As an American Jew, I’ve been caught up in the horrible events unfolding in Israel. Jewish or not, you may have been, too.
This month I’ve decided to depart from my normal communications theme to offer what might be a small antidote to the despair and helplessness many of us have felt.
There are excellent civil society and human rights organizations working every day on behalf of all Israel’s citizens, Jewish and Palestinian alike.
I’d like to introduce you to just a few of them.
Please know I’m not soliciting for them.
If you want to donate, great.
But more than that, I want you to know about vital work that rarely makes headlines, especially here in the US.
The New Israel Fund (NIF): Largest funder of Israeli social change organizations. NIF supports organizations that work in areas including human rights and democracy, the rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel, social and economic justice, women’s rights and religious freedom.
(Full disclosure: I worked at NIF from 2001 to 2007.)
NIF also offers consulting and training through its action arm, Shatil.
All of the following organizations have been or are NIF grantees.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI): The oldest and most influential civil and human rights organization in Israel. Founded in 1972, ACRI is the only NGO in Israel advocating across the spectrum of human rights and civil liberties for everyone.
B'Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories: Founded in 1989, B’Tselem documents, researches and publishes statistics, testimonies, video footage, position papers and reports on human rights violations committed by Israel in the Occupied Territories.
Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel: The first Palestinian Arab-run legal center in Israel, and the sole Palestinian organization that works before Israeli courts to protect the human rights of Palestinians in Israel and the Occupied Territories.
Itach Ma’aki: Women Lawyers for Social Justice: Provider of free legal aid for women, at branches in Tel Aviv, Beer Sheva and Haifa. It also promotes multi-cultural gender discourse within diverse Israeli communities, including Palestinian, ultra-Orthodox, Ethiopian-Israeli and Russian-speaking.
Visit NIF’s website to learn more about these and other organizations protecting human and civil rights in Israel.
Next month, back to communications.
As always, thanks for reading!
