Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel
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 population. Adalah (“Justice” in Arabic) works to protect human rights in general, and the rights of the Arab minority in particular.
Adalah’s main goals are 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.
http://www.adalah.org/eng/index.php
Arab Association for Human Rights
The Arab Association for Human Rights (HRA) was established in 1988 and registered as a non-profit organisation in Israel in 1990. At the moment, the HRA has four full-time and two part-time local staff, two part-time local volunteers, two full-time international interns, and six student facilitators. It is governed by a board of seven and supervised by a General Assembly. Our mandate is the protection and promotion of international human-rights standards of the Palestinian Arab minority in Israel.
As an independent grassroots NGO, the HRA focuses on working with the local community. Its goal is to increase awareness of human rights among the Arab minority citizens in Israel, since we believe that consciousness is the first step on the way to bring about constructive change. The second major strand of our activities involves international advocacy.
B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for the Occupied Territories
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. It endeavors to document and educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in the Occupied Territories, combat the phenomenon of denial prevalent among the Israeli public, and help create a human rights culture in Israel.
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.”
As an Israeli human rights organization, B’Tselem acts primarily to change Israeli policy in the Occupied Territories and ensure that its government, which rules the Occupied Territories, protects the human rights of residents there and complies with its obligations under international law.
B’Tselem is independent and is funded by contributions from foundations in Israel, Europe, and North America that support human rights activity worldwide, and by private individuals in Israel and abroad.
Bat Shalom – Women with a vision for a just peace
Bat Shalom is an Israeli national feminist grassroots organization of Jewish and Palestinian Israeli women working together for a genuine peace grounded in a just resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict, respect for human rights, and an equal voice for Jewish and Arab women within Israeli society.
Boycott From Within
This is an initiative by Israeli activists who have worked for many years to try to change the situation through various actions and campaigns. We decided to support the Palestinian call for a boycott when we realized that our other efforts, while important and necessary, are not enough to bring real change. Israeli public opinion and the country’s political agenda will change only when the price of continuing the status quo becomes too high. We hope that the BDS campaign will eventually have this effect. We believe that ending the occupation and establishing equal and just political arrangements in Israel/Palestine are also in our interest as Israelis.
We are asking the world to intervene not only because the continually escalating brutality and illegality of the occupation justify intervention, but also because the current levels of apathy in our society render this move necessary.
Courage to Refuse
Courage to Refuse was founded following the publication of The Combatants Letter in 2002, by a group of 50 combat officers and soldiers. The initiators of the letter, Captain David Zonshein and Lieutenant Yaniv Itzkovits, officers in an elite unit, have served for four years in compulsory service, and another eight years as reserve soldiers, including long periods of active combat both in Lebanon and in the occupied territories.
During their reserve service in Gaza, in the midst of the second Intifada, the two realised that the missions confided to them as commanders in the IDF had in fact nothing to do with the defence of the State of Israel, but were rather intended to expand the colonies at the price of oppressing the local Palestinian population. Many of the commands issued to them were, in fact, harmful to the strategic interests of Israel.
According to a survey conducted by Yaffee Center for Strategic Studies, over 25% of all Israelis sympathize with our struggle and acknowledge our civil right and moral duty to refuse to serve the occupation. Courage to Refuse accepts new signatories every week. Its members, beyond refusing to serve in the occupied territories, take part in many demonstrations, cultural events and other activities of public education aimed to end the occupation and bring peace to Israel.
http://www.seruv.org.il/english/default.asp
Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement
Gisha is an Israeli not-for-profit organization, founded in 2005, whose goal is to protect the freedom of movement of Palestinians, especially Gaza residents. Gisha promotes rights guaranteed by international and Israeli law.
Gisha, whose name means both “access” and “approach,” uses legal assistance and public advocacy to protect the rights of Palestinian residents. Because freedom of movement is a precondition for exercising other basic rights, Gisha’s work has a multiplier effect in helping residents of the occupied territories access education, jobs, family members and medical care.
As part of its legal work, Gisha represents individuals and organizations in Israeli administrative proceedings and courts. Gisha’s legal activity is based on Israeli law, international human rights and humanitarian law.
