Marcia Friedman, an Israeli lawmaker who pioneered LGBTQ and women’s rights in the 1970s and started the country’s first women’s shelter, died Tuesday at the age of 83.
The United States-born leftist was also the first champion of the two-state solution, advocating the recognition of an independent Palestinian state.
She divorced her husband in her late 30s and came out as the first known gay Knesset member. To date, she is the only openly lesbian woman to serve in the Parliament of Israel.
Born in New Jersey in 1938, Friedman was active in the American civil rights movement in the 1960s. She came to Israel in 1967, helped found the Israeli feminist movement, and served as a Knesset member for the Ratz Party (which merged with today’s left-wing Meretz Party in the 1990s) between 1974 and 1977.
During that short time, Friedman raised many issues that were sidelined at the time, including abortion rights, gay rights, rape, breast cancer, and domestic violence.
In 1976, Friedman began the first Knesset discussion of violence against women. Transcript from July Discussion Reports reported by the press show that many MPs at the time were outright dismissive of the issue and even viewed the subject as humorous.
“What about the second issue, which is where husbands are beaten by their wives?” Mordechai quipped Ben-Porat, while Meir Pell said: “If a woman beats her husband, the husband should be arrested.”
Friedman replied, “I’m surprised you find this case so amusing, and it proves what I have to say today,” but even Shlomo Hillel, the minister in charge of the issue, was dismissive.
Marcia Friedman, January 28, 1974. (Yakov Essence/GPO)
Police Minister Hillel said there was nothing to discuss as police could not interfere in personal relationships, adding that it was just a manifestation of the general increase in violence.
“In all seriousness … I can’t say that violence perpetrated by men against their wives is a specific problem,” Hillel said then.
“That’s the problem – that you don’t see it,” replied Friedman, who later co-founded Israel’s first shelter for suffering women in Haifa in 1977.
After forming a women’s party that raised awareness for the matter but failed to bring it to the Knesset, Friedman returned to America (though she would travel back and forth to Israel in later years) and through books, articles, and reviews. continued her feminist activism. .
She was the founding president of Britt Tzedek V’Shalom, a pro-peace group that merged with J Street Lobby in 2010.
In 2015, the Aguda rights group selected Friedman to be among 40 people who had the most influence in the history of Israel’s LGBTQ community.
“Murcia fought for our right to live our lives with freedom and without violence,” Aguda said on Wednesday. “The appearance of her in the 1970s inspired thousands of gay women and men who were afraid to be themselves. We hope Marcia’s phenomenal legacy will carry on [more] Representation of gay women in politics.”
“She was a very outspoken woman and didn’t hesitate to speak her mind,” lamented Friedman’s longtime collaborator Esther Elam, who founded the Israeli feminist movement with her. “She said things that were not good, put a mirror in front of Israeli society and caused change. She was a pioneer.”
“Today we lost dear Marcia Friedman,” said Transport Minister Merav Micheli. “She was MK who started the first plenary session on violence against women, which greatly pleased the male MK at the time, who insulted and ridiculed her. An LGBTQ rights warrior who herself came out and worked as a lesbian and a feminist. When it was very unpopular.
Environment Minister Tamar Zandberg (left), and Transport Minister Merav Michaeli. (flash 90)
Meretz’s Minister of Environmental Protection Tamar Zandberg tweeted her condolences, saying she had met Friedman in the US several years ago and “her determination to protect human rights has not diminished.”
Jay Street praised Friedman as “a beloved, outspoken and visionary activist for a wide range of Israeli-Palestinian peace and progressive causes”.
“She became a prominent early champion of the independent Palestinian state and the two-state solution, embracing the idea of a two-state long before it was widely accepted for two people,” the progressive lobby said.
“Her warmth, wisdom, energy and moral clarity gave her an inspiring presence at the J Street National Conference and a powerful voice for the movement she did so much to help build. Our thoughts at this time are Marcia’s family and With friends, and with all who knew and loved him. May his memory be in blessings.”