In honor of Human Rights Week and the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ACRI presented its annual Emil Grunzweig Human Rights Award to two groups which have fought tirelessly to protect human rights in Israel.
Breaking the Silence, a group of former IDF soldiers, provides other former soldiers with the platform to give anonymous testimonials about human rights violations they encountered during their service in the Occupied Territories. The tesimonials then serve to highlight the moral faults of the Occupation in the public sphere.
The Tel Aviv University Law Clinic’s Refugee Rights program has been a leader in the struggle to obtain fair and legal treatment for refugees and asylum-seekers in Israel, one of the country’s most trying human rights issues. Despite Israel’s legal obligations to accept refugees, it is sending many of them straight back to Egypt and their countries of origin where they face imminent danger, without implementing the proper procedures for determining their status.
Each year, ACRI rewards an individual or organization that has made a unique and outstanding contribution to the advancement of human rights in Israel with the Emil Grunzweig Human Rights Award. Peace activist Emil Grunzweig was killed at a protest march against the First Lebanon War in 1983 by a counter-demonstrator.
This year’s award ceremony, which took place on December 7, 2008, was followed by a dynamic hip-hop concert in Ramle, where ACRI is conducting a series of events and activities for the public throughout the month of December.
For interviews with the winners of this year’s award and to obtain permission to use the photos below, please contact Melanie Takefman at melanie@acri.org.il or ++972-528606023. All photos by Mike Horton. Click on photos to enlarge.
Rapper Kwami de la Fox opens the hop-hop concert in Ramle, December 7, 2008.
ACRI’s President, Author Sami Michael, greets the audience at the award ceremony in Ramle.
ACRI Executive Director Hagai El-Ad introduces the winners of the 2008 Emil Grunzweig Human Rights Award.
Michael Menkin receives ACRI’s Human Rights Award on behalf of Breaking the Silence.
Attorney Anat-Ben Dor receives ACRI’s Human Rights Award on behalf of the Tel Aviv University Law Clinic’s Refugee Rights Program.
The rap group DAM, one of the most popular in the Arab world, performs to a lively crowd in Ramle.
