Israel's Prostitution Problems

It is truly amazing that there is an estimated 700 massage parlor/brothels that operate in Israel.  What is even more shocking is that about 250 of them are directly located in Tel Aviv.  No one is trying to hide the sex-for-sale trade as it is a unconcealed and profitable industry.  What is even more eye opening is the fact that "Prostitutes claim that a fifth or more of their faithful customers are very religious Jews who they identify by their black kippas and other tradition garb" (Rosenthal, 383).  Sadly, prostitution is legal in Israel, but running a brothel or living off the earnings of prostitution are outlawed.

Two women standing on a street corner waiting for their next customer.
Source: onejerusalem.com

What is worse is that according to a recent Jerusalem Post article, the government is having a lot of issues dealing with teen prostitution.  More children than ever before are becoming victims of sexual exploitation in Israel and it is becoming a problem.  Reli Katsav, who manages a youth at risk and girls program at Elem: Youth at Risk says, " They are a hidden population and it is very difficult to find them, but based on our activities we suspect there are a few thousand children, some as young as 12, who are victims of commercial sexual exploitation or prostitution in Israel."  She feels that there is a need for improved sex education among youth, as well as a better prevention and prosecution by law enforcement.  While the main focus may be on younger girls, young males are also victims, especially when either of them come from an abusive background.  What is truly disturbing is the fact that "Another concerning trend was the falling age of children involved in prostitution. While the average age hovered around 14, children join the sex trade as young as 11. Also, the average age of the “clients” was dropping."  Towards the end of the article, it is mentioned that "While most of the focus has been on detecting young Israelis who fall victim to sexual exploitation and prostitution," there is still an issue concerning children of migrant workers, asylum-seekers and refugees, who are equally as vulnerable.  Because they are a weak population in society, they find themselves being sexual exploited.

This "advertisement" says enough about prostitution in the country.
Source: nowpublic.com

These immigrants tend to be lured in by sophisticated smugglers who promise them lots of money by being models, masseurs, and dancers, with housing provided.  The Russian mafia is at the head of the prostitution business and are recruiting women to work in Israel.  Tens and thousands of women from the former Soviet Union, along with its former satellite states, have entered Israel.  They are smuggled by all sorts of means, no matter what their age is.

Honestly, chapter 18 of the Rosenthal book presents some very disturbing facts about the prostitution business in Israel.  There is quite a bit of information to absorb from her very detailed descriptions of numbers and personal stories.  While I knew a decent amount about prostitution in general, she helped shed light on the subject.  My other source of which I found on the Jerusalem Post website, focused on something the Rosenthal book does not: teen prostitution.  The article is only a few weeks old (November 19), so its numbers are highly reliable. It was simple and got straight to the point.  There was no biased opinion, just authors that were concerned about the subject matter. 

The Druze Are a Peculiar Bunch

The Druze happen to be a unique group of people.  Druze are heavily religious and they believe their faith to be a new interpretation of the three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.  One thing in particular that they believe in is reincarnation.  To them, "after a Druze dies, his or her soul enters the body of a newborn Druze of the same sex" (Rosenthal, 304).  While reincarnation may add to the mysteriousness of the Druze religion, it also has its dilemmas.  For instance, one can be an IDF soldier in one life, but can be reborn as a Lebanese who also becomes a soldier.  Some blame their fears on a past life.  There was a soldier who could not bear to be near tanks because he thought he was a soldier in another life who had been crushed by a tank.  One can only be born a Druze and it is impossible to convert in or out of the religion which is why the community has been together for so long. 

The Druze star. Source: www.mmouka.com

Then there is the issue of marriage.  Only a Druze can marry another Druze and because proselytizing is prohibited, technically no new members have been admitted to the Druze since their beginning in 1043.  Because more than a third of marriages are to a close relative (and even higher rates in more conservative villages), "rates of birth defects and retardation among Druze children are high" (305).  If one were to marry anyone other than another Druze, they would be excommunicated and thrown out of the village.  As the Druze's say, "It's better to marry a poor relative than a wealthy stranger".  In the unfortunate case of Ibtihaj Hassan, she probably would agree if she were still alive.  In her case, she divorced the Druze she was married with and than committed the sin of all sins: marrying outside the faith.  Years went by and she returned to the village where her brother ended up stabbing her to death.  It is a rare occasion but it opens the eyes to the world of religious fanatics. 

Ibtihaj was not the only woman to have to suffer.  Hiham Arayda believes that "to live as a divorced [Druze] woman is worse than being a widow, who is at least regarded with some pity".  A married Druze woman is expected to suffer violence to help keep the family together, and most of all not to divorce.  Those who are divorced are forced out of their homes and the couple may never see each other.  She also states "the villages today are large, and lack public  transportation, employment and public housing. The problems for a divorced woman in the village are greater than for women in the city, but they have no possibility of leaving. That's all they need." 

