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Millions' lawsuit against Jerusalem Municipality: The mikvahs in the city are not accessible to people with disabilities Israel today

2022-05-31T06:55:45.234Z


Following numerous inquiries about the lack of accessibility of baptismal sites in the city, B'Tselem is leading a class action lawsuit to correct the injustice. Its duty under the law "


B'Tselem is suing the Jerusalem municipality for millions of shekels because the municipality and the religious council did not make mikvahs accessible to people with disabilities.

This is part of a broad struggle to make mikvahs accessible, led by a number of social organizations, and which was exposed in a series of articles in "Israel Today" in order to help people with disabilities observe the mitzvah of halakhah without discrimination.

A survey conducted by Israel Today and the National Center for Family Purity last January revealed that less than ten percent of the mikvahs supervised by the Ministry of Religions are fully accessible, and in some major cities in Israel there is no mikveh accessible at all.

Following a series of articles on the subject, a special discussion was held in the Subcommittee on Equal Rights for People with Special Needs, in which a resident of Tekoa, who moves around in a wheelchair, described how people with disabilities have to deal with humiliation in order to fulfill the mitzvah.

"Baptism involves crawling to the water. I come out filthy, with scratches all over my body. It is a degrading and humiliating experience."

Now the struggle is moving into practical tracks.

B'Tselem reports that it has received many inquiries regarding the accessibility of the mikvahs in the capital.

Among other things, they say, documentation was brought from the area that even though the municipality declares that certain mikvahs are accessible to people with disabilities, in practice when women with disabilities asked to come and immerse, it became clear to them that the mikvahs were not accessible at all.

In addition it turned out that there is not a single men's hope that is accessible to people with disabilities.

B'Tselem said that they contacted the religious council and the municipality, but their inquiries did not lead to a significant change in the field.

For this reason, they decided to submit, through Adv. Yosef-Hai Avieziz, Deputy Chairman of the Class Actions Committee and Derivatives in the Bar Association, a request for approval of a class action lawsuit to the Jerusalem District Court for more than NIS 2.5 million.

Some of the "accessible" places are not in practice

The lawsuit alleges that the municipality or the religious council has an obligation to make accessible adjustments in the toilets and changing rooms in all the mikvahs in its territory, which was not done in practice.

Even the mikvahs that were defined as accessible, received by "B'Tselem" people - are not actually accessible.

It has also been argued that the fact that there is no single pure hope for men that is accessible is discriminatory - in stark contrast to the provisions of the law.

The organization demands that the deficiencies be rectified immediately and that the affected public be compensated for years of discrimination.

"Freedom of religion and movement have been recognized as fundamental rights, and therefore it is very unfortunate that Jerusalem, the capital of the citizens of Israel, violates these basic rights of its residents and visitors," said Shai Glick, B'Tselem's director general. No matter what his disability may be to keep the commandment of purity in a dignified and accessible manner, the municipality turns a blind eye and does not act to fulfill its duty in law.

We hope that as a result of the lawsuit in the municipality, they will wake up and ensure that every person with disabilities and without disabilities will be able to maintain his faith with dignity, security and in a dignified manner. "

The Jerusalem municipality responded: "The petition has been accepted. We are studying it and our treatment will be given in court as usual."

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Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2022-05-31

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