Defending the Rights of Bedouin in the Negev
The Bedouin of the Negev – October 1, 2012 (Jerusalem Post) (Op-Ed by ACRI Attorney Rawia Aburabia)
Over the past month, The Jerusalem Post has run two opinion articles from the same author on the subject of Arab Bedouin in the Negev. The articles characterize Bedouin villagers as illegal settlers against whom the government is powerless, and accuses Israeli human rights organizations of “ignoring Israel’s democratic process” by advocating on behalf of residents of unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev. My father was born in such a village, and with all due respect to the author of the articles, he has it backwards: if anything, it is Israel’s democratic process that is ignoring us.
ACRI Succeeds in Having Jordan Valley Travel Ban Lifted
IDF pledges to ease travel restrictions in Jordan Valley – October 15, 2012 (Haaretz)
The Defense Ministry has informed the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, which has campaigned since 2006 for freedom of movement for Palestinians to and from the Jordan Valley, of its plan to ease restrictions.
Israel eases Jordan Valley travel ban – October 15, 2012 (AFP)
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) said earlier that previously only registered Palestinian residents of the valley, which runs along the West Bank’s eastern flank, had been allowed through military checkpoints at the entrance to the sector.
Asylum Seekers Trapped Between Two Countries
Migrants ‘sitting on the fence’ – literally – September 4, 2012 (YNET)
For nearly five days, a group of 20 African migrants, including women, has been sitting by the west side of the new Israel-Egypt border fence, waiting for IDF forces patrolling the area to allow them into Israel, Ynet learned Tuesday.
Attorney Oded Feller of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel added that “Israel has every right to build a border fence, but this fence does not exempt it from its duties.”
Eritrean refugees trapped by security fence at Israeli-Egyptian border – September 5, 2012 (The Guardian)
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel condemned the refusal to allow the refugees entry.
African migrants trapped between fences on Israel-Egypt border – September 5, 2012 (Haaretz)
ACRI attorney Oded Feller stated that “Israel has the right to build a fence, but no fence can relieve Israel of its obligation. If these people are in danger then they must be allowed to enter” into Israel.
Activists: IDF blocked food transfer to infiltrators – September 5, 2012 (Ynet)
Attorney Oded Feller of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel said… “If people are begging for their lives at the foot of that fence, we must make sure that their lives are not in danger, and if one awaits them – we must let them in. They cannot be allowed to starve. This is a disgrace.”
Israel eases over Eritrean asylum seekers, September 7, 2012 (Sydney Morning Herald)
The director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Hagai El-Ad, said Israel had a ”moral obligation as well as a legal one”. ”We know very little about these asylum seekers because no one has been able to have direct access – it is a closed military zone – but we do know they say they are afraid to go back.”
Lod Municipality Neglects Arab Neighborhoods, Builds Police Station on Only Remaining Lot
In Israel’s mixed city of Lod, two districts so close yet so distant – September 9, 2012 (The National)
Kerem Al Tufaah, home to about 1,000 Arab Israelis, is rundown and neglected. The streets have no names, the houses have no numbers and the roads are unpaved, have no lampposts and are littered with used nappies, soft drink bottles, empty cigarette packs and other rubbish.
“This lot could cancel the historic discrimination against these people,” said Auni Bana, a lawyer with the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, one of the groups that filed the petition. “We have only this lot to improve the lives of people in this neighbourhood, but hundreds of other places to build a police station.”
East Jerusalem’s Failing Schools
East Jerusalem, the capital of dropouts – September 5, 2012 (Haaretz)
This week, the NGO Ir Amim, founded to pursue an equitable and stable Jerusalem with an agreed-upon political future, and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel published a report about educational problems in East Jerusalem. Years of intentional neglect of Arab schools have led to a shortage of 1,000 classrooms and a 40-percent dropout rate among 12th graders.
Nakba? Let them learn about Begin – September 9, 2012 (Haaretz)
A recent report into education problems in East Jerusalem, released by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and the Ir Amim advocacy group, said the parts removed from the books “raise numerous questions about restricting East Jerusalem’s education system to relate its own narrative.”
Education suffers in East Jerusalem – September 15, 2012 (Al-Jazeera)
“If you look at the many problems in East Jerusalem, not only missing classrooms, but [also] classes unfit for studies and a lack of well-trained personnel, I think that definitely the right to education for children in East Jerusalem is at the moment violated,” ACRI spokesperson Ronit Sela told Al Jazeera. “Overall, the system is in a poor state of affairs.”
