Hannah Akiva (; born April 4, 1974) is an Israeli social activist and a leader of "The Disabled Panthers", a group working towards getting a minimum wage in Israel, after paying social insurance throughout their years of work. "The Disabled Panthers" came from "The Organization for advancing the rights of the disabled people", a registered association since October 22, 2017. Akiva has been a disabled woman since her late twenties.
Life
Akiva was born healthy in Herzliya as the sixth child of a family of four boys and four girls. Her father, Haim, who emigrated from Morocco, died in 1981 when she was seven years old and her mother, Miriam (Munira), who emigrated from Iraq, died on September 28, 2014. Akiva maintains Jewish tradition.
Akiva studied at Israel Goldstein Youth Village in Jerusalem in Hospitality management studies until the middle of the tenth grade. After her studies, she returned to Herzliya, where she served in the Israel Defense Forces in the Signal Corps at the supreme command post at the Kirya.
In 1997 she had a daughter.
She worked in a meat products factory in Ra'anana, but on October 16, 2003, she had a stroke that left her paralyzed in the left half of her body. The National Insurance Institute made her a disability rate of 76 percent on October 5, 2008, and she is entitled to a general disability pension, a mobility allowance and a special service allowance for payment to a daily caregiver. Akiva drives a van equipped with a wheelchair elevator, a remote-controlled 90-degree steering driving chair, and a joystick that activates the steering wheel and the car controls.
For 15 years, Akiva was in a relationship with a man. After her disability, she continued to raise her daughter, who served in the Israel Defense Forces at the Kirya.
Public activity
In July 2017, Akiva learned about Eyal Cohen, founder of "The Disabled Panthers", when she watched an item about him on the television, and on July 18 she joined the organization's Facebook page. In August 2017, Akiva decided to join actually the Panthers on the roads after watching the news in the under the guidance of in a televised debate between Avital Cohen, an activist of the struggle for disabled people headed by Naomi Moravia, and Professor Avi Simhon, chairman of in the Prime Minister's Office. Simhon claimed that the pension did not include state aid treatment for medication, which was paid separately. Akiva spent money on medication and licensed cannabis more than 1,000 Israeli new shekels (ILS) per month. After the arguments of Simhon, she joined the demonstration of the Disabled Panthers at Or Akiva on August 21, 2017, and held a sign of the Panthers alongside other Panthers. On August 24, 2017, Akiva blocked again Highway 1 to Jerusalem with her red van.
On September 5, 2017, Akiva blocked a road in Caesarea with her car, and took her place with a red shirt alongside Eyal Cohen. On September 14, 2017, Akiva approached Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu via Channel Two News and offered him with tears to exchange with her for one minute.
On September 17, 2017, a driver attacked Akiva during a blockage on Highway 4 near Hadera, after she had prevented him from driving on the sidewalk on his way to the hospital, and her arm was bandaged by a Magen David Adom team. The driver was arrested for questioning, and Akiva was interviewed on Channel Ten at five o'clock by Rafi Reshef. On September 27, 2017, the Israel Police arrested Yael Nitzav, an able-bodied activist who participated in the Panthers' demonstration. In response, Akiva got out of her wheelchair, laid down on the road and hugged Nitzav. As a result, the police released Nitzav's handcuffs.
On October 3, 2017, while blocking the entrance to Port of Ashdod in the morning, Akiva received a traffic ticket from the police, and an additional ticket afterward, when she drove at speed of 5 Kilometres per hour from Ashdod to north on Route 431 (Israel). As a result, she blocked the Ayalon Highway at the Holot interchange near Rishon LeZion at evening. Akiva refused to clear the road and demanded that her tickets would be canceled. The police used a force upon Akiva and also towed Akiva vehicle. Akiva laid down on the road and police called an ambulance, which evicted her to Wolfson Medical Center.
On October 15, 2017, the disabled people traveled slowly with their wheelchairs on Road 2 (the coastal highway) near Netanya, and Akiva took Sasson Ozer, a chairman of the Herzliya disabled people club, who drove his wheelchair behind her on Road 2.