Subscribe to Print Edition | Wed., August 06, 2008 Av 5, 5768 | | Israel Time: 16:41 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Last update - 11:33 05/08/2008 Just say no By Avirama Golan Tags: Hebrew University  Even before the matter of Prof. Eyal Ben-Ari of the Hebrew University reaches court, if it ever gets there, it seems the affair will be another milestone on the winding road toward changing the norms of what is allowed and what is forbidden between the sexes. Until the complaints were filed with the police, the media based its information on the affair on an anonymous letter. But the progression of events laid out in the letter is worth looking at, because the reality it describes reflects this change, with all its problems. Even if Ben-Ari is proved innocent, it is permissible for the sake of a principled debate to imagine that Ben-Ari, or some other professor, did actually take advantage of his position of authority in the delicate and complex relations between a professor or thesis adviser and his female students. It is also reasonable to assume that these students, whether in partial acquiescence due to fear, or even as a result of horrendous judgment that took into account their chances of success at the prestigious academic institution, gave in to the pressure in the end. Advertisement Anyone who has spent a few years in academia knows. Such cooperation has many different facets: Sometimes it turns out to be only one night at a conference abroad, sometimes it's a short affair, and sometimes it may be the constant pressure of harassment, simmering away on a small flame and blurring the border between work and private lives. This blurring is the heart of the matter, characteristic of a university as a place of work. It is a hierarchical system in the most traditional meaning of the word, but a large part of its work is based on close personal relationships laden with emotion. In recent years the universities, like other workplaces, have seemingly started undergoing a process of democratization: Officious honor and respect have been replaced by a warm buddy-buddy atmosphere, and the changing norms of sexuality have made relationships possible that would have been scandalous in the past. This change has caused a lot of confusion in the universities and similar workplaces, where the rules of the game are not clear. The limits on the relationship between an actress and a producer, an editor and a writer, a newspaper editor and a reporter, a renowned lawyer and a young intern - and many more, including the reversal of roles between the sexes or in cases of the same sex - are now arbitrary and vague. In Israel, where the use of first names and the contempt for formality are particularly extreme, the ambiguity is many times worse. But at the same time, in a process that represents the opposite of these other changes, Israeli society has made a clear public and legal statement to internalize the new norms for relations between the sexes. Instead of "When you say no what do you mean?" there is now "No means no." And instead of "flirting with a soldier" there is "abusing a position of authority." Such norms, which are based on a view of equality between the sexes, are exceptional in their clarity relating to labor relations. In a precedent-setting decision from July 1997, then judge Ezra Binyamini of the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court demonstrated the change's intensity when he sentenced a man to nine months in prison for performing consensual indecent acts and having sexual intercourse with a woman who was his subordinate at a cookie factory. "While the defendant did not rape the complainant in terms of the strict definition of the law, he raped her soul," the judge wrote. The atmosphere in the universities and other similar workplaces is different from that in a cookie factory, and activist feminists have made this difference clear, including Prof. Orit Kamir, one of the initiators of the law against sexual harassment. While understanding the dangerous ambiguity in academia, they have struggled to change the system's norms and have reached a number of seemingly small but significant achievements, including the rule requiring leaving the door open during meetings between a female student and her instructor. However, the Ben-Ari affair has led the same activists to a dangerous retreat. As opposed to a worker in a cookie factory, who was a single new immigrant without any support and needed the job desperately, the doctoral students did not immediately complain to the police, they did not expose the sexual exploitation the minute it began and preferred to write anonymously. And only after the police started their investigation did they file a complaint. These actions could destroy the achievements. Young women from the elite of Israeli society should not hide behind an anonymous letter for over a year, during which time rumors spread at the university. It is not appropriate for them to be presented publicly as helpless. At this critical moment - when norms are being clarified in the ivory towers and there seems to be a chance to educate not only army officers but also professors - they must not retreat. Even if their personal cost is high, they must, more than any A. or G., say no forcefully at the right time, and even if they did not do so, they must breathe life into the law and complain loudly and publicly now. Bookmark to del.icio.us   New bestsellers Three children's books about the US presidential race to be published soon. False accusation Pentagon admits it wrongly accused Jewish army engineer of spying for Israel.   1.   Do not blame the victim 12:53  |  Laura Goldman 05/08/08   2.   GOT LADY PROFESSORS? 15:20  |  Petra 05/08/08   3.   victims are humans and have feelings!!! 15:52  |  Ani 05/08/08   4.   MORE Haaretz deceipt " Ben Ari is from the "peace" camp 20:31  |  Moshe 05/08/08   5.   victims ... or maybe blackmailers ? 21:39  |  VERY ANONYMOUS 05/08/08   6.   The Salem Witch story version 2007 16:37  |  Not annonymous 06/08/08

Read & React IAF: Hezbollah anti-aircraft missiles could threaten Israeli planes Responses: 117 ANALYSIS / Iran's real nuclear tactic is to keep buying time Responses: 21 Why did the U.S. turn away Gaza Fulbright scholars? Responses: 47 VIDEO / IDF trains for simultaneous Iran, Syria, Hezbollah missile strikes Responses: 57 Alexander Yakobson: Some police officials are kicking Olmert on his way out the door Responses: 7 More Headlines 16:37 Israel, U.S. to develop new Arrow missile defense system 16:37 Noam Shalit: Gilad is holding the entire Gaza Strip hostage 11:10 Israeli Arab charged with spying for Hezbollah 15:00 Abbas to demand release of Marwan Barghouti, PFLP head in meeting with Olmert 12:12 Mofaz: Iran is the root of all evil, threat to world peace 12:21 Israeli TV ad poking fun at oil sheikhs draws Saudi ire 16:06 Congress likely to see record number of Jewish legislators 15:41 Ultra-Orthodox community issues anti-organ donor cards 10:47 IAF: Hezbollah anti-aircraft missiles could threaten Israeli planes 15:59 Egypt to test DNA of two mummified fetuses from King Tut's tomb 14:52 PA: Mofaz as head of Kadima would be disaster for peace 12:24 Haredi MK tapped as candidate for Jerusalem mayor poses 'real test' for secular 12:23 Israel frees 5 Palestinian prisoners in final stage of Hezbollah prisoner exchange 11:48 10-year-olds aren't too young to be brides in Saudi Arabia Previous Editions Select Day 05 aug 04 aug 03 aug 01 aug 31 jul 30 jul 29 jul 28 jul 27 jul 25 jul 24 jul 23 jul

Special Offers Advertisement Fattal Hotel Chain Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel. Isaac Maimon at Dreamshoppe Special summer sale. Make an offer now. You will be surprised. MBA in Israel in English APPLY NOW! Limited spaces available Israel's Premier Real Estate Website www. israel-property.com Yossi Avrahami Presents: New Luxurious Projects in North Tel Aviv & Eilat Your vacation starts here Israel Travel Center Guaranteed Lowest Rates Hebrew Summer courses From $39.95 ISRAEL BONDS Build Israel Israel bonds - a multi-purpose way to celebrate Israel's 60th Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

Real Estate in Israel | Travel to Israel with Haaretz | Hotels Israel | Restaurants Israel | Tourist attractions Israel | Shops Israel

birthright Israel | Search engine marketing

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved