disabilities and from their families - it is impossible to allocate millions of shekels to institutions. The budget must be allocated toward the development of responses within the community.

700 emails calling for in community living were sent

True, the government ultimately decided to approve the budget increase of several millions of shekels to expand ADI Negev. But we are not discouraged. We will continue to fight with all our strength to advance the right of every person to live within the community. 

One of our goals this year is to anchor in legislation the right to autonomous life in the community with personal aid. 

We will be sharing further details soon.

I'm glad that Bizchut is not discouraged. 

But as I wrote in an earlier post [Actually, zero steps forward, January 3, 2022], the failure of our protests to prevent that cash gift of millions of shekels to ADI Negev, truly demoralized me.  

No pool

Our Haya decided to give Covid a second crack. So, while she kept it low key - mild symptoms, a cold, low fever - we abided by the quarantining rules. Her carer and I tested ourselves at home every day before going out and Arnold didn't go near Haya during the duration. 

So this week I am sparing all of you those hydrotherapy photos I love to post because Haya missed her session that Covid-week. And then missed it again this week due to a pool malfunction.  

Nothing, not even justice, trumps politics

Israel's Defense Minister Gantz meets in Amman with Jordan's king 

on Jan. 5, 2022 [Image Source: The Royal Hashemite Court, Jordan]

An Israeli military court this week handed down two life sentences to a Palestinian Arab with US citizenship who carried out a drive-by shooting attack at Tapuah Junction on May 2, 2021.

Firing on three students standing at a bus stop, he killed 19-year-old Yehuda Guetta and injured two others. 

He was convicted by the Ofer Military Court last August on charges of intentional manslaughter, several counts of attempted intentional manslaughter, and possession of a weapon and obstruction of justice ["Palestinian-American gets two life sentences for deadly West Bank terror attack", Times of Israel, January 5, 2022]. 

The court called the gunman's actions premeditated, “cruel and coldblooded”, found that he had been training for it for at least a month and that it stemmed from a “burning hatred and a desire to murder Jews”. 

The panel of judges ruled that he serve one life sentence for the killing Guetta, and another for the attempted murder of the companions standing with him at the bus stop and injured in the attack.

But hold off rejoicing over justice achieved. Just remember what our government has done to other murderers serving multiple life sentences. 

Take for instance Ahlam Tamimi whose victims were 15 innocent Jewish men, women and children, most of them Israeli and including my 15 year old daughter Malki. 

Tamimi, who admitted to all the charges stemming from the massacre at Jerusalem's Sbarro pizzeria on August 9, 2001, was freed in the Shalit Deal of 2011. Since then she has lived the charmed life of a self-confessed, proud mass-murderer and media celebrity. She has travelled the Arab world inciting her fans to terrorism.

Tamimi speaks via video link to an Islamist symposium

for girls in Turkey, October 2021

Tamimi had also been sentenced in the very same military court - Ofer - to multiple life terms: sixteen of them, no less! In dramatic language, the panel of judges added their advice to the government of Israel that Tamimi never be freed in any future deal. 

That sentence and the judicial recommendation - along with the desperate pleas of my husband and me not to include our child's murderer in the swap - were disregarded by Israel's prime minister at the time, Binyamin Netanyahu.  

To add insult to injury, the absolute ruler who is protecting Tamimi from extradition to the US - Jordan's King Abdullah II - has now made it onto Israel's list of best buddies. Tamimi faces federal terrorism charges in Washington under US law ["Why is Ahlam Tamimi still free, 19 years after the Sbarro bombing?", Jerusalem Post, Aug. 12, 2020]. 

On Wednesday of this week, our Minister of Defense, Benny Gantz, met with him for  

a rare public sit-down with the monarch, discussing shared security and diplomatic concerns, Gantz’s office said. This was the second meeting between Abdullah and Gantz in the past year, with the first happening secretly last February... [Times of Israel, January 5, 2022]

Terror charges against Tamimi were unsealed

in Washington on March 14, 2017 [Source: DOJ/FBI]

Secretly, of course, at the king's insistence because so many of his constituents hate Israel so much that news of these meetings would rile them. As an Israeli news report put it,

The secrecy around these meetings typically comes at the request of the Jordanian government, with much of the population opposing the country maintaining close ties with Israel.

We can be certain that the defense minister did not mention the king's unwavering refusal to comply with the US Department of Justice's demand for Tamimi's extradition. And that Jordan's refusal contravenes a valid extradition treaty the US and the Hashemite Kingdom signed and ratified in 1995.

