ACRI Awarded the Gruber International Justice Prize

The Gruber International Justice Prize is awarded annually by the Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation to “those who, often at great personal risk, fight for the Rule of Law.” The only Israeli to receive the prize until now has been the president (ret.) of the Israeli Supreme Court, Aharon Barak, in 2006. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) is sharing the 2011 Gruber Prize with two other international organizations and two American human rights lawyers (see details below).
 
In its announcement, the Gruber Foundation stated that “since its founding in 1972, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel has played a leading role in the struggle to provide human rights for all people living in Israel and the occupied territories.” The Gruber Foundation particularly noted ACRI’s role in protecting and promoting freedom of expression, the right to privacy, freedom of movement, the right to health, the right to adequate housing, and the right to education, and in protecting the rights of discriminated minorities, including Arab citizens of Israel, women, the LGBT community, migrant workers, and Palestinians in the Occupied Territories.
 
Following the announcement regarding the Gruber Prize, Sammi Michael, renowned Israeli author and President of ACRI, said that “In a time of rampant incitement against human rights organizations in Israel, when dark forces are attempting to curtail freedom of expression and to promote racist legislation, ACRI is spearheading crucial struggles for the humanist character of Israeli society. The prestigious Gruber Prize is a certificate of honor to the dedicated employees and volunteers at ACRI, to the people in Israel who are not willing to succumb to the evil wind that is currently threatening human liberties, and to all those who understand that the well-being of people and the protection of their rights are the lifeline of a democracy. This prize is a source of optimism and pride to Jews and Arabs who are struggling for social and national justice under difficult circumstances and in a grim atmosphere. On this exciting day I wish to congratulate the volunteers, employees, friends, and supporters of ACRI. This important international recognition encourages all of us to continue our work towards an Israel that is more enlightened and fair for all.”
 

Dan Yakir, ACRI's Chief Legal Counsel. Photo by Yoav Loeff

Dan Yakir, ACRI’s Chief Legal Counsel in the past 16 years, said: “It is a great honor to be awarded such an important international prize. The struggle to promote human rights is consuming and Sisyphean. As ACRI approaches its 40^th anniversary, we can safely say that our achievements have bettered the lives of countless people and have significantly contributed to setting norms for the protection of human rights in Israel. However, the joy of receiving the Gruber Prize is clouded by the current public atmosphere in Israel. We have always encountered difficulties in promoting democracy and human rights, but in the past few years we are facing intensive incitement and a hostile public atmosphere towards human rights organizations and towards the very concept of human rights. Alongside this moving international recognition, we must remember that our goal – as an organization that is working in Israel – is first and foremost to improve the state of human rights here.”
 
The Gruber International Justice Prize, in the sum of $500,000, is awarded since 2001 by the Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation. Together with the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), the 2011 prize was awarded to:
 
Barbara Arnwine, Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, for defending and promoting civil rights and gender equity throughout the U.S.;
 
Morris Dees, founder and Chief Trial Counsel of the Southern Poverty Law Center, for his work for racial equality particularly in the Southern United States;
 
the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS), for documenting and litigating human rights violations by the military dictatorship in Argentina;
 
the Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP), for protecting the civil and religious liberty of peoples in Kurdish regions including in Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Azerbaijan, and Armenia.
 
The Gruber Prize website: http://www.gruberprizes.org/