A group of Druze women. Source: www.allvoices.com

The majority of my information came from Chapter 14 of the Rosenthal book.  It contains some really insightful information regarding the Druze culture.  She does a great job on asserting their views and beliefs without being biased.  The stories she describes are also quite surprising.  My other source came from the Haaretz website.  It was a very interesting article that correlated with some parts of the Rosenthal chapter.  My knowledge of the Druze culture has dramatically increased. 

The Non-Orthodox of Israel

Non-Orthodox Jews, whom are also referred to as secular, reform, or conservative Jews, find themselves in the midst of internal religious conflict within the state of Israel and Orthodox Jews.  They consist of 80 percent of Israeli Jewish population in the country, but regardless of what type of Jew they are, they are still Jews nonetheless.  There are those that "eat milk and meat, but never on Sabbath.  Most are two holiday Jews who pray in synagogue only on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Others pray in the soccer stadium, but only when their team is losing" (Rosenthal, 232).  Most non-orthodox Jews still believe in God and Jewish spirituality but are just not as interested in the synagogue based aspect of the religion.  This leads to Orthodox Jews looking down upon those are not Orthodox.

 At times there would be discrimination.  For example, when Sivan Meshulam was a little girl, she would walk home from school and the Haredi would call her a certain name.  It turned out that she was being called a slut in Yiddish.  It is known that "Haredi men on 'modesty patrol' sometimes harass secular women with exposed arms and legs who enter their neighborhood.  They have thrown ink and cursed at dozens of women…" (Rosenthal, 235).  If anything, it is the Orthodox who are at the root of the discrimination because of their very biased point of views.  Sivan feels that "it really annoys [her] that there are narrow-minded haredim who think everything that deals with Judiasm is theirs.  They believe they have better values, that they're holier than use.  We're also legitimate Jews" (235). 

This picture deals with the high tension between the religious and the non religious jews in Israel. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yonilcom/2864358139/

As stated in this recent article regarding Israel violating religious freedom, the Religious Freedom Report places Israel with Afghanistan, China, Iran, Iraq, and Sudan in the list of governments that lack government protection of non-Jewish holy sites.  "Government allocations favoring the Orthodox, extra legal protection to Jewish holy sites and Orthodox hegemony over life-cycle events are among Israel's religious freedom violations".  The report said that "Government allocations of state resources favored Orthodox (including Modern and National Religious streams of Orthodoxy) and ultra-Orthodox (sometimes referred to as 'Haredi') Jewish religious groups and institutions, discriminating against non-Jews and non-Orthodox streams of Judaism".  It was also reported that the state does not recognize conversions performed by non-Orthodox rabbis.  The only marriages that can be recognized are those that have been performed by the Orthodox Jewish establishment.  The same goes with who can be buried at Jewish state cemeteries.  It is good to see that what is going on in Israel is being recognized throughout the world as a problem.

There are some really interesting points of view in chapter 11 of the Rosenthal book regarding the subject on non-Orthodox Jews.  She used real life examples to show the struggles that these non-Orthodox Jews face on a daily basis.  There is a lot of insight provided and to be honest, I was completely unaware of this issue.  To help gain a better understanding, I was able to find an article on the Jerusalem post that was posted just a couple days ago (November 18)!  Things are not going to change until the Orthodox Jews that have control over the government are willing to provide the non-Orthodox with assistance in their fight for religious freedom.  

Israel's Tech Industry

Israel has one of the biggest high tech industries in the world and it continues to see exponential growth.  Even Bill Gates famously said "that Israel has developed the best high-tech culture outside the United States" (Rosenthal, 92).  In the city of Haifa, well known companies such as Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, GE, Motorola, IBM and Hewlett-Packard have R&D centers.  One of the biggest companies in Israel is Intel.  The engineers at this particular building did most of the work on the Pentium processors.  Also, they developed the Centrino and Dotan chips that are now used in laptops in secrecy along with chips for cell phones.  Intel also happens to be Israel's largest foreign investor.  According the a relatively recent Jerusalem Post article, "the high-tech industry in Israel makes up about 15 percent of its $200 billion yearly GDP, but accounts for a full 40 percent of Israel's exports, according to the Ministry of Finance". Its technological exports by monetary value include high-tech, medi-tech, and agri-tech products.  Their economy isn't based off of oil, but the sand and brains of the Israeli people.

Intel's building located in Haifa, Israel. 

