by Hagit Rosenbaum, Besheva correspondent, translated by Hillel Fendel.
A judge in Haifa ruled that the Technion cannot shut down a student cell that promotes family values
A ruling like the one handed down a few days ago by Haifa District Court Judge Menachem Raniel has not been seen in these parts for quite a while. A firm and fair stance by a judge in Israel to the side of an organization that supports family values has most unfortunately become a rare judicial jewel of late.
Judge Raniel accepted in its entirety the claim of the Technion's "Choosing Family" organization against the university's administration, and ordered the president of the Technion to allow the cell members to act freely, without having to change its name. The judge also ordered the university to allow the group to adapt part of the Technion's logo within its own logo, just like all the other groups on campus do. He didn't stop there, and levied nearly 12,000 shekels of court costs upon the University.
Not only is the ruling an exciting victory - at least as long as no appeal is filed that might lead to its overturning - for the conservative organization over the LGBT winds blowing in the Technion's administration, the road that led to it was equally fascinating. In his 40-page verdict, Judge Raniel carefully analyzes each of the quotes brought by the Technion to "prove" the invalidity of the Choosing Family movement and its leader Michael Fuah. His conclusion is that there is nothing wrong with the cell's activities to encourage the values of the familiar and traditional family unit. In the Jewish State, this would appear to be self-evident.
The establishment of the campus Choosing Family club in the Technion was accompanied by all sorts of problems from the very outset. First the LGBT activists on campus did not like the group's message, and then they brought Technion President Uri Sivan on board with them.
"When we originally held our founding meeting," Puah recounted, "President Sivan wrote us an encouraging letter, basically saying that there's room for everyone on campus. But the LGBT groups put their pressure on, and a few days letter, Sivan issued another letter in which he made a complete U-turn. He wrote that we are out of bounds, that I am forbidden to enter the campus, that our cell may not carry out any activity in the Technion, and that we incite and cause disturbances and hatred and harm to the students of the Technion."
"Choosing Family" in fact lowered its profile, maintaining only a Facebook page and holding no public activities. But then, just before Chanukah in late 2021, the members decided to hold a very minor event, without the "inciting" presence of Puah and aimed only at Technion graduates. The topic was to be: How to bridge between the needs of family and those of work. After everything was already approved and the event was publicized, suddenly the university issued a ban on the event – unless the sponsoring group, "Choosing Family," was not mentioned at all!
"That was already too much for us," said Puah. "We were forced to cancel the event, and we decided to file a lawsuit against the Technion. We claimed both that they were not allowing us to hold activities, and not allowing us to use a letter from the Technion's logo in our own logo – something that all the other campus cells are allowed to do. We claimed that this was pure discrimination."
It was not only the Administration, of course, that was involved in the campaign against Choosing Family. Professors in the institution wrote public letters against it, and the Haaretz newspaper came out with a large article against the cell and the traditional, non-LGBT values that it promulgates. Puah is also filing a claim of defamation against Haaretz.
Puah is quite pleased with the ruling: "The judge dissected every single one of our statements that the Technion claimed incriminated us – and showed that what we said is legitimate and acceptable. He actually came out strongly against the Technion, asking rhetorically if, when it calls itself a liberal institution, does that mean that only liberal people and groups have the right to self-expression, or are the religious and conservative also allowed to speak on campus? He actually came down quite hard on them."
Judge Raniel rejected every accusation levied against Puah, the Choosing Family cell, and the Choosing Family movement in general. He said that nothing Puah said – except for one particular statement by Puah that requires further examination – disqualifies them from taking part in the public discourse. Because, based on the group's Facebook page, there were actually no "offensive and poisonous sayings" on their part, as had been accused, the judge ruled that the Technion's ban on the group's activities is null and void.
For example, the judge wrote that "the central position of the organization is that Israel should not recognize any family structure other than what it calls the 'natural family.' This view cannot be considered illegitimate, because it reflects the legal reality in the State of Israel." That is, Israel does not recognize same-sex marriages, unless they were effected in or by foreign countries. "It cannot be that the opinion of one who wishes to retain the legal status-quo is not legitimate, and that the only legitimate opinion is held by those who wish to change the current status."
"Even the organization's position that other family structures are destructive of our society is one that should be dealt with, by using convincing arguments to say that other family formats build society in a different way, and not just be prevented from being heard."
Here's another quote from the ruling, for yet another breath of fresh air: "The conclusion from the evidence that has been presented is that Choosing Family stands for positions that are part of a sharp controversy regarding the concept of 'family.' But even when the organization calls those who object to its positions 'family destroyers' and the like, these are not expressions of hatred, but rather the group's opinion regarding what they do, and are not curses or attempted humiliation." How simple, logical, and just – and sadly, not self-evident.
Choosing Family plans to sue the Technion for damages caused it over the two years it was unable to hold activities, as well as for defamation. It will also sue for the harm caused to Puah himself – who in the past delivered many lectures in the Technion, but was of late prevented from doing so by President Sivan's edict.
Puah says that a similar situation is developing in Ben Gurion University in Be'er Sheva, whose administration is making life difficult for Choosing Family. The university has actually sued Choosing Family for 100,000 shekels for using what it claims is its trademarked university logo. "Not only has the symbol not been registered for 20 years," says Puah, "but we found, based on a Freedom of Information inquiry, that the university never demanded that any other organization receive permission for using its logo, and no other organization every asked for such."
Back in Haifa, Choosing Family will begin in the coming days planning its activities for the coming semester, including gatherings, lectures, and the like – and this time, with the official kashrut certificate of the State of Israel.