Following the decision of the High Court of Justice and the slow down of the process of making the Meoras HaMachpela accessible to disabled people, film student and social activist Ariel Livna from Sapir College set up a protest outside the stairway leading up to the holy site. The protest, which is mainly visual in its presentation, shows a number of wheelchairs and walkers that were left at the bottom of the stairs, sending the message of just how problematic the current status quo of the site is.

The staircase leading up to the base of the site consists of 24 steps. That staircase is followed by an additional staircase comprised of 59 stairs, making the possibility of scaling the two staircases extremely dangerous and a near impossibility for disabled people. Two years ago, Motti Ohayan fell down these stairs, sustained a serious injury, and eventually passed away because there is no access for disabled people.

Ariel created a documentary video about the fight to build a wheelchair-accessible entrance including an elevator.

Two months ago, the district court ratified the plans to make the site accessible, but due to the stalling of the current defense minister Benny Gantz, who refused to sign the work permits, nothing has moved forward.

Ariel Livna said: “Not a single disabled person whom I spoke to was willing to come to sit outside the steps due to the shame of simply being left behind. The point of the protest is to emphasize to the public how much of a shame that this truly is that this site is inaccessible to disabled and elderly people. Had we been talking about the Habimah Theater, there is no doubt in my mind that it would have been made accessible years ago.”

Shai Glick, the CEO of Betsalmo NGO spoke about the visual protest and said: “The presentation actualizes, in a very clear way, the deep sadness and suffering that many disabled and elderly face every single day when they are left out of many events and locations by simply not being able to access it. There are 1.5 million people with disabilities in Israel, and all of them are prevented from coming and participating in the activities in this national and historic site. We call upon Benny Gantz that he show true signs of leadership and sign the work order allowing this important construction project to happen.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)