Laissez Passer

Laissez Passer is operated by Oded Feller and Yonatan Berman, who work on behalf of immigrant rights in Israel. Their blog, which is originally published in Hebrew, focuses on immigration, immigrants and issues of residency and status in Israel.

Recent Articles

Two settlers, one of them carrying a gun, stand near a mosque in the West Bank city of Hebron, April 1, 2001. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

What if Israel had decided to expel the settlers of Hebron?

After Baruch Goldstein massacred 29 Palestinians in the Cave of the Patriarchs, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin could have taken action against the settlers of Hebron. Instead he put the Palestinians of the city under closure. The consequences of that decision reverberate until today. By Amiram Goldblum Following the Cave of the Patriarchs Massacre on Feb. 25, 1994,…

By Laissez Passer November 13, 2019

Ibrahim, a refugee from Sudan, holds a document given to him by the UN in Egypt, as he takes part in a protest held by refugees and activists outside the UN offices in Tel Aviv, June 10, 2012 (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Would Israel’s refugee policies stand up in… Nairobi?

Israel could learn a thing or two from the Kenyan High Court’s rebuttal of efforts to lock up asylum seekers. There are judges in Nairobi [1], and they are more courageous and much more familiar with refugee law than judges in Jerusalem. A Kenyan court last month published a ruling on a government decision to…

By Laissez Passer August 11, 2013

African asylum seekers in south Tel Aviv's Levinsky Park, June 20, 2008 (Photo: Keren Manor/Activestills.org)

Marketing ‘no-blacks’ apartment buildings in Tel Aviv

Amid efforts to deport, imprison and segregate African asylum seekers in Israel, real estate agents are now marketing ‘clean’ apartment blocs, meaning no foreign workers or asylum seekers will live there. Last week Army Radio reported that real estate agencies in south Tel Aviv are advertising “clean apartments.” According to Army Radio’s web site, a real…

By Laissez Passer July 22, 2013

Panel of the Israeli Supreme Court (file photo, Activestills.org)

Shuttering shops on Shabbat: Hypocrisy and the rule of law

The Supreme Court recently ordered that the rule of law be enforced when it comes to Tel Aviv shuttering businesses on the Sabbath. But the court is inconsistent with its own demands, only ordering that ‘the law is the law’ when it’s convenient. These are confusing times. Our friends don’t know what to think, and…

By Laissez Passer July 1, 2013

A representative of the Authority of Population and Immigration checks the names of South Sudanese people that are being deported. Tel-Aviv, Israel, August 8, 2012. (Photo: Shiraz Grinbaum/Activestills.org)

When ‘black’ becomes synonymous with ‘infiltrator’

Israeli society is undergoing a process by which the words ‘Eritrean’ and ‘Sudanese’ are becoming synonymous with the word ‘cleaner,’ while ‘Filipina’ has long ago become synonymous with ‘caregiver.’ And who else is behind the education process if not the Interior Ministry and the Justice Ministry? The job market in Israel has always been divided along nearly…

By Laissez Passer June 13, 2013

African refugee at protest for human rights June 10, 2012 (Activestills)

Cracks in the detention regime: Refugee advocates see string of court wins

Although the Israeli government is actively pursuing a detention regime meant to snare as many asylum seekers as possible, some recent legal victories provide a ray of light during an increasingly dark time for asylum seekers and refugees in Israel. By Noa Yachot and Adi Lerner The last year hasn’t been a good one for…

By Laissez Passer May 16, 2013

Complete control: On the unquestioned authority of the Interior Ministry

Israel’s judges rarely question whether the Interior Ministry may not actually be an expert on immigration matters, or whether it might be making decisions without asking the right questions – even when someone’s life is on the line. The courts generally accept any, or nearly any, factual claim provided by the Interior Ministry regarding individuals…

By Laissez Passer April 27, 2013

The guide to the lesbian refugee: How to pass the dildo test

In the United Kingdom, the ‘Anne Frank’ principle makes way for even more creative methods to reject homosexual asylum seekers. When Oscar Wild wrote his in essay, “The Truth of Masks,” about the metaphysical significance of costumes and props in Shakespeare’s plays, he likely didn’t imagine that lesbians seeking asylum in the United Kingdom would…

By Laissez Passer April 16, 2013

They weren’t real refugees

On Holocaust Remembrance Day, Netanyahu talked about how Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany were turned away by countries around the world. Considering the Netanyahu government’s standards for processing asylum claims, would Jewish refugees have been accepted by today’s Israel? “The gates of [the land of Israel] were locked to Jewish refugees, as were the gates…

By Laissez Passer April 10, 2013

Filipino children at protest against arrest of child of migrant worker (Activestills)

When it comes to migrant workers, Israel’s High Court is all High-Level Babble

The fact that Israel chooses to base its nursing sector on migrant workers and turn the patients into employers does not mean that migrant workers must pay the price. That is, unless one listens to the rulings of the High Court of Justice. Those who do not appear before the High Court of Justice may…

By Laissez Passer March 24, 2013