Background Culture; The Establishment of Israel
Located in the middle east Israel (established in 1948) is still considered to be a new recognized country. However even though the country is still thought to be newer, they have made leaps and bounds when it comes to technology. Though this wasn’t necessarily a topic up for debate, as a new country lacking in “natural resources” (Science, 1998) technological and educational advancement was seen as the only chance at survival as a nation. Now Israel has “the 21st highest per-capita GDP in the world”(Science, 1998). Along with this impressive technological growth is the gender equality found in Israel. Women’s rights in Israel differed significantly from that of the U.S. and still do today. In Israel women’s rights have never been questioned, nor have they ever suffered from any type of gender roles or societal stereotyping. Even from the very beginning women were considered to be equal counterparts of men. But it wasn’t until the establishment of the Women’s Equal Rights Law (Berkovitch, 1996) in 1951 that Israeli women were legally backed by the Israeli state.
Women’s Rights in Israel
This was one of the key factors in the growth and steady plateau of women involved in technological advances. Without recognition of equality it would be almost impossible for an Israeli woman to participate in technology. However, because they recognized women as equals so early on, it led to the increase of women going to school. Even before Israel was recognized as a state, they had begun constructing new institutions that would promote the advanced knowledge and education their country needed in order to produce such a large technological advancement in such a short amount of time. The first to be created was the Israel Institute of Technology (1924) followed shortly by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. And, by 1993 women made up “more than half” (Halperin, 2004) of attendees at the collegiate level.
But, the first women to reach an even higher level of excellence would be Golda Meir the first Prime Minister of Israel. She was in office from 1956-65 and became known as the “symbol of Israeli resolve” (Golda). Meir was extremely passionate about protecting Israel and even served a second term as Prime Minister from 1969-1974 when the Prime Minister at the time Levi Eshkol passed away.
Another aspect of Israel that is unique is women in the army and other defense forces. Women have always been encouraged to join the army and can be drafted in times of war. The main legislation behind this was the Security Service Law (1949). In comparison, the U.S. just this past Summer passed the legislation to allow women to not only join the army but serve in the infantry. A smart part of this program is that if you’re serve the military will pay either your entire college tuition or a small percentage.
Discrimination
Something to be mentioned is the discrimination of Arabs that is still occurring today in Israel. Jews are still largely in charge of society as a whole. For example, Arabs are not allowed to join the army and therefore not allowed to benefit from the system. To draw a parallel to that of the United States it is a similar situation that African Americans faced until after the civil rights movement lasting through the 1970’s. Arabs, like African Americans, are discriminated against. However, Arab discrimination is based on both their lack of Jewish heritage and religion but it affects all aspects of their daily lives. Aspects of life that are completely different are “land, urban planning, housing, infrastructure, economic development, and education”(Arab,2011) , while Jewish people lead more privileged lives.
Technology Uses
Technology in 2009 was the beginning of the new generation of technology. From ipods, to touch screen phones that had 4G. Technology that today is taken for granted. For example GPS on mobile phones was released as well as the creation of Apps for phones.
