Up to the challenge

A revised law lays the foundation for a more inclusive society.

By JNS.ORG
The 'Lotem' organization (photo credit: KKL-JNF)
The 'Lotem' organization
(photo credit: KKL-JNF)
Recent statistics indicate that approximately one million people in Israel have a disability, defined as a health problem that interferes with their daily activities. This definition covers a wide range of challenges, such as physical limitations, mental illnesses and behavioral disorders. Perhaps the most important part of the definition is “interferes with their daily activities.” Close to one million people are unable to do what most others do easily every day – get up, get dressed, grab something to eat, head off to work or school, run errands, play with friends or stroll through the park.
According to Ahiya Kamara, commissioner for equal rights of persons with disabilities within the Justice Ministry, Israel has come a long way toward creating a more accessible society. Hearing impaired since childhood, Kamara worked for many years as a dis - ability-rights advocate and has been an active partner in drafting relevant legislation. The Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law, originally passed by the Knesset in 1998, was recently revised to mandate “accessibility of services.”
The revised ordinance requires service providers – banks, bus companies, government agencies, the IDF, schools, restaurants, museums, virtually any facility that serves the public – to ensure that their staff is trained to relate to people with disabilities with sensitivity and respect. Any business or public institution with more than 25 employees must work with an accessibility consultant to develop a strategy for adapting services to the needs of clients with disabilities. Training seminars cover learning how to explain procedures, use specialized tools and generally provide a comfort - able and dignified experience for the client.
When asked to describe the greatest challenge faced by people with disabilities in Israel, Kamara says “the negative attitudes of fellow citizens.”
“The Commission [for Equal Rights of Persons with Disabilities] can declare that an entire fleet of buses meets the needs of passengers with wheelchairs or visual impediments,” Kamara says. “But if one driver fails to lower the wheelchair ramp because it is inconvenient or another driver shames a blind person because he or she moves slowly, then the system is really not working.”
Aaron S., a computer programmer from Tel Aviv, was diagnosed several years ago with Charcot Marie Tooth disease (CMT), a neural form of muscular atrophy.
Faced with chronic pain and limited mobility, he gradually became unable to get to work or pursue his favorite pastimes – theater and travel.
“You take these things for granted,” he reflects, “and then one day, just like that, you are totally dependent on others. Not only for getting around but also for acknowledgment as a complete human being.”
The government and a broad network of civil society organizations work to ensure that people with disabilities maintain the same rights, freedom and dignity that other citizens enjoy. These efforts date back to the establishment of the state, when the Knesset first began to develop a set of laws for people with disabilities. Yet most early disability laws and programs reflected a social-welfare approach, wherein people with disabilities were viewed as the subjects of health plans and charitable organizations. This approach generally resulted in exclusion from mainstream society, as people with disabilities were isolated in separate classes, institutions and at home.
The Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law rep - resented a shift in focus from a social-welfare approach to a legal and human-rights approach. To further develop and implement the law, the Justice Ministry established the Commission for Equal Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2000. In 2012, the commission also became responsible for the implementation and monitoring of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. The UN convention sets international standards for equality; full participation, inclusion and integration in society; and the accessibility and autonomy of people with disabilities. Its stated purpose, upheld by the Israeli commission, is “to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities and to promote respect for their inherent dignity.”
One of the first sectors to work toward accessibility was public transportation, with some bus stations be - coming wheelchair accessible as early as the 1970s. Now bus companies must re-outfit their facilities and vehicles to meet current accessibility requirements. To date, more than 85 percent of city bus companies in Israel have fully complied. When they don’t, as is the case for two bus major companies that failed to install appropriate loudspeaker systems, the equal rights commission holds the statutory authority to file a criminal charge.
In addition to refining and enforcing the law, the commission raises awareness about the rights and needs of people with disabilities by providing information, seminars and consultations. In all its work – lawmaking, enforcement and advocacy – it employs the inclusive principle of “no decisions about us without us,” engaging people with disabilities at every stage. The commission’s work is supplemented by a host of educational programs and nonprofit organizations – many of which are run by people with disabilities – that strive to integrate people with disabilities into all aspects of Israeli life.
One such organization is LOTEM – Making Nature Accessible, a Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund-supported NGO that offers outings, nature clubs and creative workshops in nature to people with special needs. LOTEM provides programs for children and adults who are blind or visually impaired, deaf or hearing impaired, physically or intellectually challenged, emotionally disturbed or at risk of physical and emotional abuse. LOTEM staff tailors each program’s content to the special needs of the group.
Amos Ziv, LOTEM’s founder and director, helped to develop an aspect of the Equal Rights for People with Disabilities Law that requires nature sites to be accessible to people with disabilities. According to Ziv, the basic accessibility requirements are in place to allow people with special needs the same meaningful encounter with nature that is experienced by their peers. In LOTEM’s Emek Hashalom educational center in Ramot Menashe, specially adapted trails and custom-designed tours enable people with different abilities to touch, smell, hear and feel the Land of Israel. The number of similarly accessible national parks, trails and nature sites is still small, but growing.
With the recent revision of the Law for Equal Rights for People with Disabilities, LOTEM has started to share its service-accessibility expertise with service providers from across the spectrum of Israeli society. LOTEM’s newly constructed visitor center, funded by KKL-JNF donor Gloria Feldman and the National Insurance In - stitute, is the only facility of its kind located in nature – which experts say is a highly conducive environment for learning about the needs of people with disabilities. For example, bus drivers from the Egged and Dan companies participated in a “blind hike,” met a wheelchair-bound LOTEM staff member and public transportation user, and received instructions about how to be more sensitive to people with disabilities on the job.
Disability-rights advocates are hopeful that the Equal Rights for People with Disabilities Law provides the legal foundation for a society in which people with disabilities are accepted and supported. Advocates believe that as more people from all walks of life understand what it is like to live with a disability, the law will begin to change attitudes and shape a more equitable society.