Social Justice

A ‘Local Call’ poll shows a broad range of areas where Jews and Arabs see the benefits of cooperation. But that doesn’t mean Jewish Israelis are ready to let Arabs hold positions of power, namely joining the government. The surprising bit: most Arabs would support their parties joining an Israeli government.

With the support of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in 2017, Itach-Maaki initiated a process aiming to create a civil society action plan for the implementation of SDGs in Israel, focused on the mitigation of poverty and inequality, advancing peace and gender equality and a society that is better for its diverse members. The process will include two phases in the year 2017 and will continue through 2018.

Can governments and industry be put on trial in climate cases, to ensure the rights of the most vulnerable and future generations? The livelihoods of hundreds of millions could be threatened by unprecedented storms, droughts, floods, and sea-level rise.   This external content requires your consent. Please note our privacy policy. Open external content on original site This external content requires your consent. Please note our privacy policy.

Shrinking – closing – no space: Governments across all continents villainize civil society actors. Where does their sense of threat emanate from?

Last December, the Israeli Government decided to establish a governmental committee to create a National Action Plan in the spirit  of UN Security Council Resolution 1325. The resolution calls on UN member states to protect women from violence, increase the participation of diverse women in decision-making bodies, and for the prevention of armed conflict. This video and the text that follows tells the story of the journey of civil society NGOs to create an Action Plan for Israel.

On May 12 the Adva Center partnered with the Heinrich Boell Foundation in the sponsorship of a conference "The Program for Gender Mainstreaming in Local Councils". The conference was organized jointly by the Adva Center and Injaz Center at the Na LaGaat Center in Jaffa. The purpose of the conference is to share insights, challenges and success stories resulting from women's civic actions in their localities. The conference was attended by women from 21 localities, both Jewish and Arab, from all over the country. (Video and Pictures)

Dr. Sarai Aharoni discusses the exceptional status of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (which is one of the longstanding issues on the UN agenda) as one of the intriguing puzzles of current global feminist politics. Could it be that the situation of Palestinian women and girls under Israeli occupation is the most extreme breach of the Beijing Platform of Action? (From the HBS Gunda-Werner-Institute)

Over 200,000 people with no legal status live in Israel today. There are another 4 million in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. All of these people are directly affected by Israeli elections but they have not right to vote. This is what they have to say — about the Right and the Left, the ‘demographic threat,’ peace, war, democracy and dictatorship (+972 Magazine).  

Israel’s Declaration of Independence of 1948 specifically refers to Israel as “The Jewish State”, while simultaneously guaranteeing “the full social and political equality of all its citizens, without distinction of race, creed or sex”. This assumed legal standing through the delegation of personal status to religious authorities (for the majority of the country’s citizens, to the monopolistic control of the orthodox Chief Rabbinate). Since, from the outset, matters of marriage and divorce in the Jewish tradition discriminate against women, aspects of gender inequality have been embedded into the structure of the state.

The UN's Sustainable Development Goals, to be established in 2015, will seek to protect ecosystems, conserve resources, and lift millions of people out of poverty. Unfortunately, the Sustainable Development Goals negotiations reflect the relatively little that is currently possible in a multilateral framework  

“We can only imagine how government ministers would give official statements saying that instead of investing in war, investments will be made to promote joint ventures of social welfare, education, environment and many more”. Heinrich Boell Foundation’s partner Itach Maaki – Women Lawyers for Social Justice has been working to promote such a vision for the past years.  Adv. Anat Thon Ashkenazi analyses how UNSCR 1325 on Women Peace and Security is relevant to the current situation in Palestine and Israel. 

In the aftermath of the 1948 war, a significant number of Arab-Palestinians found themselves within the borders of the newly established State of Israel.  They are a homeland minority within a State whose declared identity they do not share and, while they hold Israeli citizenship, they hold a distinct national identity.

In the past weeks, Israel was confronted with events bringing to public attention for the first time the social and political implications of African refugees in Israel. A demonstration that spiraled out of control initiated fierce reactions from the political right and an intensified public debate. For further information see Marianne Zepp: “Israel has a refugee problem – similar to Europe’s?”. A background analysis stressing the special Israeli conditions is provided by Lisa Hücking (intern at the HBF Israel and MA student in Political Science at the FU Berlin): “Nation, State and (illegal) Immigration in Israel”.

On Saturday night, August 1st, a masked gunman walked into the “youthbar” - a social youth program run by the Tel Aviv LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) association - lifted an automatic machine-gun and began shooting aimlessly and killing two people, and wounding ten others before fleeing into the night.