#mesarvot

I always talk about what’s happening in the US, but did you know there are probably some international stories you missed too? There are incredible people doing incredible things around the world.

Like Nepal, for instance…

Nepal

Thu June 18 - In 2007, the Nepal Supreme Court issued it’s first ruling in favor of same sex couples and marriage. over the years there have been two other rulings which strengthened that decision.

But the government was still finding loopholes and denying marriage licenses.

Last month, the Supreme Court closed one of the biggest loopholes by updating “the civil code to remove any discriminatory language.”

Nepal’s first LGBTQIA+ and human right’s organization, Blue Diamond Society, celebrated the ruling saying that the decision proves:

The freedom to marry the person you love is a guarantee under Nepal’s Constitution, and LGBTQIA+ couples and their families must be afforded the dignity, respect, and protections that only marriage can provide.

As we know in the states, the worst discrimination comes with state sanctioned confusion, and now with discriminatory language removed from the code, that confusion has been cleared up.

So happy for Nepal!

Israel

Sun, June 21 - Mesarvot is a refusnik organization in Israel. These are conscientious objectors who refuse to join the IDF draft.

Last month, at the end of the school year, Mesarvot members put leaflets in lockers of graduating students encouraging them to refuse their upcoming military service.

As they said on their social media:

Sometimes the right thing to do isn’t to obey, but rather to resist. This action was meant to show that there is an alternative. That there are youth that chose to act on their morals, that especially at times like this chose to say: We refuse to take part in this cycle of bloodshed.

You might think, oh this isn’t a big deal. But it is.

Many in Israel see the draft as sacred. They believe refusing it is breaking a fundamental values of the country. So these kids are risking a lot.

And one of these students is risking suspension from Ohel Shem in Ramat Gan when school starts again in the fall.

Ohel Shem has a history of being shitty about progressive ideals. Famously back in December, students protested against Education Minister Yoav Kisch, who’s son goes to the school. The students protesting were harassed and told they belong in ghettos (this is worse than if the Holocaust is used to bully someone in the US). The school said the incident was “very unfortunate” but it’s the protesters faults for not asking permission to protest from the school.

So Mesarvot’s actions are bold and powerful and meaningful and we should be supporting them with everything we have.

International

Thu, July 9 - “May contain” labeling world wide, not in the US, will soon include “gluten.” If you’re not gluten free, you probably didn’t notice that that wasn’t included, but currently the only “may contain” label required is “wheat” which doesn’t include rye and barley, which are also grains where gluten is found.

This means it’s fully possible that Celiacs have been getting unknowingly glutenated by a lack of labeling.

Well, this year, at the 49th Session of the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission, that changed.

The Celiac Disease Foundation explained:

This update recognizes that gluten cross-contact should be evaluated using science specific to celiac disease, accounting for total gluten exposure from wheat, barley, rye, and related grains combined and the long-term cumulative exposure risks unique to celiac disease.

Now, the US is not part of this, but it does give the Foundation a new argument to pose to the FDA, which they have already started:

The Celiac Disease Foundation has submitted formal comments to FDA urging the agency to incorporate gluten and celiac disease into its risk-based allergen threshold framework, and to adopt the 4 mg FAO/WHO reference dose as the basis for any precautionary labeling standard. The Foundation has also urged FDA to require declaration of barley- and rye-derived ingredients consistent with major allergen requirements for wheat.

As a Celiac this is very exciting, and I hope these rules change soon in the US too.

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So those are three wins you should know about internationally.

Remember, our voices are our superpower, but only when we use them!

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[Text reads from right to left: refuse the bombing, refuse the starvation, refuse the slaughter.]

Last week, we participated in the Art of Refusal exhibition organized by Mesarvot. The exhibition featured many pieces delving into the nature of refusing enlistment to the IOF.

Our three part exhibit's message is simple: refuse the bombing, refuse the starvation, refuse the slaughter.

Please check out Mesarvot, as well as the wonderful artists, activists and refuseniks that participated the the event.

Tal mitnick is an 18 year old on the 26th he became the first israeli who refused to join the military since october 7th. he was sentenced for 30 days in military prison and will likely serve an upwards total of 4 months!!! I want to give Tal a moment of appreciation. I salute you o7.

Before the IDF attempted to draft him, Greenberg was an activist campaigning against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and against increasingly violent attacks by Jewish settlers on Palestinian villages. Some of these protests turned violent after Israeli security authorities got involved – clearly leaving a mark on Greenberg. When a police car drove past, its sirens on, he flinched and looked around with worry.

Greenberg told CNN he had refused to enlist in the army in protest of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, its war in Gaza and, most recently, its operation in Lebanon. “The war in Lebanon started when I was in jail. I joked that I didn’t even have the time to refuse all their f**king wars,” he noted.

He was born in 2006, the year of the Second Lebanon War – a coincidence that is not lost on him. “The first (Israeli) soldiers have now been killed in the Third Lebanon War and the children who will fight in the Fourth Lebanon War are being born now,” he said.

“This war is creating the next war. The children that see their family die will not stop. I am pretty sure, based on the history, they will choose resistance and violence. It’s sad, but it’s the reality.”

REALLY promising and interesting.

imo, Israelis refusing to fight is the #1 way to end the conflict quickly.

Biden's not doing it. Netenyahu's not doing it.

The Israeli people saying "enough" may be the fastest/only way to save Palestinian lives.