In fact, according to unnamed sources, Israel has urged American-Jewish leaders to refrain from pressuring either side to bring Tamimi to justice in the US. 

Instead, we were subjected today to the praise our defense minister reportedly lavished on Jordan's dictator: 

Gantz highlighted “the strategic importance of strong and enduring relations between Israel and Jordan, which contribute to the security and prosperity of both nations” according to a statement released by his office.

And to hell with justice for murderers of Jewish children.

Actually, zero steps forward

A recent meeting of the Israeli cabinet [Image Source]

Last week, I asked our WhatsApp group of disabilities activists/parents for an update about the scheduled Government of Israel cabinet meeting that was going to discuss a proposed grant of 126 million shekels (roughly $40.8M in US currency) to ADI Negev to fund its expansion. 

The meeting that had gotten my hopes up sky high: "Ministerial scrutiny of Israel's largest institution for children with disabilities?" (Dec. 12, 2021)

Here's the response sent by a member who is also a staff member of Bizchut, Israel's leading disabilities rights organization:

"To our dismay, the government authorized the transfer of funding to Adi Negev. We will continue to fight for a halt to the State's investment in institutions, both large and small and in services that result in the separation of people with disabilities from the community and for its investment of resources towards services within the community..."

There is such a bundle of bad news in that response that I'm still struggling to fully digest it. 

The major message I deduce is this: Nowadays in Israel, "protektzia" - i.e. connections - still reigns supreme. By that I mean it rides roughshod over everything else: morals, ideals, international conventions, progress, the welfare of the downtrodden and of the vulnerable and above all of people with disabilities.

Even in 2022. 

ADI Negev, blessed with limitless protektzia in the form of its founder and chairman Major General (Res.) Doron Almog, clearly sailed through that cabinet meeting where its lavish cash gift was discussed.

Then there was absence of any reactions to that update from anyone else in the WhatsApp group That one has me stumped.

Where is the fury that I feel?

The struggle for equal rights for all will continue. But my hopes for victory here in Israel have been definitively and thoroughly dashed.

Dismal day at the doctor and the dietician

We had a rendezvous with Haya's neurologist and dietician this week. 

My husband Arnold attended in person and I was on video Whatsapp (Haya did not attend). Fortunately it was succinct but not too heavy on the positive news. 

Here are its conclusions:

• Both agreed there will be no changes to the Ketogenic Diet or the drug regimen for the time being. We would ultimately like to reduce the meds but since Haya was hit with status epilepticus the last time we tried that, it's not a step the doctor wants to take again yet. 
• Both were also satisfied with the halt in Haya's weight gain although she remains 2-3 kilos heavier than she was when we began the diet. But she was gaunt then.
• The neurologist predicted, pretty definitively, that there will be no cognitive improvements down the road for Haya regardless of any changes we make in her treatment. Ever.
• The dietician emphasized that Haya's seizure control would probably improve if I readjusted her meal times. The goal should be to provide her with a longer night-time fasting stretch. Ten to twelve hours would be optimal. I'm aiming for that but not nearly there. Got to get my act together. 
• The neurologist. thought Haya's frequent right-leg twitching is probably not a seizure but rather some benign involuntary movement of which she is unaware due to her neurological state. I first noticed it several months ago but presumed it wasn't cause for concern; maybe even some normal habit she'd picked up. Arnold wasn't so sure so he raised it. I suppose "normal habit" isn't an option for Haya. 

This is the clip of that twitching which we showed the doctor.

And here is Haya in the hydrotherapy pool this week. We're keeping it up through rain and cold!

Look who's promoting institutionalization now

From the UN CRPD website

Last week I was quite optimistic when I learned of the scheduled cabinet debate regarding the proposed grant of tens of millions of shekels to Doron Almog's ADI Negev ["Ministerial scrutiny of Israel's largest institution for children with disabilities?"].   

I  progressed from that to elation when Haaretz, Israel's leading newspaper, published a piece (in Hebrew only at this stage) about the issue this past Friday [תוכנית להרחבת מוסד לאנשים עם מוגבלות מציתה מחלוקת: האם המקום פוגע בדייריו]. 

True, it was only guardedly critical of Almog and his institution for people with disabilities - but it was critical. And that spelled a sea change in the Israeli consensus. 

In its wake I toyed with this upbeat line for my tweet: "One Small Step - or One Giant Leap?" My more grounded husband assured me it was neither (see my Tweet).

And he was so right. 

