True Prisoners of Zion
An issue that places Israel's status as a democracy into serious question is the law that enables a woman to take out a court injunction against the father of her children simply because he is obligated to pay child support. Even a father who is fastidious, even overly generous, about paying child support can find himself suddenly a virtual prisoner within Israel's borders, unable to leave the country no matter how pressing the reason may be.
Consider the story of one American male who has been living with such a court injunction for the past 15 years:
My personal story is very long, very painful, and not one that I can easily post. In the past, I did so on some other Web sites; the total apathy I encountered hurt worse than the problem itself, which was pretty horrendous. My brother was terminally ill and dying in New York. Although I am an American citizen, I was married to an Israeli in the past and had children with her; I learned, too late to escape, that any man who fathers a child with an Israeli can be trapped in the country until the children come of age. My ex knew this and held me here as my brother died. I never saw him again. I did not get to attend the funeral. I did not get to be with my family during the mourning. Now I am trying to get the court injunction reversed, and it's only spawned more litigation from a belligerent ex-wife who never remarried and will fight just to prove that she's not a loser.
I appealed to the US Embassy, which not only refused to help but lied to my congressman about the law here -- and I have a letter to that effect in my possession. I appealed to everyone I could in cyberspace, but the appeals yielded nothing.
The worst part is that I am held here against my will because I pay support to children that I don't even see. The law in Israel allegedly links child visitation to child support, but American men are in a particularly bad situation in that the courts see them as the wealthy slimeballs who deserve to be plundered and that the Israeli women who do so are virtuous. I've known numerous men who "just disappeared", and I don't know if they're alive today. I know of one who escaped the country illegally and is in the US today, but he's lying low, fearful of being discovered by both the US and the Israeli authorities.
In Israel, the problem is radically different for native-born Israelis and immigrants. Immigrant men have culture shock when they discover the legal mess they are in here, and they are virtually defenseless. Israeli-born men, on the other hand, would never admit to being at a disadvantage; they are too macho to admit vulnerability, even when it exists. It's for this reason that the status of men in Israel is worse than in the US; men are for paying bills, taking out trash, and jumping on live grenades and nothing more. Anyone who complains about this role is admitting to not being a "real" man.
I've thought of setting up my own Web page, because in the past, my story just got swallowed up; a petition got almost no signatures and, consequently, moved nobody to do anything. I identify myself with only one name, one that is common in Israel, so as to avoid being detected here; the police could just come and arrest me, take me away, and do away with me if I were discovered. What I am doing would make waves.
I'm just giving you background information. Please give me some in return. I need the outside contacts.
This man wrote to his congressman to ask him to intervene. The congressman then contacted the U.S. Embassy in Tel-Aviv for verifying information. Curious to see how the U.S. Embassy reacted to this man's appeal? If you're considering coming to Israel, you'd do well to take a look now before it happens to you!
