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Israel Centers

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on May 15, 2008 at 4:08:54 pm
 

Israel Centers

Known Centers based in Israel

If your center is not in this list and you want to be added, please contact HURIGHTS OSAKA and we will assist you.

 


 

Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel

 

Date Established: 1996

 

Short Historical Background

 

Adalah is an independent human rights organization registered in Israel. It is a non-profit, non-governmental, and non-partisan legal center. Established in November 1996, it serves Arab citizens of Israel, numbering over one million people or close to 20% of the total population. Adalah ("Justice" in Arabic) works to protect human rights in general, and the rights of the Arab minority in particular.

 

Objectives

 

Adalah aims

1. To achieve equal individual and collective rights for the Arab minority in Israel in different fields including land rights; civil and political rights; cultural, social, and economic rights; religious rights; women's rights; and prisoners' rights

2. To raise public awareness of the Arab Minority Rights in particular, and Human Rights in general

3. To train stagiaires (legal apprentices), law students, and new Arab lawyers in the field of human rights

 

Programs and Activities

 

Legal Advocacy - advocating for legislation that will ensure equal individual and collective rights for the Arab minority. These rights include: land rights; civil and political rights; cultural, social, and economic rights; religious rights; women's rights; and prisoners' rights. Adalah's legal advocacy is done through: filing petitions to the Supreme Court of Israel; filing appeals and lawsuits to the District, Magistrate and Labor Courts; submitting pre-petitions to the Attorney General's Office; filing complaints with Mahash (the Ministry of Justice Police Investigation Unit) of police brutality; and sending letters to government ministries and agencies, detailing legal claims and demanding compliance with the law. Adalah's legislative work primarily involves providing legal commentary on proposed and pending Knesset bills to NGO advocacy coalitions and staff of Arab Knesset Members.

 

International Advocacy - appealing to international institutions and forums in order to promote the rights of the Arab minority in particular, and human rights in general. This is carried out through Press Releases, publishing and contributing to Reports and Notes, participating in International Conferences, and other activities which reach out to the International Community.

 

Legal Consultation - providing legal consultation to individuals, student committees, non-governmental organizations, and Arab institutions.

 

Special Reports - producing reports and petitions which deal with specific issues facing the Arab Minority in Israel such as issues concerning home demolitions, the Jewish National Fund Law, family unifications, Gaza fuel and electricity, and much more. A significant publication of Adalah is the “Democratic Constitution”. Published in 2007, the tenth anniversary of Adalah’s founding, the Democratic Constitution is a constitutional proposal for the state of Israel, based on the concept of a democratic, bilingual, multicultural state in order to respect the freedoms of the individual and the rights of all groups in equal measure, gives proper weight to the historical injustices committed against Arab citizens of Israel, and deals seriously with the social and economic rights of all. This proposed constitution draws on universal principles and international conventions on human rights, the experiences of nations and the constitutions of various democratic states.

 

Public Awareness - organizing study days, seminars, and workshops, and publishing reports and newsletters on legal issues concerning the rights of the Arab minority in particular, and human rights in general.

 

Legal Training - Training stagiaires (legal apprentices), law students, and new Arab lawyers in the field of human rights. Internship programs are also offered.

 

Publications

 

Apart from regular Press Releases and contributions towards International Reports which advocates for Arab Human Rights in Israel, Adalah publishes newsletters, reviews, and reports, in English, Arabic, and Hebrew. Some of which are listed below:

• The Democratic Constitution (2007)

• Adalah's Review Volume 4 - In the Name of Security (Spring 2004)

• Adalah's Review Volume III - Law and Violence (Summer 2002)

• Adalah’s Report “The Accused” regarding criminal and public responsibility for the killing of Arab citizens in October 2000 (2006)

• Institutionalized Discrimination; Adalah's Report to the World Conference Against Racism (August/September 2001)

• Human Rights Guide for Palestinian Citizens of Israel (in Arabic)

 

 

Address

 

Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel

Main Office

PO Box 8921

Haifa, 31090

Israel

ph (972)-4-950-1610

fax (972)-4-950-3140

e-mail: adalah@adalah.org

www.adalah.org

 

Naqab Office

28 Reger Ave # 35

Beer el Sebe

Israel

Tel: (972)-8-665-0740

Fax: (972)-8-665-0853

 

The Arab Association for Human Rights (HRA)

 

Date Established: 1988

 

Short Historical Background

 

The Arab Association for Human Rights (HRA), founded in 1988 by lawyers and community activists, is an independent, grassroots, non-governmental organization (NGO) registered in Israel. HRA works to promote and protect the political, civil, economic, and cultural rights of the Palestinian Arab minority in Israel from an international human rights perspective.

 

HRA holds a unique position locally and worldwide as an indigenous organization that works at the community, national and international levels for equality and non-discrimination, and for the domestic implementation of international minority rights protections. Over the years, HRA has conducted local community and international campaigns to raise awareness, understanding, and respect for human rights and democratic principles; monitored violations of human rights and published and distributed reports documenting abuses; initiated and participated in local NGO coalitions concerned with the rights of prisoners and administrative detainees, land and housing rights, women's rights, and networking; facilitated community human rights education programs and events; advocated before United Nations and European Union bodies; and organized and participated in local and international training workshops and conferences.

 

Objectives

 

HRA aims to promote and protect the political, civil, economic, and cultural rights of the Palestinian Arab minority in Israel from an international human rights perspective. HRA also aims to extend its advocacy for Palestinian Arab minority rights to the International Community.

 

Programs and Activities

 

Research and Reporting - the idea of establishing a Research and Reporting program in the HRA was first developed in the aftermath of the events of October 2000, when thirteen Arab citizens of Israel were shot dead by the Israeli Police. Thus, in 2003, the HRA expanded its activities, launching a new project to monitor human rights violations against the Palestinian minority in Israel. The methodology relies on field research – interviews with victims, collection of testimonies – and analysis of domestic and international law concerning human rights. Various Reports, Testimonies, and Fact Sheets are accessible through the website.

 

Human Rights Education and Community Outreach - the HRA has two community outreach and human rights awareness-raising projects. The Human Rights and Civic Education Project (HRCE) targets Palestinian Arab school children in Israel. This project aims to educate individuals on international standards of human rights in order to enable them to evaluate their position as minority citizens and establish a civil society that deals with their situation within the framework of internationally acknowledged means. The second project on Women's Rights discusses women's rights as an integral part of human rights. This project is not restricted to targeting girls and women only. Its awareness-raising and education efforts are also directed towards both male and female members of the Arab minority inside Israel. The specific activities of the two projects are the following: Facilitator Training; Semester-long Courses in High Schools; Teacher Training; Human/Women's Rights Days in Schools and Unrecognized Villages; Student Forum Haifa; High-School Student Forum; One-time Lectures, Lecture Series, and Workshops; Summer Camps for Children; Educational Tours to Unrecognized or Destroyed Villages; Expanding the Human-Rights Library; Establishing the Rights Theatre; Publishing Dalil, the human-rights syllabus; Women's Rights Summer Sessions; Publications, Films, Theatre.

Moreover, details on the Human Rights Education and Community Outreach programs can be accessed on HRA’s annual reports online.

 

International Advocacy - the main goal of the International Advocacy Program (IA) is to put the human-rights issues related to the Arab minority inside Israel on the international agenda and to impact the international discourse towards a more rights-based approach concerning Israel. It both informs the international community and protects the local Arab community. Moreover, over the years the HRA has become a reliable resource for diplomats to assess the situation inside Israel regarding the Arab minority. The HRA is in contact or tries to establish correspondence with: the United Nations; treaty monitoring bodies such as the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR),  the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR), the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Committee against Torture (CAT); Charter-based bodies (ECOSOC); relevant Working Groups; relevant Special Rapporteurs; European Union (EU); European Commission; Council and Presidency; Parliament; EU-Israel Association Council; Specialized committees such as the Parliament's Delegation for Relations with Israel, the Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Parliament's Subcommittee on Human Rights; the diplomatic community in Israel; local and international NGOs; the international press, and groups of international visitors in Israel.

