Ittijah or "Union of Arab Community-Based Associations" is a network for

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

s (NGOs) founded in 1995 in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. The organization's stated goals are promoting the Palestinian

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

civil society and advocating political, economic and social change for Palestinians who are denied access to infrastructure and services "due to discriminatory practices and policies of the (Israeli) State". Based in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

, the focus is on coordinating the activities and strategies of member organisations while promoting advocacy, capacity building and networking. Ittijah's advocacy focuses on raising awareness about the social, political and economic needs of Palestinian Arabs at the (inter-Palestinian), region (Arab) and international levels. Advocacy is directed at governments, civil society groups, donor agencies, other indigenous peoples and human rights agencies, unions, and Palestinian solidarity groups. Ittijah hosts regular Ambassadorial study days and solidarity delegations, produces fact sheet publications, and arranges conferences and meetings. Ittijah's capacity building efforts are aimed at enhancing the human, technical, financial and educational resources of its member organizations. Ittijah places international volunteers with local organizations and provides translation assistance with English language correspondence. Ittijah's networking efforts are engaged at the grassroots through international levels extending from field-based networking with women's and youth groups at the local level through regional inter-Arab and international levels. Particular attention is paid to developing a network of specialists engaged in building civil society infrastructure, communication and cooperation. Ittijah's helped create the "Youth Network," a collaboration between ten Community associations that participated in a one-year project with participating young Palestinians from different regions.

Ameer Makhoul Arrest

In May, 2010, Ittijah's director, Ameer Makhoul was arrested by the Israeli Shin Bet and accused of meeting with a Hezbollah spy who recruited him to engage in espionage against Israel. An Israeli court sealed his arrest under gag order at the request of the security services. Neither his name nor his detention could be reported in the Israeli media. Nevertheless, an Israeli online news outlet and foreign blog did break the gag and report his identity. Jaja reportedly helped Ittijah purchase the building housing its offices. Makhoul later admitted to

spying Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or Confidentiality, confidential information (Intelligence (information), intelligence). A person who commits espionage on ...

for

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

, as part of a

plea bargain A plea bargain, also known as a plea agreement or plea deal, is a legal arrangement in criminal law where the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a charge in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor. These concessions can include a ...

.Makhoul admits to spying for Hezbollah
Ahiya Raved, 10.27.10, YNetnews The Haifa District

Court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

sentenced Makhoul in January 2011 to "nine years in

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

and another year suspended sentence for charges of spying and contact with a foreign agent from the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militant organization."

References

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External links

Critical description of Ittijah by NGO Watch
Human rights organizations based in Israel Organizations involved in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict Organizations based in Palestine Supraorganizations

Ameer Makhoul Arrest

See also

References

External links