Deployed

Tablet, March 11, 2011 On a Friday night, Filipino congregants are praying in a tiny, unmarked church tucked off a nameless alley in south Tel Aviv. The church is one room, with wood laminate floors and plastic chairs. Burgundy banners read “Elohim” and “Yahweh” in Roman letters. A Star of David made of spoons hangs …

Filipina Maid Faces Execution in Kuwait

The Huffington Post, January 28, 2010 In Kuwait, the clock is ticking for a Filipina maid who faces execution. Jakatia Pawa, a Muslim from a southern province of the Philippines, was convicted of murdering her employer’s daughter in 2008 and was sentenced to death. But Pawa, 34, says that she is innocent. And her attorney, human …

Starting a new chapter

The Jerusalem Post, November 6, 2009 The pulse of drums pounded through Levinsky Park Saturday evening, kicking off the opening of The Garden Library for Migrant Communities in Tel Aviv. The project was initiated by Arteam, an Israeli nonprofit organization, in an attempt to address the intellectual and cultural needs of the many foreign workers …

Raising their spirits

The Jerusalem Post, October 30, 2009 A Star-of-David-wearing Batman chased a Hebrew-speaking Spiderman. The pair wove their way through a crowd of dancing ghouls, singing witches, and smiling princesses—including a blonde Snow White. Orange balloons bobbed overhead and children toted pumpkin-shaped plastic buckets full of candy, reminding the partygoer that it wasn’t Purim, it was …

Fokara’s law

 Fokara’s law The Jerusalem Post, March 27, 2009 Pinto Baptist, an Indian worker currently living in Tel Aviv, was desperate for help in December of 2008. In India, he’d borrowed $9,000 from friends and family to pay the agency fees it cost to come to Israel to work. But when he arrived here, in July …