Private security guards in East Jerusalem
Civil Rights Association to HCJ: East J’lem guards only protect Jews
31 October 2011 (Ynet News)
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel has petitioned the High Court of Justice against private security guards working for the Construction and Housing Ministry in east Jerusalem.
ACRI petitions to restrict private security firms in J’lem
1 November 2011 (Jerusalem Post)
“In a petition filed with the High Court of Justice on Monday, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel demanded that the Construction and Housing Ministry stop using private security guards in east Jerusalem to protect Jewish residents. The petition claims that the presence of security guards is unlawful and should be the responsibility of the Jerusalem police rather than a private contracting company.’’
Israeli civil rights group says private security guards in East Jerusalem unlawful
1 November 2011 (Xinhua News Agency)
“The petition, cosponsored by The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), said that deploying armed guards to such areas, ‘harms and endangers the normal daily life of Palestinian residents and is against the law.'”
East Jerusalem streets to receive names
Hundreds of East Jerusalem streets to be named, after years of confusion
1 November 2011 (Haaretz)
“In recent months the Jerusalem municipality has embarked on a street-naming project in the east of the city, mainly on the basis of suggestions made by the various neighborhood’s residents.
“The project was likely sparked by a petition filed to the High Court of Justice by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel in 2008 about the mail-delivery problem, sources from ACRI say.”
East Jerusalem roads to be named
2 November 2011 (Jerusalem Post)
“ACRI attorney Keren Tzafrir said that mail deliveries to east Jerusalem are so chaotic that in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya, mail is delivered to local convenience stores, but not always the same one. Residents only learn if they have mail if they happen to enter a store where the employees remember there is a letter waiting for them.”
Biometric database – information breach
ACRI: Biometric info breach would be irreversibly damaging
24 October 2011 (Jerusalem Post)
“The case of the stolen information from the Population Registry ‘is a warning to all Israeli residents: Don’t give your finger prints to somebody who doesn’t know how to guard much less sensitive personal information,’ head of privacy and information for ACRI, lawyer Avner Pinchuk said.”
Authorities find source that leaked every Israeli’s personal information online
24 October 2011 (Haaretz)
“Avner Pinchuk, in charge of information and privacy issues for the Association for Civil Rights in Israel told Haaretz, ‘This database includes personal details that cannot be altered. The minute someone has access to the database, it opens up the possibility of acts that would violate people’s rights and freedoms.’”
Biometric Database is a threat to Privacy
30 October 2011 (The Jerusalem Post)
Op-ed written by the Head of ACRI’s Right to Privacy Program, Avner Pinchuk:
“When a government holds too much information on its citizens, it breaks the sensitive balance of power between citizens and state. The tremendous power of the “surveillance society” is not necessarily based on actual surveillance, but the fact that an individual knows the state maintains and controls his personal information and can monitor him at any time create a state of constant fear and distrust.”
Social rights legislation
Opposition MKs propose ‘complimentary’ social bills
26 October 2011 (The Jerusalem Report)
“The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Shatil – Leading Social Change, Yedid – The Association for Community Empowerment and other NGOs are encouraging ‘complementary legislation’ to the steps recommended by the Trajtenberg Committee, in a campaign called ‘Moving from the Tents to the Knesset.'”
Abusive policeman to be indicted
Israeli rights group reverses verdict, brings about indictment of abusive policeman
25 October 2011 (Haaretz)
“Some two years ago after a brutality case against a policeman was dropped due to lack of evidence, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) has successfully fought for the case to be reopened and the officer, Sahar Tannous, was indicted recently for his alleged violent actions. After examining the file, deputy state prosecutor Shai Nitzan recommended prosecuting Tannous, who was charged about six weeks ago.”
Gilad Shalit Deal
Israeli Right Seizes On Shalit Deal
25 October 2011 (Jewish Week)
Calls for release of Jewish prisoners and for the death penalty in wake of prisoner swap. “Lila Margalit, a lawyer for the Association of Civil Rights in Israel, believes the Israeli public has long opposed the death penalty ‘because there is an understanding that it’s not the type of punishment we as a society want to adopt.
‘When we deliberately kill a person convicted of a crime, no matter how heinous, it undermines our commitment to the principle of the sanctity of human life.’
“Additionally, Margalit said, Israelis realize that ‘no system of justice is infallible’ and therefore do not want to risk killing an innocent person.”
The Prawer Plan and the rights of Negev Bedouins
Israel plans to displace 30,000 Bedouin Israeli citizens
26 October 2011 (WBEZ Radio)
“Last month, the Israeli government approved a plan to relocate 30,000 Bedouin Arabs living in unrecognized villages and tent encampments in southern Israel to settlements recognized by the state. Critics say the plan forcibly removes people from their ancestral lands and sends them to some of the most destitute parts of the country […] Listen to 3 human rights activists: Rawia Aburabia is a civil rights attorney, a Palestinian Bedouin citizen of Israel who heads the Bedouin project of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. Michal Rotem is a Jewish Israeli with the Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality in Israel. And Dr. Thabet Abu Ras is an academic who works for minority rights with Adalah – the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel.”
