Tel Aviv----May 29......Fathers Rights "Superdad" Batman joined over 50 civil rights activists in a demonstration this morning at the Family Court House in Tel Aviv, Israel. Fathers4Justice Israel, Horut Shava (Shared Parenting) and the Israel Fathers Rights Association were protesting against gender bias discrimination by family courts and child welfare departments in Israel.

This morning's demonstration was a huge success," said Fathers4Justice Israel spokesperson Joel Leyden. "We had several fathers and human rights groups attending and speaking with one message. That we must do all we can for all of our children and abolish an outdated and destructive Knesset custodian law from 1962. This law, which discriminates against men due to gender bias states that all children in Israel up to the age of six are automatically secure custody by their mothers. Leyden adds: "Fathers Rights organizations with the advice of leading child psychologists are demanding that this law be replaced with modern, basic and healthy reforms for Israeli children and their fathers."

The 4 hour protest, which was held under a scorching Middle East sun, took place outside of the Hamehozi courthouse in Tel Aviv. It caught the eye of hundreds of attorneys and their clients. "At one point, the police attempted to stop the demonstration and tried to disperse the group," said Leyden. "We later discovered, that it was actually the family court judges inside who had complained to the police. But due to the fact that we had prior written authorization and the cooperation of the Israel police, the rally continued.

This fathers rights demonstration took on a more human tone as "Superdad" Batman joined the civil rights activists.

"We have learned much from the nonviolent, highly visible and friendly campaigns of Fathers4Justice in England, the US and Canada," said Leyden. "We are here to gather support, not alienate anyone. Having Superheros such as Batman, Spiderman and Superman representing us offers a warm touch to both the children for which we have been separated from and the public which needs to learn that most dads are loving, caring and responsible fathers who love their children no less than the mothers do. When the courts and child welfare departments in Israel separate father from child they are inflicting a devastating blow to that child's emotional and mental development."

"The family court judges are creating a nation of orphans in spite of the fact that the fathers are still alive,". said Michael Krongauz, a spokesperson of the Israel Children's Rights organization Children Need Both Parents. "These children will soon become alienated from their fathers and develop personality disorders, loss of self esteem and take to drugs due to to present social and judicial environment here in Israel," said Krongauz. "A person who stands by and watches passively as children are victimized are as guilty as the criminals themselves."

Fathers 4 Justice Israel is part of an evolutionary, dynamic international movement with specific objectives and targets needed to achieve for the critical needs of children and their families. The child's best interest principle addresses that the child's best interest was most served by children maintaining a loving, meaningful relationship with both parents.

Is it in the child's best interests to deny them the love of their parents or grandparents? Is it in the child's best interests that their parents are forced onto benefits or effectively asset stripped fighting protracted legal battles when they have no hope of seeing their children because Judges refuse to enforce their own orders? Often the very people who proclaim to be acting in the child's best interest are those who profit the most. Money (often savings, salaries, equity in property) for your children quickly becomes an income stream for advocates, judges, and a grotesque gravy train of other 'experts'. Outcomes for children have never been worse.

The Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) is a medical and legal term describing what many children suffer from resulting from a court's reinforcement of the systematic denigration by one parent by the other with the intent of alienating the child against the other parent. The purpose of the alienation is usually to gain or retain custody without the involvement of the father. The alienation usually extends to the father's family and friends as well. Dr. Richard Gardner in his book 'The Parental Alienation Syndrome' states (P.74) "Many of these children proudly state that their decision to reject their fathers is their own. They deny any contribution from their mothers. And the mothers often support this vehemently. In fact, the mothers will often state that they want the child to visit with the father and recognize the importance of such involvement, yet such a mother's every act indicates otherwise. Such children appreciate that, by stating the decision is their own, they assuage mothers guilt and protect her from criticism. Such professions of independent thinking are supported by the mother who will often praise these children for being the kind of people who have minds of their own and are forthright and brave enough to express overtly their opinions.

Frequently, such mothers will exhort their children to tell them the truth regarding whether or not they really want to see their fathers. The child will usually appreciate that "the truth" is the profession that they hate the father and do not want to see him ever again. They thereby provide that answer - couched as "the truth" - which will protect them from their mother's anger if they were to state what they really wanted to do, which is to see their fathers. It is important for the reader to appreciate that after a period of programming the child may not know what is the truth any more and come to actually believe that the father deserves the vilification being directed against him. The end point of the brainwashing process has then been achieved.

Recently, The Israel Ministry of Health and the Israel Ministry of Justice have been taking a hard, serious look at the benefits of joint custody in the Jewish state. Joint custody might very well be the best option for children of separation and divorce, an American family psychology study found. Trekking from Mom's home during the week to Dad's on the weekend may seem like a hassle for some children of divorced parents, but it just might be best for them in the long run, concludes a meta-analysis, published in the March Journal of Family Psychology (Vol. 16, No. 1). The study finds that children from divorced families are better adjusted when they live with both parents at different homes or spend significant time with both parents compared with children who interact with only one parent. Robert Bauserman, PhD, of the Baltimore Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, reviewed 33 studies that examined 1,846 sole-custody and 814 joint-custody children. Both groups of children were compared with a sample of 251 kids in intact families.

Bauserman found that children in joint-custody arrangements had fewer behavioral and emotional problems, higher self-esteem and better family relationships and school performance compared with those in sole-custody situations. And he found no significant difference in adjustment among children in shared custody and those living in intact family situations. Joint-custody children probably fare better, according to Bauserman, because they have ongoing contact with both parents. The contact with both parents, he argues, is the key ingredient in kids' adjustment, he said. The findings indicate that children don't necessarily need to be in joint physical custody to show better adjustment, they just need to spend substantial time with both parents. Also, according to the research, couples with joint-custody agreements tend to experience less conflict -- which speaks to the concern that joint custody is harmful to kids because it exposes them to ongoing parental strife. In fact, Bauserman notes, "it was the sole-custody parents who reported higher levels of current conflict." He found that some research shows that joint custody may actually reduce parental conflict over time. Obviously, joint custody isn't always preferable to sole custody. When one parent is abusive or neglectful sole custody could be the best option for the children, Bauserman says.

The Israel Association for Father's Rights and Fathers4Justice Israel supports the above study as well as other human rights groups based in Israel. The Israel Association for Father's Rights (IAFR) has over 80,000 members, a large and professional staff of social workers and family attorneys. The IAFR, which is based in Tel Aviv, works closely with the Israel Ministry of Health, the Israel Ministry of Justice and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.

Highly visible protests by both the Israel Fathers Rights Association and F4J Israel for equal access and shared parenting are now being planned at family court houses throughout Israel. The Israel Association for Father's Rights has been at the legal and ethical forefront fighting against parental abuse by mothers, the legal and callous use of children as pawns in divorce cases, abusive child support (mezonote) decisions, false claims of sexual harassment and the basic human right of full and joint custody for fathers.

"Batman wore an Israel Defense Forces dogtag (diskit) over his uniform," said Leyden. "The message he was delivering was that Israeli men serve proudly in combat positions in the IDF. They face Islamic terrorists daily - Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah and Hezbollah. They provide security to each and every Israel citizen from Metulla in the North to Eilat in the South. But for these divorced men, they know no security today when it comes to being with and raising their own children. They have less basic, human civil rights than the worst of criminals. These men will continue their struggle for Israel's security and we pray that Israeli society will one day in the very near future recognize that if you can carry an M-16, then you can also carry your own child on your shoulders with the same dignity and responsibility."

Related Websites: New York Times, The Jerusalem Post

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