Stopping the Mandatory Arbitration Law
Supreme Court President stops Neeman arbitration reform – September 5, 2012 (Jerusalem Post)
ACRI attorney Anne Suciu wrote a position paper warning that the bill would “lead to the de facto privatization of the Israeli legal system on an unprecedented scale and would severely damage the existence of an independent judicial system.” Suciu also wrote that judges in Israel “undergo a strict selection process and are bound by a long list of restrictions intended to ensure their impartiality,” whereas the main condition for appointing lawyers as arbitrators is merely seven-years seniority.
Privatizing Israel’s Legal System – September 24, 2012 (OpEd News)
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) said this measure “has no equivalent anywhere in the world.” If enacted, Israeli judicial fairness will be severely compromised. ACRI, Israeli Supreme Court President Asher Grunis, retired justices, and prominent jurists oppose the bill for good reason.
Fighting Minister of Interior Yishai’s Plan to Mass Arrest Sudanese Asylum Seekers
Baby formula and Molotov cocktails: The day-to-day struggle of a Tel Aviv daycare center for migrant kids – September 27, 2012 (Haaretz)
Having survived a firebombing, Nigerian woman Blessing Akachukneu’s preschool faces further distress as the government prepares to start incarcerating African migrants.
“Yishai’s decision is simply harrowing,” adds attorney Oded Feller of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. “These are people who will be thrown into jail because they cannot be deported, after life has been made unbearable for them. The government aggravated their situation, incited the population against them, and now a magic solution has been discovered – imprisoning them in a detention facility for migrants, which will be the largest such facility in the world.”
Petition: Yishai’s plan to detain migrants ‘barbaric’ – October 3, 2012 (Ynet)
Six human rights groups filed a petition with the Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday against Interior Minister Eli Yishai’s plan to detain 15,000 Sudanese asylum seekers beginning October 15.
Attorney Oded Feller of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel said “it is regretful that the prime minister and attorney general are not restraining the interior minister and are allowing him to do as he pleases.”
NGOs petition to stop Yishai from jailing migrants – October 4, 2012 (Jerusalem Post)
ACRI alleged that in interviews with the media, the interior minister said that the purpose of these detentions would be to make the lives of the Sudanese migrants unbearable.
NGOs to court: Prohibit mass imprisonment of Sudanese migrants – October 4, 2012 (Haaretz)
The petition was filed by various human rights groups, including the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, the Hotline for Migrant Workers, Assaf, an NGO that aids African migrants, the African Refugee Development Center and Kav LaOved (the Workers’ Hotline) on behalf of Sudanese asylum seekers, among them a family from war-torn Darfur.
Court temporarily halts arrests of Sudanese asylum seekers – October 12, 2012 (Israel Hayom)
The Jerusalem District Court issued a temporary injunction on Thursday against the incarceration of Sudanese immigrants who seek asylum in the country. The ruling, issued by Judge Naava Ben-Or, will be valid until a final decision is made on the matter.
“Requests for asylum by Sudanese refugees are not even considered, and they cannot be banished from Israel without endangering their lives,” Oded Feller, attorney for the Association for Civil Rights, said. “The decision to incarcerate Sudanese asylum seekers and their children for an unlimited amount of time in extreme living conditions in the desert is utterly cruel,” he said.
Israeli court orders delay in Sudanese migrant roundup – October 12, 2012 (Sri Lankan Sunday Times)
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, with six Sudanese asylum seekers and other rights groups has petitioned the Jerusalem District Court to block Yishai’s August directive. It said in a statement that its implementation would result in “thousands of Sudanese asylum seekers along with their children being hunted down, arrested en masse, and detained indefinitely,” in a massive detention camp Israel has set up in the desert near its border withEgypt.
Court prohibits detention of Sudanese refugees days before mass arrests begin – October 12, 2012 (+972)
State Attorney: Israel hasn’t moved to arrest Sudanese citizens, despite Yishai’s comments – October 25, 2012 (Haaretz)
The State Attorney submitted today its response to a petition made by human rights organizations against the Interior Ministry’s move to arrest all Sudanese citizens in Israel. According to the response, Interior Minister Eli Yishai’s statements – were in fact empty words, and that no decision was ever taken.
