January Newsletter
International Human Rights Day - 10th December 2005
The Rights Stuff - Interview With ACRI (Association for Civil Rights in Israel ) Executive Director Rachel Benziman
An Israeli child attends a human rights rally organized by NIF grantee Laborer's Voice (Sut El-Amel)
Rachel Benziman is a lawyer, who for nearly 25 years has devoted her professional life to the promotion of human rights in Israel . In 1982 she set up Israel 's first rape crisis centre in Jerusalem , which was supported by New Israel Fund. For seven years she served as legal advisor to veteran New Israel Fund grantee Israel Women's Network (IWN) before joining ACRI five years ago. Two years ago she became ACRI's Executive Director.
"When I sit in my office surrounded by so many stories of human rights abuses, it often seems that on a day-to-day basis the situation is getting worse," she said. "But there have been landmark court rulings over the past year regarding Arab land rights, the recognition of Bedouin villages, the human rights violations caused by the Separation Fence, homosexual rights, the rights of foreign workers and workers' rights, and new legislation to protect the rights of the disabled."
Q. What are the main points of this year's report?
A. We stress the right of all Israelis to live in dignity, as the economic situation of the disadvantaged has deteriorated following government cuts of child allowances and payments to single-parent families. Over the past year the plight of the impoverished has worsened and much of our 2005 report focuses on the indignity being suffered by the poor. One in three children lives below the poverty line and the elderly and unemployed are also getting poorer. The main success here is that socio-economic issues are high on the agenda in the election campaign and there does seem to be a national consensus that government policy towards the disadvantaged must change. In our report we also focus on the rights of Israel 's Arab minority, especially the Negev Bedouin of the unrecognised villages, as well as the abuse of foreign workers in Israel .
Read about the ACRI Report in Haaretz at: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/656783.html
Q. In recent years we see increasing cooperation among social change organizations. Can you elaborate on this development?
A. ACRI once had to work alone on many topics. We were the first to deal with such issues as Bedouin rights and foreign workers' rights and we did not have the effectiveness of being part of coalitions. Now there are many organizations handling these subjects and almost all of them New Israel Fund grantees. Obviously, in any field of activity strength comes through building coalitions into which each organisation brings its own know-how and specialisation. For example, we recently began a campaign to equalise services and infrastructures between East and West Jerusalem and here we are partnering with New Israel Fund grantee Bimkom, Planners for Planning Rights. We are lawyers and they are architects and urban planners so it makes for a natural partnership.
Q. Does ACRI have a special role to play in the lead up to the elections in March?
A. We must pressure all the parties to address the subject of human rights in their platforms and get Knesset candidates to make promises on this subject. After the elections we must follow up on these promises.
Q. What human rights challenges confront Israeli society?
A. We must reverse the growing number of people falling below the poverty line, living without dignity, and we are worried about proposals to privatise services such as education and health. We do not think that privatising employment programs through the Wisconsin project has benefited the unemployed. The Separation Fence is still under construction and we must minimize the human rights violations, which in many places are making daily life for the Palestinians impossible, and most of the unrecognised Bedouin villages of the Negev are yet to be recognized.
Q. Is all the effort worthwhile?
A. When I take a step back I get a better sense of how successful we have been. I remember that when we set up the Jerusalem Rape Crisis Centre in 1982, people simply did not understand why we needed such a place. Assault on women was not taken seriously and the concept of sexual harassment was looked upon as acceptable behaviour rather than as the crime it is today.
Some of the Human Rights Achievements Won in 2005 by the New Israel Fund Family of Organisations:
• Homosexual Rights: Attorney General Meni Mazuz directed judges to recognise the rights of same-sex couples in issues relating to money and property.
• Discrimination Against Arabs in Land Sales: Attorney General Mazuz instructed the Israel Lands Administration (ILA) no longer to issue Jews-only tenders after a Supreme Court petition by New Israel Fund grantees.
• Disability Rights: The Knesset passed the Accessibility Chapter of the Equal Rights for People with Disabilities Law.
• Religious Pluralism: Israel 's Supreme Court recognized Reform and Conservative conversions performed in recognized Jewish communities abroad.
