You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the Lord (Leviticus 19:14)

Israel was recognized by the UN as a world leader in serving the needs of its disabled citizens at a recent UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities conference, when Jean Judes, Executive Director of Beit Issie Shapiro, was invited to address the conference.

Beit Issie Shapiro is an Israeli non-profit organization which works with and advocates for people with disabilities.  It was started by English-speaking olim (immigrants to Israel) and is based in Raanana.  In addition to Judes’s appearance at the July conference in New York, the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) awarded BIS special consultative status last year.  In May, BIS hosted a conference of Israeli advisors to the ECOSOC on disability issues.  The conference was led by led by UN NGO Chief Andrei Abramov, who stated, “Israel has much to offer the world through…sharing its expertise and incredible innovations.”

In her talk, Judes discussed the wheelchair-bound character BIS introduced on Israel’s Hebrew Sesame Street.  The collaborative effort resulted in Sivan, an intelligent, friendly puppet aimed at improving Israeli children’s perceptions of people with disabilities. The character has since been used in workshops for children across the country.

“We discovered that children at a very early age think, feel, and act differently towards children with disabilities and have negative perceptions towards them. In order to remove barriers and to make a real deep change in society, we have to change attitudes along the whole age spectrum,” Judes said in her presentation.

Judes also described the inclusive playground BIS helped install in Raanana.  Park Chaverim, or Friends Park, is an all-access playground, with special equipment designed to allow children with disabilities to participate.  In the words of Anastasia, an 8-year-old visitor to the park, “Park Chaverim has lots of fun equipment that’s also made for kids like me. In a typical playground, you can’t get to everything with a wheelchair. There’s not always enough room for it to get through. But here there’s a special path where I can ride my wheelchair right up to the top of the slide. When I’m swinging fast I feel like I can fly! The nicest thing is that you can always make new friends here.”  BIS is now consulting with 30 local councils and several other countries, including the UK, South Africa and Uruguay, to build similar parks. In response to Park Chaverim, Israel has recently passed a law requiring all new parks to be accessible.

“At a time when boycotts of Israel are on the rise, I am proud to represent the ‘Start-Up Nation’”, says Judes.  “Beit Issie Shapiro develops innovations that impact positively on people with disabilities and change attitudes in the community towards people with disabilities.”

Nicole Jansezian, an American-Israeli and director of Christian Friends of Shalva, agrees that Israel deserves this distinction. Jansezian’s son Daniel attends the nursery school for children with Down syndrome at Shalva, a Jerusalem-based organization that treats children with physical and mental disabilities free of charge to hundreds of participants with special needs.

“There is a sense of professionalism, advocacy and hope for special needs children here that demonstrates to me how much Israelis value every human life,” Jansezian said. “Because of the treatment my son receives at Shalva, I honestly believe that we are better off staying in Israel.”