Issue No. 7 April 2007

In Brief

The Right to Health

ACRI urgently appealed to the Prime Minister to protest the fact that the national health insurance is being supplanted by private health supplements, which not only places a heavy financial burden on individual patients, but also denies the right to health, bodily integrity, and life, to anyone who cannot afford them.

The Right to Personal Safety

As a result of ACRI's intervention, the Border Guard unit that was stationed next to schools in the Anata neighborhood of East Jerusalem was redeployed, and an ongoing channel of communication was set up to prevent further friction between the two sides.

UN Criticizes Israeli Discriminatory Policies

ACRI welcomes the conclusions of the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), which criticized Israel's discriminatory policies in the Occupied Territories and within Israel. ACRI, together with a number of other local NGO, submitted oral and written testimony regarding Israel's implementation of the Convention.

Forced Evacuation of Negev Bedouin

ACRI sent an urgent written protest to the Minister for Housing and Construction against the proposed evacuation-compensation plan, which according to media reports, will force Negev Bedouin residents to reside in urban settlements that contravene their way of life and communal needs.

ACRI Protests Attacks on High Court

ACRI sent an urgent appeal to the newly appointed Minister of Justice, Professor Daniel Friedman, to protest recent calls by him to curb the power of the High Court of Justice to overturn unconstitutional laws. This judicial power is a critical means of ensuring substantive constitutional protections for human rights.

Revoke Prohibition on Driving in Israel

ACRI submitted a petition the High Court of Justice to urgently request that residents of the West Bank, who are residing in Israel legally, be permitted to drive a vehicle in Israel. ACRI's appeal is on behalf of a man who was born in the West Bank and holds a valid driving license, but is not permitted to drive despite the fact that he has a severely disabled son.

The Right to Freedom of Movement

On 7 March 2007, ACRI petitioned the High Court of Justice to demand the re-opening of road 443 to Palestinian pedestrian and vehicular movement. The road, which is the main thoroughfare in the southern district of Ramallah, is currently designated for Israelis only, which severely limits Palestinian residents' freedom of movement.

ACRI's Public Hotline

ACRI operates a “Public Hotline” for consultation and information on rights entitlement: 02-6521218 (Jerusalem and the south), 03-5608185 (Tel Aviv, the Sharon area and the center of the country), and 04-8526333/4/5 (Haifa and the north of the country).

ACRI report: "Working without Dignity: Workers' Rights and their Violation"

In December 2006, ACRI published a comprehensive report on the violation of workers' rights in Israel. The high-profile report, which was written by Attorney Michal Tadjer, analyzes the tensions between changes in the labor market and the unchanging labor laws in Israel. The report examines the factors that contribute to the increasing trend of exploitation of workers in Israel and provides recommendations on how to end these abuses and bring about positive reforms.

In the course of its fifty-eight years of existence, the Israeli labor market has undergone far-reaching changes and developments. The labor laws--most of which were passed in the 1950s--were created at a time when most workers remained in the same job for most of their lives. Those laws created a network of rights meant to promote and maintain the traditional, long-term form of work. However, from the mid-1980s on, a new outlook began to shape economic and social policy in Israel and, consequently, new patterns of employment evolved. While the ideology guiding government, business, and labor in Israel changed, the labor laws based on the increasingly anachronistic ideology continued to prevail.

That tension between changing ideologies and unchanging laws reverberates throughout this report, which is an attempt to present a picture of the labor market in Israel in the early 21st Century. The report examines the problems and difficulties facing workers in Israel in light of a changing reality, and analyzes the factors that contribute to the increasing trend of exploitation of workers in Israel, their humiliation and transformation into commodities. The report reviews: the frameworks, ways, and methods used that have negatively impacted Israeli workers; the weakest populations of workers in Israel; and the failure to enforce labor law and defend workers` rights. The analysis is supported by the stories of men and women whose rights have been violated, and provides recommendations on how to end these abuses and bring about positive changes to the situation.
For the executive summary of the report in English, please click here.

Same sex couples to get housing aid
This article, by Shahar Ilan, appeared on the front page of Ha`aretz on 13th March 2007. The article highlights ACRI's pivotal role in achieving recognition of the right of same-sex couples to housing and mortgage assistance.

The Housing and Construction Ministry recently decided to provide housing and mortgage assistance to common-law couples - including those of the same sex - thereby removing one of the major obstacles to equality for alternative families.

The decision, which was made two months ago, changes the ministry`s policy of granting such benefits only to married couples and common-law couples with at least one joint child.

"The housing ministry was nearly the last stronghold that persistently refused, for many years, to apply these benefits to common-law couples as well," Dan Yakir, the chief legal counsel for the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, said Monday. "This is also the first instance I know of in which straight people are enjoying expanded benefits in the wake of a gay struggle. Up to now, they have applied benefits to gays that had been given to straight common-law couples."

Over the last few years, the ACRI has been fighting for the rights of two gay couples to receive housing assistance: two men from Kiryat Shmona seeking a grant to purchase an apartment, and two female American immigrants seeking a mortgage to buy a house in Jerusalem.

For the full text click here

ACRI also...

Succeeded in bringing about the cancellation of a tender issued by the Ministry of Health, which violated workers' rights and would have forced the successful company to work at a loss or compromise the workers' basic legal rights. ACRI generated great media interest in the issue and as a result of an in-depth report by Channel 10 news, the ministry announced that it was canceling the tender and re-examining its contents.
Launched a training program for Immigration Police personnel who are responsible for the detention of individuals suspected of residing illegally in Israel, and who have in some cases used excessive force against migrant workers. The program is designed to strengthen their committment and sensitivity to human rights and to provide them with the tools to implement this understanding in their day-to-day work with migrant workers.
Achieved relief for residents of the East Jerusalem Ras Himas neighborhood who faced severe health risks and an extremely poor quality of life due to an ineffective and badly damaged sewage system. As a result of ACRI's intensive negotiations with the Jerusalem water company, Gihon, and an ACRI-initiated tour of the area, Gihon has begun serious and professional work to rectify the problems.
Provided valuable assistment in the establishment of the Coalition for Implementation of the Free Compulsory Education Law for Preschool Children in East Jerusalem. The coalition produced a detailed position paper which focuses on the issue of the lack of early education facilities in East Jerusalem; the paper will be used as a key tool in the coalition's work before decision makers and municipal authorities.
Click here to read the position paper