Because today, the most powerful man in our government posted a tribute to ADI Negev and a veritable hagiography of Doron Almog. On his Facebook page! That's our prime minister to whom I'm referring. The man who is supposed to be tackling existential threats like Omicron, terrorism, Iran's nuclear activities. 

Yes, he actually found the time to promote the institutionalization of babies and children with disabilities far from their families in large, closed residences. 

And he did that with utter disregard for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The treaty that Israel signed onto and then ratified in 2012. 

Today a more apt tweet would be "One Step Forward, Three Steps Back". 

Bizchut is urging everyone to elucidate the above for the prime minister, Naftali Bennett in a comment on his Facebook page. And yes, mine's already there.

Ministerial scrutiny of Israel's largest institution for children with disabilities?

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett chairs the first weekly cabinet
meeting of his new government June 2021 [Photo: Emmanuel
Dunand/Reuters]

I have written often and over a long period about the chain of institutions here in Israel called ALEH. 

It originally consisted of four residential facilities in different cities housing a total of some 800 babies, children and adults. 

I have never had anything favorable to say about the operation, to put it mildly. I am not a fan of theirs and am opposed to the core values for which they stand.

ALEH, as a chain of institutions for children with special needs, has pretty much disappeared as a brand name. On this archived website, you can see how they used to call themselves "Israel’s Largest Network of Care for Children with Severe Multiple Disabilities" as if that were something to be proud of.

No longer. 

About two years ago, Doron Almog, who established ALEH's Negev branch, announced that it would thenceforth be partnering with the Jerusalem branch under the name ADI and under his leadership. The remaining two branches, one in Gedera and the second in Bnei Brak, would operate as part of a separate entity under the ALEH name and under the leadership of Rabbi Yehuda Marmorstein.

The entire transformation has been characterized by fog and confusion.

This post is triggered by something unusual: a discussion that was due to be held in Israel's Cabinet today (Sunday, December 12, 2021). It's not clear to me that the discussion happened or whether it was pushed off. We will probably soon know.

The institution formerly called ALEH Negev, now branded ADI, has enjoyed "etrog" status in the Israeli government as some of my previous posts indicated. 

See for instance: Aleh vs ADI [November 17, 2020]; On voluntourism [January 25, 2018]; Is this why our government loves Aleh? [January 15, 2018]; A bad idea dressed up as good news [January 23, 2017]; Cultivating the Negev on the backs of the most vulnerable Israelis [August 3, 2016]; Aleh 101 [January 13, 2016] and more.

The following letter which appeared today in a Whatsapp group to which I belong is being widely circulated among Israel's activists for the rights of people with disabilities. It is written in Hebrew but here is an unofficial English translation:

At a cabinet meeting scheduled for today, December 12, 2021, the following proposal will be discussed: That tens of millions of shekels be granted to ADI Negev, an institution for people with disabilities. The proposal's details are unknown to us but the very intention to allocate millions of shekels to this institution raises concerns that this is a plan which contravenes, in whole or in part, the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which was ratified by the State of Israel in 2012.

One of the treaty's core tenets is the right to live within the community, the right to fully participate in society and and the right to inclusion in society. The Convention, and its official interpretation, oppose outright the existence of institutions and of residential frameworks with institutional characteristics. These include, among others, residences with a large number of people with disabilities in one place, segregation away from the general community, the inability of the individual to make decisions - even the most basic decisions - regarding his life and so on.

Therefore states that have ratified the treaty are required to prepare a plan that will eventually lead to the closure of all such institutional frameworks for people with disabilities, while developing community services for them.

 

Needless to say, international law prohibits the allocation of resources to further the operations of institutional frameworks.

It will be recalled that even the international committee appointed by the Ministry of Welfare a decade ago, ordered the closure of all institutions within a decade.

Yet, despite all of the above, instead of closing institutions the government [of Israel] is now acting to expand existing ones.

The ADI Negev institution is home to over 150 people. Over the years, more services have been added around this institution, all of them intended for people with disabilities, including employment opportunities. This lifestyle, involving the concentration of people with disabilities in one place, where they live and work - and all of this far from the "normative" community - contravenes international law. 

Every addition of resources to the institution and to the segregated services surrounding it (excluding the rehabilitation hospital) contravene the international treaty and the values of equal human rights.

We therefore call upon the Ministers to oppose this decision today pending a transparent public debate and the clarification of the decision's details and of its compliance with the guidelines detailed above.

The extremely well-connected Doron Almog who heads the operation can't be too happy today.