Dear Friends,
I am thrilled to invite you to a series of events marking International Human Rights Day next Saturday December 10. Like every year, we mark the day with events that take place all week long (stretching it even a bit longer than a week). We will publish our annual report on the state of human rights in Israel and the Occupied Territories and publish findings – some of them quite eye-opening – of a survey we conducted on public opinion regarding human rights. During the week we will also be distributing our annual declarations to thousands of schools along with our curriculum, whose focus this year is the right to housing.
We will be conducting diverse events this year in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Nazareth.
What’s on the program? A human rights happening during a Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem soccer game; screening of the movie Sandstorm and a conversation with the actress in Nazareth; A Saturday filled with human rights events at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque, complete with movies, a panel and a photography exhibit; marking Human Rights Day in the Knesset, which has become a tradition; and a series of discussions in committees and a conference on the subject “The Budget – Is it Social?” and more. You can find information on all our events here.
I will be giving the keynote address at an event in the memory of Adinah Dorfman (z”l) and honoring her 20 years of service in building ACRI’s human rights library. It will be held at Kol Haneshama in Jerusalem (1 Asher Street) on December 21st at 19:30pm. The program includes greetings from the Dorfman family and a blessing form Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman. The highlight of the evening will be a performance by ‘Beloved One’- a poetry, song, and dance group sharing stories through the artistic elements of voice, movement, and words. A recommended donation of 50NIS will be asked at the door to cover costs.
The day the Universal Human Rights Declaration was signed in 1948 is cause for celebration for all of us who support human rights and democracy. After World War II and the Holocaust, the Declaration sought to provide the vision and the hope that every person would have the right to dignity, freedom and be provided the support necessary to lead his life. This struggle is ongoing, but the anniversary of the day it was signed is an opportunity to spread the discourse on human rights to as many people as possible. It is also an opportunity for each and every one of us to meet, get to know each other and think about how to continue advancing our communities. Together we have immense power to bring about change.
Yours,
Sharon
Sharon Abraham-Weiss
Executive Director
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel
