Racial Profiling in Airports
The documenter of the Israeli Jewish DNA
15 February 2012 (Haaretz)
After the ruling on that petition, which was filed back in 2007 by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, the security services pledged to improve the profiling procedures that define potential candidates for carrying out terror attacks. They agreed to improve the “telephone service center” that allows an Israeli business or institution to request a lenient check of a foreign visitor. This would be applied to Israeli citizens as well, eventually instituting “more comfortable” procedures for Israeli Arabs.
Freedom of Protest in the Occupied Territories
Palestinian activist dismisses case against him as ‘fiction’
20 February 2012 (AFP)
A Palestinian villager who is on trial for organising popular protests in the West Bank told a court on Sunday that the charges against him were “fiction.” Bassem Tamimi was arrested in March 24 last year and accused of organising illegal demonstrations and incitement to stone-throwing in connection with a series of weekly protests in Nabi Saleh against the takeover of village land by Jewish settlers.
[..] Almost all demonstrations in the Palestinian territories are defined as “illegal” under Israeli military law, which states that any gathering of 10 or more people requires a permit. According to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) the ban on demonstrations and the forced dispersal of peaceful protests represent “a clear violation of the rules of international law that are incumbent on the occupying power.”
Racist Practices in Professional Soccer Clubs
No Arabs Allowed
20 February 2012 (Newsweek)
The striking thing is that Israel actually has tough anti-discrimination laws on the books that prohibit employers from refusing to hire people on religious or ethnic grounds. It also has a public committee tasked with verifying complaints. But Tali Nir, a lawyer with the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, says the laws are difficult to enforce on sports clubs because they don’t select players from a pool of applicants the way a company might hire an employee. “Teams don’t get applications. They go after the players they want to hire,” Nir explains. That makes it hard to point to a specific victim of discrimination. And without a victim, “the crime is just theoretical.”
High Court Petition against the Biometric Database
ACRI files petition against biometric database
21 February 2012 (Ynet News)
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) has petitioned the High Court of Justice to suspend the Biometric Database Law, citing it constitutes a grave breach of privacy.
Palestinian Administrative Detainee Ends Hunger Strike
Khader Adnan Agrees to End Hunger Strike
21 February 2012 (The Jerusalem Post)
Khader Adnan, the Palestinian administrative detainee who has been on a hunger strike for 66 days, told the state through his lawyer Tuesday that he has agreed to end his hunger strike in light of a deal struck between the state and his lawyers. A doctor from the NGO Physicians for Human Rights Israel confirmed Tuesday night that Adnan has officially ended his hunger strike. The announcement came less than an hour before a scheduled High Court of Justice hearing on his petition demanding that he be charged or released
[…] The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) said in response to the agreement that it was “unclear” why Adnan had not been released from administrative detention on Tuesday, if the state did not intend to indict him.
Khader Adnan brokers deal to end 66-day hunger strike
22 February 2012 (Sydney Morning Herald)
“It is sad that only after a hunger strike brings a man to the verge of death does the State announce that it has no intention of extending his present administrative detention,” said Lila Margalit, a lawyer with the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
“If the state has no intention of trying Adnan, why is he not being released immediately? Regarding the hundreds of other Palestinians who are still being held in administrative detention, ACRI holds firm to its demand: bring them to trial or set them free.”
Travel Ban on Palestinian Director of Human Rights Organization
Controversial figure can leave W. Bank after 6 years
23 February 2012 (The Jerusalem Post)
The High Court of Justice ruled on Wednesday to allow Palestinian human rights leader Shawan Jabarin to leave the West Bank for the first time in six years, after his lawyers reached an agreement with the state.
Shawan Jabarin, general director of Ramallah-based NGO Al-Haq (“The Right”), petitioned the court against a travel ban that prevents him from leaving the West Bank.
The Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), Physicians for Human Rights, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Rabbis for Human Rights, the Gisha Legal Center for Freedom of Movement and Yesh Din – Volunteers for Human Rights all called on the court to lift the travel ban completely, slamming the fact that it was based on confidential information, and saying it caused “severe harm” to Jabarin and to his ability to carry out his work with Al-Haq.
Human Rights in East Jerusalem
Israeli guard suspected of confining Palestinian woman to get her phone number
5 February 2012 (Haaretz)
Alleged incident took place in Jerusalem’s Ras Hamis checkpoint, where the Palestinian law student says she was detained until the security guard verified she gave him her real number
[…] The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) claimed that the case did not represent an isolated incident. “The decision to sever several Jerusalem neighborhoods from the rest of the city with a fence continues to exact a heavy toll on the civilian population,” ACRI official Nisreen Alyan said.
“The lack of proper services in these areas means the daily crossing of checkpoints and exposing civilians to the possibility that those operating the checkpoints can take the law into their own hands,” Alyan said.
E. J’lem roads get half-billion shekel boost
23 February 2012 (The Jerusalem Post)
Mayor Nir Barkat and Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz announced a half-billion shekel, five-year improvement plan for roads in east Jerusalem on Wednesday. The plan will create 32 new roads and improve existing roads in the capital’s Arab neighborhoods.
Additionally, Barkat announced a budget of NIS 300 million for 200 new classrooms in east Jerusalem. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, which researches education disparities in east Jerusalem, estimates a lack of 1,000 classrooms.
Right to Education
Israeli Arab students are learning the hard way
24 February 2012 (Haaretz)
The trip that 3-year-old Jannat Abu-Labdeh and her relatives make to nursery school begins at 6:45 A.M., when she sets out with 37 other children from her Israeli Arab extended family. The children range in age from 3 to 16, and the trip to their various schools in Ramle takes almost two hours. It includes a bus trip and considerable distances on foot.
Tal Hassin, a lawyer for the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI ), says whether or not the regional council is correct that the family is squatting illegally on private land, there shouldn’t be any connection between planning and building regulations and the right of the children to transportation to school. She called the transportation “part of their constitutional right to education.” She said repeated requests to the local authorities have not changed the situation.
High Court to Rule in Several ACRI Petitions in Coming Months
Outgoing Israel Supreme Court President to issue slew of rulings ahead of retirement
28 February 2012 (Haaretz)
Beinisch retires this week, but over the next three months she is expected to hand down High Court of Justice verdicts on a number of petitions pertaining to civil rights.
One petition, submitted against the Airport Authority, Shin Bet security service and Transportation Ministry, demands that they stop using the Arab nationality as a criterion for carrying out security checks at airports.
Another petition was filed against the legislation permitting cell phone companies and Internet service providers to disclose personal details of their clients to the police and other authorities. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, one of the petitioners, says the legislation contradicts the constitutional right to privacy.
