Issue No. 20, July 2010

In Brief

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Human Rights Education in Yaffo

In June, ACRI concluded an innovative pilot program for youth entitled "Youth Connect to Yaffo" with the Israeli Reform Movement's pre-military academy, situated in Yaffo. The program is part of ACRI's new Youth Education initiative launched in 2009; it introduced 45 participants from the academy, high school graduates who will soon be drafted to the military, to a human rights discourse framed in Yaffo's complex social issues. ACRI's specially designed program received outstanding feedback and challenged participants to examine contentious issues such as Jewish-Arab relations in the city as well as their role in this reality. Photo: Yaffo, ActiveStills.org

Balancing Security and Rights

In July, ACRI submitted a position paper on Israel's draft Counter-Terror Bill, 5770, highlighting the need to balance the fight against terror with human rights and democratic values. We pointed to several problematic clauses in the draft law, including the use of secret evidence and mechanisms employing administrative detention and control orders in Israel's contemporary and permanent legislation. As such, ACRI claims the draft bill does not significantly ameliorate the protection of human rights in the context of counter-terrorism, which given that the bill would be permanent, would cause irreparable damage to Israel's overall protection of human rights - and its standing as a democratic state. For details, click here.

Safeguarding Children in the OPT

In June, ACRI and partner organization Yesh Din appealed to the Judge Advocate General of the Israel Defense Forces, requesting the amendment of legislation effective in the West Bank to provide appropriate protection for minors in the military court system. At present the legal age of majority in security legislation for the West Bank is 16, as opposed to 18 in Israeli criminal law and international law. Despite a few recent changes, military legislation still does not grant special protection to minors in the criminal process, constituting a grave violation of children's rights and international law as well as clear discrimination between Israelis and Palestinians.

Demanding Adequate Postal Services in East Jerusalem

On June 8, ACRI submitted a petition to the High Court of Justice, demanding a fundamental overhaul of the faulty postal service in East Jerusalem. According to ACRI's estimation, most East Jerusalem neighborhoods are served by a lone postman who delivers mail once a week, at most. This reality causes great harm to Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem because many of them don't receive mail at all - including critical documents, bills, and payments - or receive it at great delay. For details, click here.

Internships at ACRI

ACRI is seeking motivated interns to work in its International Relations Department for 3-5 months in fall 2010 or for a one-year fellowship starting in September 2010. Candidates must be native English speakers with excellent writing skills; functional knowledge of Hebrew is an asset. Please send CVs and writing samples by July 19, 2010 to melanie@acri.org.il.

ACRI's head office has moved to Tel Aviv. Please note our new contact information:

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel
Nahalat Binyamin 75
Tel Aviv 65154
Israel

Tel: +972-3-560-8185
Fax: +972-3-560-8165
E-mail:mail@acri.org.il
www.acri.org.il

Our Jerusalem and Haifa branch offices remain at the same addresses - click here for full details.

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).

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© ACRI 2010

Protecting our Democracy

ACRI continues to lead the struggle to promote Israel's core democratic values, despite the myriad challenges we face. Our Democracy Project, launched earlier this year with the generous support of the European Commission, aims to highlight the importance of democracy to the well-being of our society and to reinforce these values among the public. Project Coordinator Anat Hod works closely with ACRI staff members to meet these objectives through various channels: the media, online, in the Knesset, and through public events. ACRI also works in cooperation with our partner organizations Agenda, Sikkuy and Shatil to strengthen the voice of civil society in promoting democracy. View a recent video (below) of ACRI's Executive Director, Hagai El-Ad, explaining why ACRI demands the protection of freedom of speech for all, even those who aim to delegitimize us.

Click here to read "The Security Argument", an oped by ACRI's Attorney Lila Margalit published in The Jerusalem Post, about the public's right to know and due process as the basis of a healthy democracy.

Change, One Day at a Time

In May, ACRI launched an innovative public campaign called Action-A-Day, which provides members of the public with accessible, simple ways - one per day - to help promote the rights of Palestinians in Area C of the West Bank. Area C is under full Israeli jurisdiction; yet since 1967, the Israeli authorities have not published official plans for the Palestinian communities therein, meaning that most cannot build legally and many of the villages do not have access to running water. The campaign, combining online networking, such as a Hebrew-language blog, an online game, and various multimedia with direct actions offline, is run in cooperation with partner organization Bimkom - Planners for Planning Rights. Play the video game by clicking on the link below:

Since its inception, Action-a-Day has been a tremendous success, with widespread participation and interest. Actions include letter-writing campaigns, a tour, participation in various events and festivals, and protest activities. More than 10,000 people have been exposed to the campaign and more than 800 people joined the campaign website on Facebook. Furthermore, the initiative has mobilized a diverse group of over 200 activists, of whom at least 60 participate in each action. As such, Action-a-Day has reaped tangible results, including the Civil Administration's announcement that it is working to connect the village of Twaneh to a direct water supply - a potentially major victory. View a recent action below:

Equality in Health

On Monday June 14, five Israeli NGOs published a unique position paper entitled "Working Today to Narrow the Gaps of Tomorrow". The paper details the serious gaps in the health of various communities in Israeli society: between Arabs and Jews; between Ethiopian immigrants and the general population; between income support recipients and non-recipients, and others. The organizations found that the Arab and Ethiopian communities as well as recipients of income assistance suffer from various ailments to a much greater degree than the rest of the population.

The paper outlines the principles of a social policy designed to reduce the gaps in health status and in health services. In it, the organizations call on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to initiate a multi-dimensional national program to reduce health gaps. The organizations also propose quantitative goals and steps to realize the plan. The issues detailed in the report were the subject of a meeting of the Knesset's Labor, Welfare, and Health Committee on July 6. Read the full report in English here.

In other related news, ACRI's Right to Health project achieved an astounding success on July 1 when a major dental reform, providing children up to age 8 with dental care for free or at symbolic cost, was launched. This victory is the result of years of intensive work by ACRI and our partners in the Coalition for Public Health. For details, click here.

ACRI Welcomes New Hotline Director

In June, ACRI bid farewell to our longtime Public Hotline Director, Hadar Namir, who worked at ACRI for some 15 years. We welcome Ms. Tal Hassin, who replaces Hadar, and wish her the best of luck in leading this important project. Tal, a lawyer by training, brings to ACRI extensive experience in rights-based advocacy and communication. Prior to joining ACRI, she volunteered at the Community Advocacy organization in Lod, helping individuals realize their rights. In addition, Tal served as a news editor and writer at the daily Haaretz and as a senior editor at the Yediot Aharonot newspaper.