The Israel Post Office issued 5 stamps on April 8, 2014.
According to information from The Israel Philatelic Service, there are 750,000 deaf and hard of hearing people, of which approximately 15,000 use sign language.
“Meir and Sandler (2004”, who studied Israeli Sign Language, found that the utterances in this sign language include three main categories: handshapes, movements and location…
“The deaf population in Israel suffers from social exclusion. The oppression of this population is mainly manifested in their inability to realize social rights, including the right to official recognition of their natural language and to a complete education in this language.”
This info came from The Institute for the Advancement of Deaf Persons in Israel.
Description for the stamps says “The signs that appear on the stamps are presented as images comprised of a handshape and the location of the sign. Elements such as movement and facial expression, which appear simultaneously with the signing, are not expressed in the static image.
“The signs that appear on the stamps: Goodbye, Love, Friendship, Kiss, Thanks and the sign for Greetings, which appears on the special cancellation, constitute a basic group of signs in Israeli Sign Language, intended to reveal, bring together and create a bridge between the world of the hearing and that of the deaf.”
Photos of hands on the maps were taken by Pini Hamou. Assistance with hand photos by Sara Lansman. The Institute for the Advancement of Deaf Persons in Israel.
They state that “Deaf people have a right to participate equally and actively in so all areas of life; in order to fully utilize these rights their language Sign Language – must be recognized.”
Source: Israeli Post Office
