To mark World Refugee Day on June 18, The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) as part of a coalition of human rights organizations will launch a nationwide campaign to advocate for refugee rights and to take a stand against the “Prevention of Infiltration Law”. Israeli citizens and refugees will join together in various Israeli cities to hand out materials to raise awareness about refugees and refugee rights in Israel. We want the Israeli public to know that a refugee is neither a criminal nor an infiltrator and is certainly not someone else’s problem. A refugee is a human being fleeing persecution and has the right to safe refuge here in Israel.
On June 18 between 10:00 and 15:00, campaign participants will hand out information about refugee identity and rights to passers-by in various locations around the country. Protest postcards against the “Prevention of Infiltration Law” will also be distributed for the public to sign. The campaign’s headquarters, located in Meir Park on King George Street in Tel Aviv will include information stands from various organizations involved as well from members of the refugee community. The public is invited to come, sign a protest card, and take part in discussions with refugees themselves. At the end of this event, we hope to collect thousands of protest postcards to be sent to the Prime Minister’s office, Benjamin Netanyahu. If you would like to join a distribution group in Tel Aviv, send an email to rona@amnesty.org.il or to join a group outside of Tel Aviv, send an email to kesem@kavlaoved.org.il.
The event has a site on Facebook.
Participating organizations: The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), Amnesty International – Israel, Assaf – Aid Organization to Refugees and Asylum-Seekers in Israel, Labor Youth Movement, the Hotline for Migrant Workers, Kav Laover – Workers’ Hotline, Physicians for Human Rights – Israel, ARDC- African Refugee Development Center, CIMI – Center for International Migration and Integration, HIAS – Hebrew Immigration Aid Society