• Bedouin Rights: The Israeli government granted recognition to eight unrecognised Negev Bedouin villages over the past two years.
• Human Rights Violations Caused by the Separation Fence: Israel's Supreme Court ordered the state to dismantle 13 kilometres of the Security Fence built near the Jewish West Bank settlement of Alfei Menashe because the route of the fence violated Palestinian human rights.
United Nations Award for New Israel Fund's SHATIL
Congratulations, Mazal Tov, Marbruk!! We've recently had some great news! The UN through its Department of Public Information handpicks NGO's and other civil sector institutes for special status. Shatil, our Empowerment and Training Centre on the ground in Israel and the Israel Woman's Network – one of New Israel Funds major grantees – were both selected for this special status by the UN!
Following is the article published in the Jerusalem Post on 14 th December 2005.
The Foreign Ministry announced Wednesday that three Israeli non-governmental organizations have been newly "associated" with the United Nations.
The UN Department of Public Information (DPI) on Tuesday granted affiliation to ZAKA Rescue and Recovery, the Israel Women's Network and the New Israel Fund's Empowerment and Training Center for Social Change Organizations in Israel (Shatil). Only seven other Israeli organizations have received such status before.
Although the benefits are largely nominal, the Foreign Ministry portrayed the NGOs' approval as another sign of Israel 's growing involvement in, and acceptance by, the UN. "We're trying to normalize our image in the world, and to normalize our status in the UN as well. We're a nation that contributes to the UN, and not only when it comes to the conflict," said Orli Gil, head of the NGO unit in the Foreign Ministry's division for international organizations. She asserted that the list of organizations chosen "shows how democratically mature we are," since it included organizations that sometimes criticize the government.
While any NGO can apply for affiliation with the DPI, independent of government approval, Gil recommended that these three organizations apply. She said that she encouraged other NGOs to submit applications as well, but they were dissuaded by the lengthy bureaucratic process.
New Israel Fund executive director Eliezer Yaari described himself as gratified by the UN inclusion and "pleasantly surprised" by the Foreign Ministry's support of his organization's application. "It gives you hope because [the New Israel Fund] has been advocating for weak voices. Traditionally, that's in conflict with the government - any government - and the fact that the government respects [us] is a very good sign for Israeli society."
In addition to the three Israeli groups, 22 other organizations were inducted following the DPI's semi-annual meeting this week. In total, 1,558 international organizations are associated with the UN department.
DPI association provides NGOs with credibility as an established organization, global contact with the UN's NGO networks, and access to UN committee meetings, conferences and the like, according to the Foreign Ministry.
"Materially," Yaari said, the designation means "nothing," but "to every employee, to every volunteer, to every donor, this is a little award saying hey, you're doing right - and this is huge."
Unemployment Benefits Returned to Single Mother Who Refused Night-Work
Dafna Ophir is a single mother with three children aged 6, 11 and 14. In March 2004 the 36-year-old divorcee lost her job as marketing manager of a banqueting hall in Hadera. The local government employment service offered her a sales position at another banqueting hall, where it was explained to her that she would be required to work evenings and nights. When Ophir turned down the job because she wanted to be at home at night with her children, her unemployment payments were cut off because she was "refusing to work." She could not afford a lawyer and represented herself before the Employment Service Appeals Committee and the Haifa District Labor Court , both of which refused to grant her unemployment payments.
At this point NIF grantee Commitment to Peace and a Just Society (Mehuyavut) took up her case. With Ophir represented by an attorney for the first time, the National Labor Court ruled that she had the right to prefer looking after her family in the evening and ordered the Employment Service to remove the refusal from her file and reinstate her unemployment payments. "This precedent ruling will benefit hundreds of single mothers," said Eran Golan the attorney who submitted the appeal for Mehuyavut, which seeks to protect and empower the unemployed through education and legal action.
New Law Protects the Rights of the Disabled
The Knesset has recently passed a new law (Dec 2005) that protects the rights of emotionally and developmentally disabled people who are questioned by the police or appear in court. The Law for Adapting Investigative and Witness Proceedings for People With Emotional and Developmental Disabilities was initiated and formulated by veteran New Israel Fund grantee Bizchut: Centre for Human Rights for Persons with Disabilities, and is particularly important in light of the growing number of sexual assaults on the disabled.