The petition, submitted by The Association of Civil Rights in Israel, The Clinic for Migrant Rights at the Academic Center of Law and Business, the Hotline for Migrant Workers, ASSAF – Aid Organization for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Israel, African Refugee Development Center and Kav LaOved – the Worker’s Hotline, argued that “the decision to imprison thousands of asylum seekers for an unspecified amount of time, including victims of human trafficking and torture, together with their children, often newborns, in giant cages and extreme desert conditions, is an hysterical and barbaric decision.”
Gov’t denies Yishai’s campaign for migrant arrests – October 25, 2012 (Jerusalem Post)
ACRI attorney Oded Feller said that Yishai “took a severe and unprecedented step,” and no responsible authority took action to restrain him. The minister responsible for treatment of asylum-seekers did not hesitate to issue the baseless and cruel announcement that thousands of asylum-seekers along with their children would be detained in extreme conditions in the desert.
“The decree sowed panic among thousands of people, including refugees and victims of genocide and torture, women, children and infants,” Feller continued. “The prime minister and attorney-general, who knew the announcement had no foundation, stood by and said nothing.”
Plan to detain asylum seekers not gov’t policy, State Attorney’s Office says – October 25, 2012 (Times of Israel)
The statement was issued in response to a petition against Yishai’s proposed policy, filed earlier this month by a string of Israeli migrants’ rights organizations backed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI).
Israel’s Round-Up of African Immigrants Reversed – October 28, 2012 (The Forward)
The attorney who filed the petition Oded Feller said he believes that Yishai was aware that he could not follow through on his threat but hoped to frighten as many immigrants as possible into leaving the country voluntarily. “(He) probably tried to scare people so they will be in panic and try to leave Israel.” said Feller, attorney for the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, adding that he believed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials should have spoken out sooner.
ACRI, migrants declare victory over Yishai – October 29, 2012 (Jerusalem Post)
Declaring that it had achieved its overall objective of stopping Interior Minister Eli Yishai from arresting a massive number of migrants, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel announced on Monday that it had withdrawn on Sunday its petition to prevent the realization of Yishai’s intentions.
ACRI Urges Modi’in Mayor to Cease Discriminatory Restrictions at Public Park
Civil rights group challenges Modiin park restrictions – October 31, 2012 (Times of Israel)
Due to a suspicion that Orthodox Jews from Modiin Illit are being excluded from the Modiin-Macabim-Reut municipality’s Anave Park, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel on Tuesday sent Modi’in Mayor Haim Bibas a letter demanding the termination of the city’s policy restricting access solely to Modi’in residents during summer and holidays.
‘Restrictions on Modi’in park exclude haredim’ – November 1, 2012 (Jerusalem Post)
“The fact that the park was built on municipal land does not mean that the municipality can do whatever it wants with it,” ACRI wrote in its letter to Bibas on Tuesday.
Authorities Close East Jerusalem Passage Despite ACRI Plea
Israel shuts east Jerusalem checkpoint despite protests – September 19, 2012 (AFP)
Israel on Wednesday closed a key checkpoint allowing Palestinians from an East Jerusalem neighbourhood access to the city center, despite protests from residents and Israeli rights groups.
Last month, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel issued “an urgent plea” to authorities to keep the Ras Khamis checkpoint open, saying its closure would force tens of thousands of Palestinians to use a single crossing, two kilometres (more than a mile) away.
ACRI Urges Military to Protect Palestinian Farmers During Olive Harvest
Rights groups: Protect Palestinian olive trees – October 12, 2012 (Jerusalem Post)
Five human rights groups on Thursday penned an urgent letter to the IDF and the police urging security forces to do more to protect Palestinian olive trees in the West Bank. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said there was an increased police presence in Judea and Samaria to prevent vandalism and violence, particularly with respect to stone throwing and olive trees.
Ashrawi calls on diplomats to protect olive harvest – October 15, 2012 (Jerusalem Post)
A PLO official called on Sunday for international observers to protect Palestinian olive farmers and their groves, after more than 450 trees were vandalized last week as the harvest began.
“Past experience shows that the military and police can act to prevent these incidents, because most of the events occur in areas close to settlements known by the authorities to be extremist,” the NGOs said in their letter.
Double Take / For Palestinian olive growers, a bitter harvest – October 18, 2012 (Haaretz)
This year, Palestinians and Israeli human rights organizations monitoring the harvest – which lasts from October through November – report that the start of the season has been marred by a surge of settler attacks on farmers and their trees. The rights groups sent a letter this week to Defense Minister Ehud Barak demanding beefed-up protection by the security forces.
