national service

Magen David Adom paramedic with a MDA sign. (Illustrative photo by Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Jewish women can’t volunteer at night – to avoid ‘contact with Arabs’

The Israeli government succumbs to pressure by racist and anti-miscegenation organizations, banning Jewish women from volunteering in hospitals at night, when they might be more likely to encounter Arab workers and doctors. Young Israeli women volunteering at hospitals in Israel as part of their national service (an alternative to serving in the Israel Defense Forces)…

By Mairav Zonszein October 17, 2013

Palestinian citizens of Israel at a youth center in Jaffa (file photo, Activestills.org)

Israeli Arabs should do national service – for everyone’s sake

It would do wonders for equality and integration, and Israeli Arabs seem willing to volunteer, but they’re being pounded from both sides by Arab and Jewish nationalists. In principle, I don’t think there would be anything unjust in going so far as to draft Israeli Arab youths to do a year or two of civilian…

By Larry Derfner June 17, 2013

National Center for the Preservation of Democracy: Japanese American National Museum Little Tokyo Los Angeles, CA (Photo: Flickr Creative Commons/kalavinka)

NYTimes’ due fear for Israeli democracy adds some misconceptions

The New York Times published a laudable, bold editorial this weekend that highlights a number of creeping threats to Israeli democracy. The article is vital for reaching audiences who really care about Israel’s future. After three years of onslaught on Israel’s democratic foundations (which were already deeply flawed), the situation is now urgent. Every day, truly scary signs…

By Dahlia Scheindlin July 21, 2012

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Debate on draft reform moves Israel further away from democracy

If Netanyahu’s government doesn’t come up with a solution, the army could soon start enlisting all of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox citizens. But while it is convenient to see the debate on a universal draft as a step toward equality, Israeli militarism should be challenged by decreasing the army’s size, not enlarging it. The deadline is…

By Noam Sheizaf July 5, 2012

Palestinian citizens cannot be expected to serve Jewish state

By Fady Khoury In an earlier post, I argued that the expectation for Palestinian citizens of Israel to serve in the army or in any alternative service lacks moral justification. I will elaborate on this argument here. It goes as follows: If (1) national service is an alternative to military service; And (2) there is…

By +972 Magazine January 15, 2012

IDF soldiers marching in Al Ma'asara (Yossi Gurvitz)

New bill would condition Knesset electability on completion of military service

Palestinian citizens cannot be expected to serve an institution that protects the Jewish identity of the state. If Israel prohibits its Palestinian citizens from participating in elections, it would cease to function as a democracy, and it would lose its case against claims of apartheid. By Fady Khoury The media reported this week that MK Moshe…

By +972 Magazine January 13, 2012

change theory (Image: F l a n k e r, penubag/Wikicommons, public domain)

Israel’s social protests: the key to changing everything?

For the first few weeks of the housing-cum-social protests in Israel, nothing else seemed to matter. For at least a week or two after the “J14” protests began (on July 14, in Tel Aviv), the press happily let it muscle out everything else – Palestinians, Iran, September, democracy barely reached back pages of the papers.…

By Dahlia Scheindlin August 17, 2011

Cottage cheese dress thumb (Photo: Rima Olvera)

A quiet week: cottage cheese and social (in)justices

In the absence of any major diplomatic fiascos or triumphs, wars or terror attacks, here is a roundup of a regular old week in Israel: Right-leaning Kadima MK Israel Hasson has proposed that Israelis should not be allowed to perform their national service (an alternate form of IDF service for those with a special exemption)…

By Dahlia Scheindlin June 16, 2011