avimaoz.co.il

Avi Maoz currently holds the position of Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s office and oversees the “Jewish Identity Authority,” where he has taken a stance against the LGBTQ community. He is labeled as misogynist, LGBTQphobic, and racist.
Two weeks ago, Hoshen, the Israeli LGBTQ organization for education, launched Israel’s most extensive online tolerance library in Avi Maoz’s name, making rich educational resources accessible to educators of all backgrounds. Now, typing avimaoz.co.il leads to this site, which aims to foster a more tolerant and inclusive Israeli educational system.
Mor Nahari, CEO of Hoshen, said, “The name of the site started as trolling, as a gimmick. I told myself that it would help the site reach more educators and parents. But very quickly, it became the answer to everything I felt in the last months. It became a sign for me that even in the face of the greatest embodiment of despair, we have something to do. It’s easy to succumb to feelings of helplessness and doubt about the impact of our actions. However, this website, which became viral immediately, has reignited the flame of passion and determination to continue the fight for tolerance and inclusivity.”
While Avi Maoz may propagate hate, Hoshen is using his name as a symbol to reach communities across the country and spread love. Thank you, Hoshen, for your invaluable contributions. Please explore their new online library, and stay tuned for English translations of their workshops in the near future.
To learn more about the work of the Israeli LGBTQ Organizations, click here

Published first in JTA

The annual gala of A Wider Bridge, a Jewish LGBTQ group, had all the trappings of a festive event: Guests arrived in cocktail attire finery — one woman wore a tiered, ruffled rainbow dress — to enjoy salad, rice, chicken, an assortment of desserts and schmoozing — and to celebrate the achievements of four activists.

But even though it was the group’s first in-person gala since before the COVID-19 pandemic, the mood on Monday night wasn’t entirely celebratory. Throughout the speeches and sideline conversations was the sense that A Wider Bridge — which advocates for the LGBTQ community in Israel, and for Israel in the U.S. LGBTQ community — was entering a new and uncertain era.

“For Israeli LGBTQ, the ground has shifted beneath their feet,” the group’s executive director, Ethan Felson, said in a speech to the crowd of about 200 attendees. Citing LGBTQ activists in Israel, he added, “Calls to crisis hotlines are up. Incidents of emotional and physical violence are up in Israel against the LGBTQ community. … You can imagine the challenges the trans community is facing — a full assault on their rights and on their lives.”

The crisis Felson depicted has materialized under a new Israeli government that includes vocal anti-LGBTQ officials in senior positions, whose signature legislation to reform the judiciary threatens the set of LGBTQ rights that Israel has long pointed to as evidence of its open society.

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That new reality has complicated the work of A Wider Bridge both in the United States and Israel, and interspersed in the night’s program — speeches celebrating four honorees, some stand up comedy from Jewish comedian Judy Gold, and even a recorded video from Vice President Kamala Harris — was an acknowledgement of the challenges facing LGBTQ rights in Israel. It has also caused the group to double its donations to Israeli LGBTQ groups this year.

“I’ve been in this work for 35 years, and through very complex times, I’ve never felt a greater sense of urgency,” Felson told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency at the event. “The urgency of this moment overshadows everything I’ve certainly done in my career.”

The gala, which took place in an event space lined with golden pillars whose arched windows overlooked Manhattan’s Union Square, occurred at the same time that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich visited the Hasidic community in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Smotrich has called himself a “proud homophobe” and sits in Israel’s governing coalition alongside Avi Maoz, who heads the anti-LGBTQ party Noam. The coalition also includes haredi Orthodox parties that have long opposed LGBTQ rights.

LGBTQ Israel, Mission to America, Impact Grants, A Wider Bridge

We are proud to announce a record amount to be given in Impact Grants for the coming year.

The AWB Impact Grants support twenty different Israeli LGBTQ organizations that build greater acceptance in Israel, including civil rights groups, community centers, educational organizations, and organizations providing health care and other services.
The Israeli LGBTQ community and its remarkable organizations have found effective and powerful ways to advance equality throughout Israel. “In these difficult times, the LGBTQ community in Israel needs our support more than ever. It has been well-publicized that prominent members of the new Israeli government are intolerable towards LGBTQ people, and we must ensure that the diverse and vibrant LGBTQ communities in Israel are not driven back into the closet,” said Alan Schwartz, A Wider Bridge Board Chair.
“AWB impact grants are funded by our generous supporters, many of them new ones who understand the urgent need and who are committed to A Bridge’s Mission of advocating for equality in Israel alongside our partners in Israel,” said Ethan Felson, A Wider Bridge Executive Director.
This year’s impact grants will support five new organizations and a range of special projects, such as providing psychosocial support, hotlines for the LGBTQ community, access to legal information for Palestinians queer asylum seekers, emergency financial assistance, and more. The grants will help LGBTQ Israelis, Jewish and Arab, members of the trans community, and those living in cities and small towns throughout Israel.

Show your support – Donate today to help the Israeli LGBTQ Community

A Wider Bridge, a North American group advancing equality, inclusion, and justice, announced a record amount to be given in Impact Grants for the coming year. 

The AWB Impact Grants support twenty different Israeli LGBTQ organizations that build greater acceptance in Israel, including civil rights groups, community centers, educational organizations, and organizations providing health care and other services.  

The Israeli LGBTQ community and its remarkable organizations have found effective and powerful ways to advance equality throughout Israel. “In these difficult times, the LGBTQ community in Israel needs our support more than ever. It has been well-publicized that prominent members of the new Israeli government are intolerable towards LGBTQ people, and we must ensure that the diverse and vibrant LGBTQ communities in Israel are not driven back into the closet,”  said Alan Schwartz, A Wider Bridge Board Chair.  

“AWB impact grants are funded by our generous supporters, many of them new ones who understand the urgent need and who are committed to A Bridge’s Mission of advocating for equality in Israel alongside our partners in Israel,” said Ethan Felson, A Wider Bridge Executive Director.

This year’s impact grants will support five new organizations (Beit Issi Shapira, The Different House, Israel Trans Association, Pride of Lionesses, TLVfest) and range of special projects such as providing psychosocial support, hotlines for the LGBTQ community, access to legal information for Palestinians queer asylum seekers, emergency financial assistance, and more.  The grants will help LGBTQ Israelis, Jewish and Arab, members of the trans community, and those living in cities and small towns throughout Israel.