Adalah

Israel denies entry to UN rights reporter

15 December 2008



At the order of Israel’s ministry of the interior, Israeli border police denied Prof. Falk entry into Israel on 14 December 2008, on his way to the West Bank to carry out his official functions. He was deported from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv on 15 December 2008. In March 2008, the UN Human Rights Council voted to appoint Prof. Falk to this position as UN Special Rapporteur for a six-year term. Prof. Falk’s duties include preparing reports on human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. 

Israeli Attorney General supports persecution of Palestinian citizens

26 May 2007



On 20 May 2007, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz responded to a letter sent by Adalah on 22 March 2007 demanding the initiation of a criminal investigation into the General Security Services’ (GSS) interference in the issue of political and legal documents recently published by Arab NGOs and academics in Israel. According to the GSS, as noted in a letter dated 15 March 2007, “The Shin Bet (GSS) is required to thwart the subversive activity of entities seeking to harm the character of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, even if their activity is conducted through democratic means.” 

The Unrecognized

16 April 2007



‘The Unrecognized’ is a short documentary that highlights the plight of Palestinian Arab Bedouin citizens of Israel living in the Naqab (Negev) desert in the south of the country, many of whom were forced off their lands following the establishment of the state in 1948. The human rights of these citizens of Israel have been continuously violated by over half a century of discriminatory governmental policies and practices. ‘The Unrecognized’ is a snapshot of the situation as it stood in mid-2005. Interviews with Israeli Jewish and Arab academics, lawyers and human rights activists are presented alongside testimonies from Arab Bedouin community leaders and inhabitants. 

Human rights groups petition for investigations into 2004 Rafah killings

15 April 2007



Today, 15 April 2007, Adalah together with the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (Gaza) and Al-Haq (West Bank) filed a petition to the Supreme Court of Israel demanding the opening of criminal investigations into the killing of civilians and extensive home demolitions which resulted from two military operations in Gaza — “Operation Rainbow” (18-24 May 2004) and “Operation Days of Penitence” (30 September-15 October 2004). 

Israeli court upholds order to confiscate hundreds of Palestinian citizens' land

20 March 2007



On 18 March 2007, the District Court in Nazareth decided to permit the continued appropriation of approximately 200 dunams of land through an order of the Minister of Finance from 1953. Adalah states, “The Court’s decision is erroneous and dangerous as it legitimizes the illegal and unjustified seizure of land. This land was confiscated in 1953 for alleged ‘essential settlement and development needs,’ but it has not been used for such reasons at all. The Court agreed to delay the implementation of the decision, and we will investigate the possibility of lodging an appeal to the Supreme Court.” 

Israeli university's age restrictions discriminates against Arab students

15 March 2007



On 12 March 2007, Adalah wrote to the President of Tel Aviv University and the Dean of the School of Medicine, demanding that new conditions which limit the entry of students into the school to those over twenty years of age be cancelled. As Adalah stressed, this restriction does not apply to students who wish to study before performing military service. This is a new requirement announced in a bulletin regarding registration at the university for the 2007-2008 academic year. 

UN Committee urges Israel to abandon racist practices

10 March 2007



On 9 March 2007, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination issued its Concluding Observations, following its review last month of Israels implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD or the Convention). In its Concluding Observations, the Committee emphasized 25 areas of concern and recommendations regarding Israels compliance with the Convention concerning the rights of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel and Palestinians living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). 

Haifa Planning Committee rules against confiscation of Arab land

12 March 2007



The decision of the Haifa District Planning and Building Committee prevented gross violations of Arab landowners rights to property and safeguarded their basic source of livelihood. It also removed all the limitations on land use proposed by the plan. On 8 March 2007, Adalah received the decision of the Sub-Committee for Objections within the Haifa District Planning and Building Committee to accept the objection of Adalah against plans to earmark an area of land cultivated by Arab farmers in the north of Israel as forested land.