Israel’s prostitution bill… and then men who don’t like it
A man goes to a prostitute, and then blames her for making him sin. No, this is not the beginning of a joke. Rather, it’s the argument currently being made by Knesset members from the (all male) Shas party in a current round of deliberations about the legality of prostitution.
At issue is a bill recently introduced by Kadima Knesset member Orit Zuaretz, seen at right, outlawing the solicitation of a prostitute. Actually, the Zuaretz bill makes solicitation punishable with six months in prison only after the second arrest. First time offenders will be sent to a form of rehab that includes mandatory attendance at seminars on public health and human dignity, as well as lectures given from former prostitutes about the harrowing conditions of their lives. The bill is based on the Sweden model, where a 1999 law punished those soliciting and not those being solicited — and resulted in the number of women working as prostitutes shrinking by two-thirds....
Unfortunately, not everyone is in favor. According to Shas legislators, the main opponents of this groundbreaking bill, men are the victims and women are the criminals. “The women are the guilty ones in the prostitution industry, and men are just the victims, because women tempt them,” according to Knesset member Nissim Zeev, speaking at the hearing of the Committee on the Trafficking of Women last week.
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The Bill for Civil Marriage in Israel, which went to second and third readings yesterday in the Knesset Law committee, sounds like much more than it is. To be clear, it's not really a bill to introduce civil marriage in Israel in general, but rather to provide a way for people "without religion" to register their unions. No wonder the haredi parties are not opposed -- it doesn't even affect Jews at all! Nevertheless, this may still be an important, if somewhat weak, first step.

Stanley Chais doesn’t know me, but I know him. His name appears in the title of countless files on my computer – titles such as, “Chais Proposal for Educational Program….” Over the past five years, I’ve written a whole bunch of not-quite-Pulitzer-prize winners in this fascinating genre called “The Grant Proposal”. See, I’m one of those idealists turned pragmatists, the kind who graduated university thinking I wanted to change the world and ended up spending most of my days grant-writing. There are throngs of us out there – teachers, social workers, youth counselors. We have ideas, we have drive, we have creativity and we have motivation. What we don’t have is a clever way to pay our own bills. What can I say, there is much more market demand for good English writing than for expertise in, oh, say, “gender issues in Jewish education.” (What’s that? Yeah….) So now, in addition to the many charming (or perhaps outrageous) ideas for improving society that are floating around my brain like the balls in a pinball machine, I now have a trade. I’m a fundraiser.
Kolech is offering a series of educational and empowerment programs to address the changing needs and interests women of all ages -- and sometimes even men. Take a look – you may be surprised to find out that other people are interested in exploring the same issues that you are!