 

Publications

 

Some publications of HRA:

• Discrimination Diary Series (2008)

• On the Margins; Annual Review of Human Rights Violations of the Arab Palestinian Minority in Israel (2006)

• Suspected Citizens; Racial Profiling against Arab Passengers by Israeli Airports and Airlines (2006)

• Behind the Walls; Separation Walls between Arabs and Jews in Mixed Cities and Neighborhoods in Israel (2005)

Other details of these and other publications are available at: www.arabhra.org/hra/Pages/Index.aspx

 

Address

 

The Arab Association for Human Rights (HRA)

P.O. BOX 215, Nazareth 16101, Israel

ph (972-4) 6561923

fax (972-4) 6564934

e-mail: hra1@arabhra.org

www.arabhra.org

 

 

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI)

 

Date Established: 1972

 

Short Historical Background

 

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) is Israel’s oldest and largest human rights organization and the only one that deals with the entire spectrum of human rights and civil liberties issues in Israel and the Occupied Territories. ACRI’s work encompasses litigation and legal advocacy, education, and public outreach as the most effective way in which to build toward its long-term vision of a just and democratic society that respects the equal rights of all its members.

 

Objectives

 

ACRI aims

1. To bring precedent-setting litigation to the Supreme Court

2. To issue and disseminate high-profile reports on key human rights issues

3. To offer free legal information and advice through a public hotline

4. To run human rights education programs for school teachers

5. To provide expert opinions before the Knesset

6. To conduct human rights training workshops for security forces

7. To mount public outreach campaigns in order to place human rights concerns high on the public agenda

 

Programs and Activities

 

Legal Program - ACRI's Legal Department takes on cases that have the potential to set precedents, raise issues of principle, and effect broad-based policy change. Every year, ACRI argues dozens of precedent-setting cases before the Supreme Court, and also seeks redress before district and labor courts, government ministries, and Knesset committees. ACRI is highly regarded in the Israeli legal community for its professionalism and commitment to bringing landmark cases to the Supreme Court. Since its inception 35 years ago, ACRI has achieved major advancements in a wide range of areas such as: freedom of expression; the right to privacy; freedom of and from religion; women's rights; criminal justice; equality for Arab citizens; the gay and lesbian community, and other minority populations; migrant workers' rights; and human rights in the Occupied Territories.

 

Public Outreach Program - ACRI believes that a public more aware of the complex fields of civil liberties and human rights is better equipped to stand up for its rights, and more prepared to respect the rights of others. The Public Outreach and Information Department publishes high-profile reports and information leaflets; organizes lectures, conferences, film screenings and other public and community events covering a wide range of human rights issues. Moreover, it runs a Public Hotline to assist people whose rights have been infringed. In addition, ACRI's Public Outreach staff conducts extensive media outreach work in Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, and other languages. The department also maintains Israel's largest collection of civil and human rights materials, much of which can be accessed through ACRI's website. To inform the public of its activities and crucial human rights issues, ACRI regularly publishes online newsletters, reports, and position papers in Hebrew, Arabic, and English.

 

International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Project - through the IHL project, ACRI aims to raise public awareness of the harsh implications of harming a civilian population in the course of armed combat, and of the military's obligation to prevent such injuries. In the framework of its project, ACRI offers educational workshops to social activists, students, educators, youth movement counselors, and students at pre-military academies. The overriding objective is to deepen participants’ knowledge of IHL, and to provide opportunities for discussion and for developing their positions on the issues involved. In addition, ACRI regularly organizes public events on human rights and IHL - seminars, conferences, lectures, films, and artistic activities conducted in Hebrew and Arabic.