Not only does Israel's tech businesses produce smart chips and innovations that make our lives easier, they also work to make our lives healthier by producing new biological breakthroughs.  It just so happens that "Israel has more engineers, scientists, life science researchers, and physicians per capita than any country in the world" (96).  Israel is also the fourth when it comes to the number of biotech, medical devices, and diagnostics startup companies.  If you have ever heard of the "PillCam", then now you know it was invented by an Israeli.  It was invented by Gavriel Iddan who is a missile scientist with a wild imagination.  This invention made it possible to bring good news to millions of people that might have suffered from tumors, ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, and Crohn's disease.  Just one of many life saving inventions by an Israeli.

Gil Shwed is known as the Bill Gates of Israel (they call him Gil Gates).  He made the company CheckPoint (a leader in internet security and one of Israelis most imported firms on the Nasdaq) into a multibillion dollar company and in 2002 was on the front page of Forbes as one of the worlds few self-made billionaires.  Gil happened to be a computer programming prodigy but worked for the IDF before becoming an entrepreneur.  Many believe that the reason why the Israelis have been so successful in this field is because they are "so innovative because they always question what they're told to do" (83).  Even the current Prime Minister Netanyahu believes that technology should always be a priority of Israel in order to stay competitive in the long run.

Gil Shwed, the Bill Gates of Israel as he poses for Forbes Magazine. 

Most of the information for this blog came from chapter 4 in the Rosenthal book and an article (which is linked earlier in the post) from the Jerusalem post.  Donna Rosenthal's chapter is full of facts and interesting innovations made by Israelis.  She dedicated a solid 20 pages on this topic in which I was very impressed with. She praises the Israelis for being some of the smartest people in the world.  While I got the majority of my information from Rosenthal, I was able to obtain that article from JPost in which the author mainly focuses on the tech economy and how important it is to help companies that are just beginning. Overall, I was intrigued a great deal by this topic. 

Israel's conflict with Lebanon and Ahadinejad

Tensions have been rising in Israel since the construction freeze on the West Bank was lifted just last month.  As of earlier today, the situation just got a bit stickier when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad let loose an anti-Israel speech in Lebanon just four kilometers from its border with Israel.  He stated "Zionists, go back where you came from" while telling his audience (who were thousands of Hezbollah supporters) to "Bring defeat to the Zionists" by forcefully freeing themselves.  Ahmadinejad also blames Israel for the economic crisis and air pollution of the world.  His whole speech was a complete verbal  bashing of Israel along with an attempt to discredit other western nations including the United States.  It is clear that Ahadinejad wants to wipe Israel off the map and he attends to gather as many supporters as possible.  He only sees the violent method of solving this conflict. Not once was there anything mentioned about peace.

Just a few hours after Ahadinejad's speech, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted that Lebanon was on its way to become an "extension of the ayatollah regime in Iran…This is a tragedy for Lebanon, but Israel knows how to protect itself from this development".  He believes that "All those people who think that Zionism will disappear — not only is it not disappearing, but it is growing stronger".  Netanyahu continued by stating that the fact that Israel was created and has developed into a strong nation in only 62 years is enough to discredit those seeking to harm it.  While Israel has developed a significant amount since its birth of a nation, Netanyahu seems to be antagonizing the enemies of state by purposely gloating about the success of Israel.  Provoking another war would just create pointless death in a region of the world that has already been covered in blood.  When questioned about assassinating Ahadinejad, Netanyahu did not give a direct answers, but said as a general statement that "we consider with reason what needs to be done to protect the state".  With that being said, Israel indirectly says it would assassinate an enemy if it were done for the safety of the nation.  Surely, these two heavy weight leaders of the middle east have strong feelings of disgust towards each other.  Peace talks will just prolong the inevitable. 

After these recent events, I have come to the conclusion that peace will not come soon enough in the middle east.  There is too much hostility between nations and powerful militant groups that reside within them.  But it is not for me to say if politics will prevail or not. 

I find the reliability of my articles to be solid.  Both sources came from the highly rated Israeli news sites Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post.  If you read both of the articles closely, you will notice that authors Chaim Levinson and Herb Keinon were as unbiased as they could possibly be.  They both quoted quite a bit and I just interpreted how I saw fit.  However, I will admit that there were a few sentences that seemed like their point of views favored Israel, but overall, it was just a series of quotes by Ahmadinejad and Netanyahu with very little author commentary. 

Life Expectancy in Israel

With all of the negative attention Israel has been receiving lately, there happens to be some good news to share.  Israel is now proud to announce that there are major gains in the raising of its peoples life expectancy.  Over the last 30 years, life expectancy of Jewish Israelis has increased considerably and ranks above the average of countries that are included in the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).  Even Israeli Arabs, who tended to always be a handful of years behind due to cultural, social and educational reasons now live slightly longer than the average American.  Some credit can be given to the national healthcare system and other medical improvements for improving outcomes of Israeli lives.

