The singer and creator Nirit Hotobli recently filed a precedential lawsuit with the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court against the Jerusalem Municipality, after refusing to support her show because it is intended for women only and allegedly discriminates against men. Hotoboli claims that this very refusal is an act of discrimination.
The chain of events that led to the filing of the lawsuit began with a call from the Jerusalem Municipality, which addressed the creators and invited them to participate in a series of content events on weekends in private homes. As part of the project, called “At Mishou”, the residents of the city are invited to host in their private homes a creator from the pool of creators chosen, according to their taste and preferences, and the municipality subsidizes the event.
In the regulations of the project it is emphasized that “there will be no religious, gender or sectarian discrimination in the events and in their content”. After Hotovli read it, she asked the people in charge if she could still participate in it. The answer confirmed her fears. “According to the procedures of the Jerusalem Municipality, events cannot legally be held in a gender-segregated manner,” said the answer she received, and therefore “you will not be able to participate in the project due to your special need.”
Hotobli didn’t say desperate. In the email she sent to the municipality, she claimed that her appearance in front of women does not harm anyone, but this appeal was not even answered. She therefore sent a warning to the municipality through her lawyer, Adv. Therefore, the two filed a claim for compensation.
In the statement of claim, Nordman claimed that it was not Hotobli’s refusal to appear in front of women, but rather the municipality’s decision to prevent her from participating in the project, that constituted discrimination on the grounds of religion. “There is no legal source that prohibits a singer’s performance in front of only women,” it said there. “There is no doubt about this: in fact, according to the municipality’s position, in order for a woman to be allowed to sing and practice her profession, she must also provide her services to men, against her will.
“This position is unfathomable: forcing a man to provide personal service, certainly forcing a woman to provide personal service such as singing to a man – no, you will not be able to sing at all – belongs to other periods and other regimes, and undermines the institutional foundations of our legal system. There is therefore no problem that has no source The teacher rules like this”.
In accordance with the Law Prohibiting Discrimination in Products and Services, the amount of the claim was set at NIS 50,000. Now the municipality will be required to submit a statement of defense within sixty days.
Attorney Nordman, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Hotobli, told us that “the meaning of the municipality’s decision is that the way to participate in the voices of these readers, and in general to benefit from public funding, is blocked for a religious artist who adheres to Halacha. This is clear discrimination on the grounds of religion.
Nordman also states that “the claim that gender segregation is discrimination produces imaginary discrimination. There has never been a man who complained about not being allowed to enter Nirit’s concert or any other singer of her type. In my opinion, the municipality knows very well that its position is unfounded, therefore, before filing the lawsuit, it suggested that Nirit submit again her offer, but she refused to retract her legal position and state that the fact that Nirit appears only to women will not work against her. Of course we refused and filed the lawsuit.”
The Jerusalem Municipality responded: “The general directive is that any request to hold a segregated event must be legally examined and permission to hold the event must be obtained. Upon receipt of the request regarding alleged discrimination, the youth authority, which published “The Calling Voice”, was instructed to freeze the project in order to check the claims made It was made clear to the creator that she will be allowed to submit an application for the project, and it will be examined in accordance with the established parameters in accordance with the provisions of the law and in accordance with the rules in the framework of the procedure. The municipality will submit its response to the statement of claim to the court.”