 

Educational Program - ACRI's Education Department conducts human rights training programs for thousands of individuals across the country each year, produces high-quality educational curriculums in Hebrew and Arabic, and organizes conferences and lectures on human rights education. The Department believes that working with key agents of change - teachers in the Jewish and Arab school systems, students, security forces personnel, and social and community workers - is an effective method to influence attitudes and contribute toward building a more tolerant and just society. ACRI has an online forum for teachers and educators, which contains ideas and resources on how to integrate human rights values into the classroom through the discussion of current events. This site has become the preeminent resource for human rights education in Israel (Hebrew Website: http://www.acri.org.il/portal.aspx?id=2). Moreover, through ACRI's dedicated efforts, Israeli schools now recognize International Human Rights Day as an official day marked by the school system. As such, the Education Department leads a rich and varied program during the week of December 10 each year.

 

Research Studies

 

ARCI runs a wide database containing its research studies and documents in forms of Fact Sheets, Position Papers, Press Releases, Publications and Articles. These studies include topics such as Citizenship and Residency, Migrant Workers, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender (LGBT) Rights, Issues in the Occupied Territories, Rights of Workers, and more.

 

Publications

 

Apart from the research studies and Media Room which are both accessible through ACRI’s website (http://www.acri.org.il/), ARCI publishes and distributes a bimonthly e-newsletters in English, Hebrew, and Arabic. ACRI also produces two annual reports – one on its yearly activities and another on the state of human rights in Israel and the Occupied Territories. All are accessible through the website.

 

Library

 

ACRI's expansive library – located at ACRI's National Headquarters in Jerusalem – contains a wide selection of books, reports, and other publications on human rights and law in Israel and abroad.

 

Address

 

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI)

National Headquarters

Street Address: Kanfei Nesharim 3

P.O. Box 34510

Jerusalem 91000

ISRAEL

Phone: ++972-2-6521218

Fax: ++972-2-6521219

Public Hotline/Main Phone Number: 1-700-700-960

mail@acri.org.il

www.acri.org.il

 

Tel Aviv Branch

Nahalat Benyamin 75

Tel Aviv 65154

ISRAEL

Phone: ++972-3-5608185

Fax: ++972-3-5608165

 

Haifa Branch

Haazmaut 102, 1st Floor

Postal Address:

P.O. Box 33709

Haifa 31336

ISRAEL

Phone: ++972-4-8526333/4/5

Fax: ++972-4-8526331

 

 

B'TSELEM - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights

 

Date Established: 1989

 

Short Historical Background

 

B'TSELEM - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories was established in 1989 by a group of prominent academics, attorneys, journalists, and Knesset members. B'Tselem combines research, advocacy and public education strategies in order to promote human rights in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

 

B'Tselem in Hebrew literally means "in the image of," and is also used as a synonym for human dignity. The word is taken from Genesis 1:27 "And God created humans in his image. In the image of God did He create him." It is in this spirit that the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "All human beings are born equal in dignity and rights."

 

Objectives

 

B'Tselem’s primary goals are to protect human rights in the Occupied Territories and to generate commitment among the Israeli public to human rights principles. The strategies to achieve these goals are the following:

 

• Providing information to the Israeli public and the international community about violations of human rights in the Occupied Territories.

• Recommending and advocating for policy changes to ensure greater protection of human rights.

• Fostering debate and discussion within the Israeli public in order to generate commitment to human rights principles and their application in the Occupied Territories.

 

Programs and Activities

 

Research and Publications

 

B'Tselem has published over 100 reports, some comprehensive in scope, covering the full spectrum of human rights issues. The reports have dealt, for example, with torture, fatal shootings and accountability for military violence, restriction on movement, expropriation of land, house demolitions, discriminatory planning policies, administrative detention, and settler violence.

 

Resource and Information Center

 

B'Tselem compiles statistics on casualties and other human rights issues, issues a monthly electronic update and serves as a primary source of information for policymakers, researchers and various organizations. B'Tselem works extensively with the Israeli and international media. The organization maintains an extensive website (in English, Hebrew, Arabic and Russian) that provides access to all of the organization's publications, maps, statistics and video, as well as providing updates on current events.