Gush Shalom – The Peace Bloc
Gush Shalom (Translated from Hebrew, the name means “The Peace Bloc”)is the hard core of the Israeli peace movement. Often described as “resolute”, “militant”, “radical” or “consistent”, it is known for its unwavering stand in times of crisis, such as the al-Aksa intifada.
For years now, Gush Shalom has played a leading role in determining the moral and political agenda of the peace forces in Israel, as well as in breaking the so-called “national consensus” based on misinformation.
Gush Shalom is an extra-parliamentary organization, independent of any party or other political grouping. Some of its activists do belong to political parties, but the Gush is not aligned to any particular party.
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
ICAHD is a non-violent, direct-action group originally established to oppose and resist Israeli demolition of Palestinian houses in the Occupied Territories. As our activists gained direct knowledge of the brutalities of the Occupation, we expanded our resistance activities to other areas – land expropriation, settlement expansion, by-pass road construction, policies of “closure” and “separation,” the wholesale uprooting of fruit and olive trees and more. The fierce repression of Palestinian efforts to “shake off” the Occupation following the latest Intifada has only added urgency to our efforts.
As a direct-action group, ICAHD is comprised of members of many Israeli peace and human rights organizations. All of our work in the Occupied Territories is closely coordinated with local Palestinian organizations.
Since its founding, ICAHD’s activities have extended to three interrelated spheres: resistance and protest actions in the Occupied Territories; efforts to bring the reality of the Occupation to Israeli society; and mobilizing the international community for a just peace.
Machsom Watch
Machsom Watch was founded in January 2001 in response to repeated reports in the press about human rights abuses of Palestinians crossing army and border police checkpoints. The excessive Israeli response to the El Aksa Intifada, the prolonged closure and siege of villages and towns on the West Bank provided the stimulus and the motivation for what at first seemed an impossible mission. The initiative of three women – Ronnee Jaeger, a long time activist with experience of human rights work in Guatemala and Mexico, Adi Kuntsman a feminist scholar who emigrated from the former Soviet Union in 1990 and veteran activist Yehudit Keshet, an orthodox Jewess – Machsom Watch now boasts 400 women all over the country. The goals of the group are threefold:
- To monitor the behaviour of soldiers and police at checkpoints
- To ensure that the human and civil rights of Palestinians attempting to enter Israel are protected
- To record and report the results of our observations to the widest possible audience, from the decision-making level to that of the general public.
Machsom Watch is open exclusively to women. Our, quiet but assertive, presence at checkpoints is a direct challenge to the dominant militaristic discourse that prevails in Israeli society. It demands accountability on the part of the security forces towards the civilian estate, something hitherto almost unheard of.
Machsomwatchers comprise a wide spectrum of ages and backgrounds, with a definite bias towards mature, professional women. All members are Israeli. The group is politically pluralistic within the context of opposition to the occupation and a commitment to human rights.
Physicians for Human Rights – Israel
Physicians For Human Rights-Israel was founded in 1988 with the goal of struggling for human rights, in particular the right to health, in Israel and the Occupied Territories. Human dignity, wellness of mind and body and the right to health are at the core of the world view of the organization and direct and instruct our activities and efforts on both the individual and general level. Our activities integrate advocacy and action toward changing harmful policies and direct action providing healthcare. Today Physicians For Human Rights-Israel has more than 1150 members, over half of whom are healthcare providers.
Physicians For Human Rights-Israel works in co-operation and in solidarity with other organizations, Israeli, Palestinian and foreign.
Rabbis for Human Rights
Rabbis for Human Rights was founded in 1988, in response to serious abuses of human rights by the Israeli military authorities in the suppression of the Intifada. The indifference of much of the country’s religious leadership and religiously identified citizenry to the suffering of innocent people seen as the enemy was a cause of concern toRabbis for Human Rights organizers.
Rabbis for Human Rights reminds and demonstrates to both the religious and the non-religious sectors of the public need to be reminded that Judaism had another face. Human rights abuses are not compatible with the age-old Jewish tradition of humaneness and moral responsibility or the Biblical concern for “The stranger in your midst.”–even in the face of the danger to public order and safety which the uprising represented.
