Deaf immigrants in Israel report that the language barrier further compounds their frustrations of trying to function in Israeli society. Writer Lily Galili with Ha’aretz in an article titled The signs don’t translate here’ says transition to Israel was a shock for them as they were not prepared for absorption into a harsh society that lacks facilities for deaf people and offers no special rights for deaf immigrants. Markov, 33, deaf since birth, is one of these immigrants. Coming from Ukraine, he immigrated over one and half years ago and has a bachelor’s degree in managing centers for the deaf and directed a center that had over 500 members. “This difference is a symptom of the society’s attitude toward those with handicaps,” Markov says. Deaf immigrants not only lack a fluency in spoken Hebrew, but are also cut off from Hebrew sign language, which is completely different from Russian sign language. As a result, the estimated 1,200-2,000 deaf immigrants are also unable to communicate with their deaf peers who are native Israelis. “The vocabulary in Hebrew sign language is very meager,” they say. “There are basic words like ‘father,’ ‘mother,’ ‘eat,’ and ‘sleep’ that have identical signs, but the Hebrew sign language is limited and confusing. Some words, such as ‘correct’ and ‘innocent’ have the same sign and it’s difficult to understand what is being communicated. Sometimes this linguistic and cultural difference also creates embarrassing or amusing situations. TIC sign in Hebrew for “continue” (rubbing the fingers of the right hand in the palm of the left hand) means “pig” in Russian, mimicking the way a pig digs into the earth with his snout. Wasab says at the beginning she felt insulted during conversations with Israeli deaf people because she thought they were calling her a pig. These minor issues and larger problems were discussed last week by four deaf immigrants at the clubroom of the Ashkelon branch of the nonprofit organization “Yedid – Rights Centers in the Community.” Geri Makrov, 63, Iliya’s father, seems the most depressed. In Ukraine, he was a sports teacher and director of the camping and mountain climbing club of the Palace of Culture for the Deaf.