Accessibility & My Experience

So. This fonsfaq thing is a thing, and marina has most magnanimously put up a post for questions about Israel. These are difficult questions! And very interesting ones!

Marina gave a long answer about disability laws, and some things regarding military service. I wanted to write something a little more personal, and possibly drop some anecdotes.

I am going to ramble like there's no tomorrow.

( I have a chronic illness. )

( I am a university student. )

When it comes down to it, I don't think Israel is that different from other places to be ill or disabled in. Doctors will be exhausting, strangers also. Places like clinics and hospitals, and government offices, are more likely to be accessible than other types of places, like restaurants, places of work or entertainment venues. Yuppie neighborhoods like my current one are more likely to have accessible businesses than places like my old neighborhood, which was populated by students, religious families and work immigrants. Laws for the rights of people with disabilities both exist and are insufficient. People are people -- it's hard to predict ahead of time whether they'll be exhausting or forthcoming.

I have been writing this entry for more than an hour and I rambled much worse than I feared. Here, have a jazzy performance of an Israeli lullaby:

( YouTube video )