 

Advocacy and Public Education

 

B'Tselem conducts a range of activities to educate the Israeli public about human rights, and to advocate for specific policy change. Public education and advocacy tools include advertising campaigns, "reality tours" of the West Bank, briefings for target audience, distribution of video clips and multimedia presentations, and organizing public events.

 

Video Advocacy

 

B'Tselem is now pioneering the use of video as a tool for human rights advocacy. Visual material gives a tangible, human face to human rights issues and has the potential to reach larger audiences with the human rights message. B'Tselem produces short video clips, maintains an extensive video archive and conducts a camera distribution project (entitled "Shooting Back") where Palestinians in high-conflict areas are given cameras to document their reality.

 

Address

 

B'TSELEM

8 HaTa'asiya St. (4th Floor), Jerusalem Israel.

Mailing address: P.O. Box 53132, Jerusalem 91531, Israel

ph (972-2) 6735599

fax (972-2) 6749111

e-mail: mail@btselem.org

www.btselem.org

 

 

 

The Minerva Center for Human Rights

 

Date Established: 1993

 

Short Historical Background

 

The Center for Human Rights was established in 1993 by the Hebrew University Law Faculty and the Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace, with the generous support of the Ford Foundation, as the first academic center of its type in Israel.

 

In January 1997, the Center became a Minerva Center, funded by the German Ministry for Education and Research through the Minerva Foundation. The primary goal of the Minerva Center is to promote awareness and to enhance research and academic interest in human rights. The Center's activities are geared to encourage research in this field among scholars and students, and to serve as a resource center for the human rights community and other groups in the Israeli society. The Center is currently housed at the Hebrew University Law Faculty and has a sister Center at Tel Aviv University.

 

Objectives

 

Programs and Activities

 

Promotion of Human Rights Research: The Minerva Center promotes inter-disciplinary research in human rights by awarding research grants and fellowships to scholars and students, in the field. The recipients of grants and fellowships come from diverse disciplines at universities across Israel and from different sectors within the Israeli society. The Center also initiates research projects on cutting-edge academic issues. The research projects are often conducted as collaborative efforts between Israeli researchers and scholars from abroad. Some of these projects seek to advance laws and assist decision makers and public bodies in the realm of human rights. Other studies result in publications or international conferences.

 

Conferences and discussions: International and local conferences constitute a large part of the work of the Minerva Center for Human Rights. The Center organizes at least one international conference annually, along with several local conferences, colloquiums, panel discussions and lectures.

 

Public Education: The Minerva Center runs a wide range of public education programs, with an emphasis on courses. These activities are an effective tool for reaching out to diverse groups and sectors within Israeli society, offering professional enrichment and training in the area of human rights. Among these groups are students and lecturers, Israeli and Palestinian teachers, Jewish and Arab NGOs' staff and activists, as well as the legal community - judges, Civil Service attorneys and legal advisers.

 

Exchange of Scholars: As part of the efforts to place human rights on the public agenda and raise awareness on current issues in this field, the Minerva Center invites scholars from abroad to attend conferences, participate in seminars and workshops and lecture in diverse forums

 

Activities

 

Special Concerns

 

Publications

 

The Minerva Center publishes research studies, conference proceedings, Human Rights Readers and other publications in human rights related issues.

 

Other Information

 

Resource Center: In its website, the Minerva Center has established an on-line human rights library which serves as a resource for students, scholars, teachers, the legal community, NGOs activists and others. The library includes: historical documents, human rights instruments, select legislation, International and regional Courts as well as UN bodies, select jurisprudence, reports, human rights organizations and a "rights index" offering links to local and international resources on specific human rights issues.

 

Address

 

The Minerva Center for Human Rights

The Faculty of Law

The Hebrew University, Mt. Scopus

Jerusalem 91905 Israel

ph (9722) 25881156

fax (972) 25819371

e-mail: mchr@savion.huji.ac.il

http://law.mscc.huji.ac.il/law1/minerva/english

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