Rabbis for Human Rights membership includes some ninety ordained rabbis, plus a number of rabbinic students, and has no affiliation with any political party or ideology. Its members are Israeli citizens.
Rabbis for Human Rights brings specific human-rights grievances to the attention of the Israeli public and to pressure the appropriate authorities for their redress. Rabbis for Human Rights is involved in ecumenical dialogue and educational activities. In addition to dealing with violations of human rights of West Bank Palestinians and Israeli Arabs.
Refuser Solidarity Network
The Refuser Solidarity Network (RSN) was formed in April of 2002 to provide support for the growing Refuser Movement in Israel. The initial impetus for the establishment of the RSN was the publication in January 2002 of the Combatant’s Letter by a group of 52 reserve officers, which later became Ometz Le’sarev or Courage to Refuse.
The overall objective of the RSN is to support all Israelis who refuse to serve Occupation. This means that we support the work of Courage to Refuse, but also Yesh G’vul, the Shministim and New Profile. We support reservists who refuse to serve over the Green Line. We support men and women conscripts who refuse to serve entirely in the IDF in their opposition to Occupation.
We work to build support for and visibility of the Refusers and their movement, because we believe that these voices, these courageous stands against the folly of Occupation, are crucial to convincing the people of Israel that a new course must be chosen if there is to be lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Who Profits from the Israeli Occupation?
Who Profits from the Israeli Occupation?
Announcing a new on-line database: www.whoprofits.org
Now, more then ever, Israeli activists need a powerful global movement to help us build a just peace in Israel/ Palestine. Looking for effective tools for ending the occupation, we have launched a new website listing companies directly involved in the occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. The grassroots initiative, of the Israeli Coalition of Women for Peace, includes a database and an information center, and reflects an on-going two-year effort, rigorous research, documentation and site visits.
Read more: Who Profits from the Israeli Occupation?
Yesh Din – Volunteers for Human Rights
Established in March 2005,Yesh Din is comprised of volunteers who have organized to oppose the continuing violation of Palestinian human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The Yesh Din mission is to achieve a long-term structural improvement in the human rights situation in the OPT. Yesh Din works for an immediate and meaningful change in the Israeli authorities’ practices by documenting and disseminating accurate and up-to-date information about the systematic violation of human rights in the OPT, by raising public awareness of such violations, and by applying public and legal pressures on government agencies to end them.
Yesh Din is currently devoting its time and resources to promoting law enforcement of settler violence in the West Bank.
http://www.yesh-din.org/site/index.php?page=index&lang=en&id=
Yesh Gvul – There is a limit!
Yesh Gvul (“There is a limit !”) is an Israeli peace group campaigning against the occupation by backing soldiers who refuse duties of a repressive or aggressive nature. The brutal role of the Israeli army in subjugating the Palestinian population places numerous servicemen in a grave moral and political dilemma, as they are required to enforce policies they deem illegal, immoral and ultimately harmful to Israeli interests. The army hierarchy demands compliance, but many soldiers, whether conscripts or reservists, find that they cannot in good conscience obey the orders of their superiors.
Yesh Gvul arose in response to the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, as growing numbers of soldiers grasped that the campaign, with its bloodshed and havoc, was an act of naked and futile aggression in which they wanted no part. Yesh Gvul is a small group with limited resources, human and financial. But the unique thrust of its campaign has galvanized the broader peace movement, inspiring it with the moral example set by individuals prepared to suffer for their convictions. Some peace movements confine themselves to verbal protest, balking at refusal and its direct challenge to authority. But Yesh Gvul rejects the “shoot-and-cry” syndrome; its own slogan advocates action: “We don’t shoot, we don’t cry, and we don’t serve in the occupied territories !” – setting the group in the vanguard of the Israeli peace movement.
With members drawn from a range of political views, Yesh Gvul is not bound to any specific peace program. Its overall aim is to combat the misuse of the IDF (Israel Defense Force !) for unworthy ends, and terminate the occupation. The group is united on the “two-state” solution, as the key to peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in the interests of both peoples.