Levy Report on Legalizing the Occupation to Go to Cabinet
Israeli cabinet may get vote on legalising unauthorised settlements – October 18, 2012 (The Guardian)
The Israeli cabinet may approve the legalisation of unauthorised Jewish settlement outposts in the West Bank, in a move likely to further damage peace prospects and result in censure from the international community.
Tamar Feldman, of the Association of Civil Rights in Israel, said: “The situation in the West Bank is neither normal nor legal, and any attempt to authorise or normalise it threatens the rule of law in the state of Israel.”
Pushing for Better Health Care: Choice and Transparency from HMOs
HMOs fail to meet demands for greater choice and transparency – October 17, 2012 (Haaretz)
Following a campaign by the Society for Patients Rights in Israel, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and Meshane (Matters ) – the Legal and Social Clinical Center at the College of Management Academic Studies, the Health Ministry published a directive expanding patients’ right to choose services and demanding more transparency from the HMOs regarding patients’ rights in general.
ACRI Representatives Speak to Jewish Leaders in Israel and Abroad
Yachad conference will give students a new voice – September 7, 2012 (Jewish Chronicle)
At the Yachad student conference on September 13 we will bring Jewish students from across universities in the UK together in London to begin a discussion on how we best take up that role. We have invited top speakers to address students, including Yossi Mekelberg from Chatham House, Libby Lenkinski from the Association of Civil Rights in Israel, and Danny Friedman, international lawyer and Yachad board member.
The problems with the left-wing elite – September 21, 2012 (Haaretz)
The idea behind Shaharit is that while the Israeli left may have it right, it’s going about things all wrong. Rather than listen to those on the other side of the spectrum – whether they be Likud voters, Mizrahim or Haredim – and try to understand where they’re coming from, the left, according to Schwartz and his cohorts at Shaharit, has increasingly alienated them.
The group included … Lila Margalit, a lawyer with the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
The Screwed Up Generation Comes of Age – October 3, 2012 (Galus Australis)
Since 1972, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) has endeavoured to voice the rights of Israelis across the spectrum, regardless of location, religious or political alliance. With the birth (or rebirth) of the Social Justice movement in Israel, the span of civil rights issues has been overwhelming and the task of ensuring everyone gets heard is enormous. During this significant time of long-awaited change in Israel, ACRI has been at the forefront of the Social Justice movement protests. Instead of asking, ‘Do You Want Change,’ ACRI goes further and asks the protester, ‘What Happened to Us, How did we lose our way, How did we stray so far? We, who have wanted change for so long; how did we let this happen to our country?’
Hundreds turn out to listen to Israeli Civil Rights champion – October 11, 2012 (J-Wire)
Hagai El-Ad, the Executive Director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, has spoken to hundreds of people in Sydney over the past week at events hosted by Jewish Care, the Union for Progressive Judaism, the Jewish families of the Inner West and the Australian Human Rights Centre at UNSW, among others.
Activist calls for ‘full equality’ for all Israeli citizens – October 15, 2012 (Sydney Morning Herald)
The very idea of equality under the law for all citizens in Israel is increasingly under threat, human rights activist Hagai El-Ad told a Melbourne Jewish audience last night.
”The election three years ago was about loyalty, not citizenship. That kind of rhetoric has become mainstream in Israeli society in the past three years. We have an election in three months, and I hope this will not be repeated – but I am not naive.”
Mr. El-Ad, the executive director of Israel’s biggest rights organisation, Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), has been brought to Australia by the New Israel Fund for lectures in Melbourne and Sydney.
”What we strive for is total and full equality of all Israeli citizens [Jewish and Arab]: housing, land rights, visibility of Arabic language in public spaces. Shared citizenship is the legal and moral basis for the fight for equality,” he said.
Australia’s Disneyfied Israel – October 31, 2012 (The Daily Beast – OpenZion)
For two weeks this month, Hagai El-Ad, executive director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), visited Australia as a guest of the New Israel Fund Australia Foundation. Only 18 months old, NIF Australia has already achieved a significant aim of its creation: to begin anew a conversation about Israel and Judaism in Australia. . . Which is why El-Ad’s visit is so crucial. Throughout, a common theme of his talks was an urge to have a “real relationship with a real Israel…not a fake relationship with a ‘Disneyfied’ version of Israel.” Each time he said that, I watched the crowd lift their heads. It was as if they paused, reflected back on his discussion of the human rights violations in the Occupied Territories, of Bedouin displacement in the Negev, of Israel’s mistreatment of asylum seekers and refugees, and realized this was the first time they were actually engaging in these real-world-Israel issues.