According to Oren Ganor, Spokesperson of Bizchut, more than 50 percent of sexual assaults in Israel are inflicted on the emotionally and developmentally disabled, and it has been impossible to achieve a conviction in court without the specialist assistance of NGOs like Bizchut.
"We recently represented a teenage girl with developmental disabilities who was raped by the driver of a school bus," he recounted. "We sent a social worker to assist the police when they questioned her and, as a result, the driver confessed. In such cases that go to court we send a mediator to help the judge and lawyers construct their questions in a way that the disabled person can understand. Under the new law, the State is responsible for providing this assistance and this frees Bizchut's resources to work on other breakthrough laws and regulations."
This major achievement for Bizchut follows Knesset approval for the Accessibility Chapter of the Equal Rights for People with Disabilities Law earlier in 2005. This earlier passed law mandates that all public places and services must be accessible to people with physical, sensory, emotional and developmental disabilities.
New Israel Fund Activities Keep Poverty in the Headlines
Adva Centre Report – Rich Getting Richer While Poor Getting Poorer.
Data published by New Israel Fund grantee Adva Centre last week in its annual report showed that Israel 's rich are getting richer, while the poor are getting poorer. The report showed that Israel 's richest 10% of households (comprising 492,591 people) enjoyed 27.8% of all the country's income in 2004, compared to 24.4% in 1990. The poorest 10% of households (comprising 860,391 people) received only 2.3% of all income, nearly 1% less than their national share in 1990.
The Adva Centre report showed a clear correlation between these inequities and unequal educational opportunities. In 2004, only 40% of 17-year-olds earned a matriculation certificate that met the minimum criteria of institutes of higher education. The proportion of eligible youths in established towns and cities was 70%, in development towns 40-60% and in Arab communities 20-40%.
The Right to Live in Dignity
On the same day that the Adva Centre report was published, the Supreme Court rejected a petition submitted by New Israel Fund grantees Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and Commitment To Peace and Social Justice (Mehuyavut) that government payment cuts implemented in 2003 violated the rights of thousands of Israelis to a dignified existence as guaranteed by Israel's Basic Law, which states that all citizens have a right to "live in dignity."
However, as explained by Avishai Benish, the attorney who handled the case for Mehuyavut, "The Supreme Court ruling recognized the obligation of the State to provide a safety net. This opens the way to future legal action, such as petitions by individuals harmed by the payment cuts."
Avishai Benish (right) and Avigdor Feldman (left) address the Justices of Israel's Supreme Court on the right to live in dignity.
New Israel Fund grantee Yedid, The Association for Community Empowerment now plans hundreds of appeals to local and labour courts on behalf of some of the 100,000 Israeli families, most of them headed by a single parent, who saw their income reduced drastically by government payment cuts in 2003.
With the election campaign focusing on socio-economic issues for the first time in decades, the publication of the Adva Centre report and the Supreme Court verdict resulted in huge media exposure for the plight of the poor, and pressures all political parties to address this issue in their election platforms.
Message from Alan Bolchover, New Israel Fund UK Chief Executive
At time of writing the people of Israel and her supporters around the world have been rocked by the sudden illness suffered by Ariel Sharon.
The Prime Minister has managed to divide Israel for decades, upsetting nearly every group in the country over time. However his absence has shown what a giant he has been in Israel over the last five years, dominating the political scene in Israel. This is now a very uncertain time for our friends and family in Israel and we would like them to know that our thoughts are with them.
As you will see, New Israel Fund have been very busy over the last few months. I would like to make special mention of our Award from the United Nations as a special status NGO. This was for Shatil, New Israel Fund's very own training and advice centre, which advises and works with hundreds of small NGOs around Israel.
The other major event in this country was the Limmud Conference in Nottingham, where New Israel Fund was out in force. We would like to thank all those people who volunteered their own time to man our terrific stall - including many of the presenters from Israel!
May I take this opportunity of wishing all our supporters a very happy New Year.
