The Hadassah-Brandeis Institute - Project on Gender, Culture, Religion and the Law

The Diane (Dina) Markowicz Lectures on Gender and Human Rights:

2011/2012 Lecture:

The Woes of WOW: The Women of the Wall
as a Metaphor for Israel-Diaspora Relations
- Professor Pnina Lahav

This video was created through the generous support of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA).

This event explored the disturbing trend of making women increasingly invisible in public life in Israel. The evening began with the New England premiere of the Anat Zuria film Black Bus, which documents the rise of sex segregation in Orthodox life, and culminated with the 4th Annual Diane Markowicz Memorial Lecture on Gender and Human Rights. Noted legal historian Pnina Lahav traced the relationship between women's exclusion in religious and public spheres, both in Israel and in the Jewish diaspora.

Cosponsored by: the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life; the Feminist Sexual Ethics Project, which is funded by a grant from the Ford Foundation; the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies Department; the Film Studies Department; the National Center for Jewish Film; Women's and Gender Studies; the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies and the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance.

Click here to watch the Black Bus film trailer

Click here for a recent JTA article that highlights bus segregation in Israel.

Click here to see the official Bet Shemesh flashmob in Israel.

TAKE ACTION

Sign the on-line petition protesting the gender segregation of women in Israel published by Kolech, the Orthodox Jewish feminist organization in Israel.

Please participate in The New Israel Fund's campaign to restore images of women in advertising in Jerusalem here.

For more information and other ways to get involved, see the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance website.

Diane (Dina) Markowicz
November 9, 1956-February 25, 1976

An annual lecture series featuring internationally renowned scholars, judges, and activists discussing ways of negotiating the tensions between gender equality and religious or cultural norms.

2008 – Inaugural lecture delivered by Dr. Shirin Ebadi and Professor Jody Williams, recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize and founders of the Nobel Women’s Initiative.

2009 – Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella, Supreme Court of Canada

2010 – Dr. Abdullahi An-Na'im, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law at Emory Law School

Click here for an archived listing of the 2008 Lecture.

The Lecture Series was created by GCRL Project Founder Sylvia Neil and her husband Dan Fischel in memory of Sylvia's late sister, Diane, to honor her commitment to gender equality and social justice.

For directions to Brandeis University, please click here.

Parking is available on the Brandeis Univeristy campus in the Theatre lot. Parking is limited. Overflow parking will be available in Charles River (J) Lot. A shuttle will be provided.

Commuter train service is available from Boston's North Station (Fitchburg / South Acton line) to the Brandeis/Roberts Station that borders the campus.
See MBTA commuter rail schedules

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