Even though there is a positive increase in life expectancy, the difference in health outcomes among the several socioeconomic groups, mainly between the Jewish and Arab Israelis is still substantial.  It is just one of many challenges that the system is attempting to improve.  Since 1980, Israel has far outpaced those of other countries in the OECD and the USA (In 1980, however, all 3 were identical with a life expectancy of 74 years).  While the USA's life expectancy has only increased its average by 4 years and the other OECD countries by 6 years, Israel has increased a spectacular 7 years.  In 2005, a country and country comparison proved that Israeli Jews and Arabs are shown to live longer than people of any other country in the Middle East.  That same study also suggests that Israeli Jews actually live longer than the residents of all but four countries in the world.

Though life expectancy is important in the sense that it reflects information about health outcomes of entire life times, infant mortality rates are just as important because it focuses on the survival of infants during their first year of life.  In 1960, Israeli Arabs had a double mortality rate compared to that of Israeli Jews, Americans, and other OECD countries.  Today, Israeli Jew mortality rates are greater than the USA and are slightly above the rest of the OECD.  The remarkable thing is that Israeli Arabs showed the greatest decline and had the same mortality rate of the USA by 2005. Israel still hopes to continue its good fortune of life expectancy for as long as possible.

I find the reliability of this article strong.  The author, Judy Siegel-Itzkovish, got her research from the Jerusalem’s Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel in a comparative study done by Professor Dov Chernichovsky, a leading health economist at the center and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba (she states it in the main article).  Not once does the author go off on a tangent or become biased in anyway.  This article is purely facts in which she got her research directly from the source.  However, not only was her research solid, she is part of "Israel's best-selling English daily and most read English Website", The Jerusalem Post.  She does a good job in picking out the most important details from the study.  Her point of view is quote obvious; she wants the world to know that the Israeli health care system is improving and that they plan on continuing to improve upon these statistics in the years to come.  Overall, I found this article to be quite surprising and can honestly say I have learned a great deal from it.

Main Article

Is it worse to be a Palestinian in Jerusalem or Gaza? The author attempts to discover which Palestinians have it worse under Israeli rule.  Israel has imposed extreme methods of isolation and insulation on Gaza.  Those who live there are cut off from water supplies and from any cultural, social, or family ties they have with their people. Then on the other hand, you have those Palestinians who are living in East Jerusalem.  The cynicism of the decision makers is turning the population there into a bunch of slum dwellers and then those same decision makers are priding themselves on the fact that they give those people national insurance payments.  In the neighborhood of Isawiyah, there are large piles of concrete and an immense collection of garbage.  Because of construction prohibitions, those who live there steal pieces of concrete from the roads so that it can be used on buildings.

There are some statistics that prove to be rather disturbing.  In Palestinian Jerusalem, about 65 percent of the Palestinian residents live below the poverty line compared to that of 30 percent of the Jewish population.  74 percent of Palestinian children in Jerusalem live below the poverty line whereas only 45 percent of the city's Jewish children do. Few classrooms exist in the area and about 50 percent Palestinian school children drop out.  24,500 dunams (6,000~ acres), were appropriated from Arab owners while 50,000 housing units were built on the same land for the Jewish population.  

The authorities prevent any Palestinians from building or developing land and instead allocate vacant lots to the Jews.  This tends to bring a rise in confrontations so the Housing and Construction Ministry provides hundreds of armed guards for the Jews at the public's expense.  Much of the time when Palestinians complain to the police, they are looked at as the suspects.  When Jews really are the suspects of causing bodily harm, the case ends up being closed in a swift matter.  For the Palestinians, there is no sense of security.  They feel that the authorities are aggressive, abusive, and belligerent.  They live in a world of constant violence even though the ministry denies that the guards harass them.  The ministry also said the guards are even praised for their professionalism because they show restraint and forbearance.  Roni Leibowitz, legal adviser to the police, believes that the testimonies of suspects are misleading because of their "erroneous portrayal of the way the situation developed".  Either way, conflict will always be unavoidable.

Haaretz, one of the largest Israeli news resources, is the world's leading English language website for real time news of Israel and the Middle East.  Also, since it is a source that was provided by the professor, I find its reliability even more credible.  What makes this article even more dependable  is the fact that the author got much of their sources by firsthand experience.  Amira Hass, who has held her post at Haaretz for 17 years, physically traveled to these hostile environments to get her information directly from the people living their instead of relying on false or undependable sources.  Her view on the subject is obvious throughout the article.  She honestly feels that the Palestinians of Gaza and Jerusalem both get treated inhumanly.  It seemed that she originally thought that Gaza was a worse place to live, but after her travels it seemed that was not the case.  Those Palestinians who live in Jerusalem do have it worse and she has seen it with her own two eyes.  

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My name is Ross Sheridan.

Here is a link to an article I found regarding holiday services in your pocket.