The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) – Defending Human Rights, Civil Liberties, & Fighting Occupation

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April 21, 2020

This month, we are shining FMEP’s spotlight on the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI). ACRI is Israel’s veteran defender of the rule of law, civil rights, and civil liberties. Below, you can read about ACRI’s work and listen to a short podcast interview with ACRI’s Executive Director Sharon Abraham-Weiss. You can also watch a recent FMEP webinar featuring Sharon and highlighting ACRI’s work to protect civil liberties against surveillance programs in the time of the COVID-19. We urge you to take the time to learn about ACRI’s important and indefatigable work to — and we hope you will join FMEP in supporting ACRI’s work.

You can also learn more about FMEP’s grant philosophy and the amazing organizations that FMEP supports here. Previous partner/grantee spotlights can be found here.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) – Defending Human Rights, Civil Liberties, & Fighting Occupation

ACRI has been at the forefront of the fight for civil rights and civil liberties in Israel since the organization was founded in 1972. Known as the “ACLU of Israel,” ACRI brings dozens of cases before the Israeli High Court of Justice (the equivalent of the US Supreme Court) each year, challenging Israeli government policies which deprive Israeli citizens and Palestinians living under Israeli occupation of their rights. ACRI’s legal team takes on strategic cases that can set important precedents and lead to broad-based policy change.

ACRI is a dogged advocate for the rights of vulnerable and marginalized populations like refugees, asylum seekers, women, and Palestinians. Its work pushes the Israeli government to uphold and address the rights of these communities. In East Jerusalem, for example, ACRI has brought petitions to the High Court to demand that the government provide Palestinian residents with basic government services like transportation, postal service, water, and sanitation services. In the time of COVID-19, ACRI is fighting for more testing and quarantine facilities for the Israel’s Bedouin population, successfully advocated for the government to provide public information in Arabic about the virus, and secured a government decision to suspend home demolitions as the country contends with stopping the spread of the virus.

For more about ACRI’s work and mission, listen to Sarah Anne Minkin’s interview with ACRI’s Executive Director Sharon Abraham-Weiss.

In addition to its legal work, ACRI engages in advocacy to promote a human rights agenda, and push Israeli policy makers to consider their responsibility and duty to protect the rights of both Israeli citizens and Palestinians living under Israeli control.

Today (April 2020), in the time of COVID-19, ACRI has taken upon itself a key role in seeking to ensure reasonable checks and balances on Israel’s rapidly expanding surveillance state, demanding transparency and limitations on the government’s free reign to deploy mass surveillance on the Israeli public. For more on ACRI’s work to curtail surveillance programs and ensure the protection of civil rights in the time of COVID-19, check out this webinar featuring ACRI’s Executive Director Sharon Abraham-Weiss.