ZGram - 12/8/2002 - "Report slams Israel on sex slavery"

[irimland@zundelsite.org]

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

December 8, 2002

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

Has anybody seen this news release below in a United States daily 
paper?  I haven't.

Please visit the Globe and Mail at www.globeandmail.com - the 
Canadian paper that was courageous enough to run this article - and 
praise them for telling the truth!

How often do we hear:  "Israel is the only democracy in the Middle 
East..."?!  And this is the country that gets supported by America 
more lavishly than any other? 

What a disgrace - for them and for America!  The "Hallelujah for 
Israel" crowd ought to take notice!

[START]

Report slams Israel on sex slavery

Associated Press

Jerusalem -  About 3,000 women, mainly from the former Soviet Union, are
sold each year into Israel's sex industry, which takes in about $1-billion
(U.S.) annually, a parliamentary report said Sunday, slamming the country's
justice system for being lax on punishments.

  The women, seeking to escape poverty at home, are usually smuggled in by
traffickers who promise them legitimate jobs. Once in Israel, they are sold
to pimps for between $3,000 and $6,000 each, the preliminary report said.

  The women receive between $25-$30 per customer, of which the pimp takes
between 80 and 90 per cent, the report said. The women work about 12 hours
a day, six or seven days a week and receive an average of 10 to 15 clients
daily, it added. Often, the women live in dismal conditions and sometimes
they are physically abused or live in fear of their pimps.

  Israeli courts generally reach a plea bargain with the pimps and sentence
them to either a few months of community service or up to an average of two
years in prison, punishments which the committee said are too weak to serve
as deterrents.

  It suggested that these crimes should have minimum prison sentences to
deter the sex traders, who often jail, blackmail and enslave the women.

  In July of 2001, a U.S. State Department report placed Israel on a black
list of countries whose laws don't meet U.S. criteria for dealing with this
crime and threatened economic sanctions.

  Israel has reformed the law somewhat since then, but the committee said it
is not enough to confront the problem effectively. In addition to changes
in the law, the committee suggested an authority be formed to fight the
"war against trafficking in people."


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( Source:  www.globeandmail.com | Toronto Globe and Mail | December 8, 2002 )