Israel lights up in purple for Int'l Day of Disabled Persons

The Purple Night Project is the result of a collaboration between the national lottery of Israel Mifal HaPais, The Federation of Local Authorities in Israel and the Shavim website. Shavim translates to "equal" in English. 

Editor of the Shavim website, Idan Mottola, told The Jerusalem Post's sister publication Maariv that with the help of all the project's contributors, an opportunity is created to "to convey an important message: People with disabilities can do a lot, contribute, give to their environment. They just need adjustments and support."

Per request by project producers, special buildings such as the President's Residence, the Ben-Gurion Airport control tower and even Dubai's Burj Khalifa were also lit up in purple. With 163 stories, the world's largest building was given a purple makeover in honor of disabled people all over the world. 

In addition to the light project, people also took to social media to share posts with a purple background paired with the names of people they know. President Reuven Rivlin also participated in the venture, and shared the word "everyone" on his social network accounts. 

Mottola thanked chairman of the national lottery, CPA Avigdor Yitzhaki, "without whom all this would not have happened."

Yitzhaki said that "the national lottery engraved on its banner the issue of integration, support and promotion of people with disabilities in Israel and placed it as one of the five core areas of the organization in the social arena."

He added that in addition to the projects that the national lottery promotes all over the country with the government, the organization is also "proud to lead such a significant project to raise public awareness of the issue.  

"Our message today to these wonderful people: We are with you all the way, and we will continue to invest many resources and efforts for the improvement of your quality of life and for full equality of opportunity in all areas of life."