Sami Michael (Credit: Tom Raviv)Dear friends,
Passover provides a unique opportunity to celebrate freedom and encourage those fighting bravely for an equal and just Israeli society. This last year was a shameful one with respect to human rights in the Middle East, and the horrifying wave of violence did not pass over Israel. On the contrary, it seems as though the ongoing and bloody conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people has breached further boundaries and is an increasing source of worry and concern. Due to continuous incitement by aggressive groups, the freedom of the ‘other’ was trampled, many voices were silenced, and nationalistic views were radicalised – culminating in the ‘Shtulim’ campaign against human rights defenders, a request by a member of the Knesset for separation between Jewish and Arab women in maternity hospitals, and the restriction of activists working towards peace and social justice.
Not only those associated with the political left have been persecuted. So too have central figures in the current right wing government, such as the Minister of Defense and the Army’s Chief of Staff, who were victims of wild incitement because they advocated for respecting basic human rights in the IDF. It seems that this violent period is causing serious harm to the freedom of expression, and is leading to the persecution of anyone who dares to resist the forward march towards a racist society and aggressive nationalism.
Despite all of this, we are proud of the significant achievements made by ACRI together with our fellow human rights organizations. We have defended social rights in areas as diverse as the right to dignity, housing, welfare, health, and education; alongside the various rights of minorities. We were able to reduce some of the draconian provisions in the Stop and Frisk Law, which gave police broad search powers and was particularly harmful to Arabs, Ethiopians and Mizrahim. We published a report on how the debt collection system in Israel violates the rights of
vulnerable populations. We petitioned against the Be’Emunah construction company with respect to discrimination against Mizrahim, and the Israel Lands Authority subsequently fined the company hundreds of thousands of shekels. We advocated for the regulation of electricity disconnections on behalf of those living in poverty; and a landmark ruling was passed so that someone who receives financial assistance from their family towards their housing will no longer be refused a social security pension. On the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination we led a campaign in which children’s authors selected literary works that promote dialogue against racism.
We fought against the so called “NGO Bill”, which was part of a campaign to delegitimize left wing organizations and mark out associations who are critical of the government. We protested against the unjustified shooting of people suspected of committing a terrorist attack and as a result the Attorney General and Chief of Staff spoke publicly about the procedures for opening fire. We petitioned against the expulsion of Palestinians from firing zone 918 south of Mount Hebron, which was intended to pressure Palestinians to leave their homes; and we are speaking out against the police’s use of lethal, black sponge bullets in East Jerusalem – where there have been many cases of children being injured and people being shot in the upper body, despite regulations forbidding this.
ACRI and other civil society organizations have proved that being silent is to surrender to those who are conspiring to make our society a racist and violent one, impervious to the hungry and the needy.
I hope this Passover will bring good news to each and every one of us and that we and our neighbors will be able to celebrate this year in freedom.
Happy Passover to us all.
Yours,
Sami
Sami Michael
President
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel
