עתיד משגב

Atid Misgav – Misgav's Future

"Misgav's Future" is a group of citizens, primarily from the Misgav region (though our door is open to everyone) with the objective of taking a stand against discriminatory legislation in Israel.  Our stated agenda is to work against legislation that supports the discriminatory practice common among the absorption committees of community-based villages (yishuvim kehilati'eem) of rejecting potential residents on the basis of "a candidate's unsuitability for the life-style and social fabric of the village as a community of social and cultural unity.

Members of this group started organizing after the publication of an interview with Ron Shani, head of the Regional Council, in the local newspaper "A La Gush." In this interview, Shani boasts of the fact that the regional council under his directorship is an active partner in lobbying and actively working for the passing of aforementioned legislation.

Members of this group see such legislation as intrinsically discriminatory and undemocratic, and that involvement in such legislation stands in stark opposition to the pluralistic and open nature of the Misgav community.  We feel that advancing such legislative efforts will result in polarization and conflict within the villages of this region and may in fact cause the dismantling of these communities which have lived in harmony for decades.

The residents of the Misgav villages have hitherto enjoyed the privilege of choosing who their neighbors will be.  Indeed, Misgav residents have not always recognized the contradiction between this privilege and the foundational rights in a democratic society – the right for equality before the law, the right of equitable distribution of public resources, the right to freedom of speech, thought and political affiliation unconnected in any way to one's place of residence, and the right of fair purchase.

Political forces on a national level have abused this natural tendency of the local residents to preserve the aforementioned privilege in order to advance national legislation which represents another step of distancing Israel even further from its own democratic ideals and principles.

This group seeks to work toward accomplishing the following goals:

• Halting the Knesset legislative process intent upon passing such discriminatory laws.
• Expanding the circle of residents from the Misgav region which will choose the wider value-driven platform over the narrow self-interests of comfort and familiarity.
• Preventing the Misgav Regional Council from participating in activities which will exacerbate and increase political conflict within our local villages and may even cause the dismantling of these villages.
• Creating a wide-spread public and medias-based awareness about this non-democratic legislation and informing the public about the negative consequences and significances of selective processes of acceptance to the Galilean villages.

The group is happy to accept the aide of any individual or factor which can advance its stated agenda and goals. However, the group is not  affiliated or identified with any political or organization party beyond itself.

This site will function as a platform for anyone wishing to express his/her thoughts on the subject.

Residents of the Misgav region and other citizens are invited to join in these activities by registering here.

Please see this as a personal invitation to take a stand on this crucial subject.

You are also invited to contact us or write a response to any one of the position articles appearing on this site.