The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) (; ) was created in 1972 as an independent, non-partisan

not-for-profit organization A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a Legal Entity, legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and Nonprofit organ ...

with the mission of protecting

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

and

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

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 ...

and the

territories A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

under its control. ACRI is Israel's oldest and largest human rights organization. Headquartered in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, with offices in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, and

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

, the organization promotes transparency and accountability in government. ACRI has been accused by critics, including former Prime Minister

Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; , ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the prime minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–1977, and from 1992 until Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, his ass ...

, of defending terrorists.

History

Established in 1972, ACRI views itself as being "committed to promoting the universality of human rights and defending the human rights and civil liberties of all, regardless of religion, nationality, gender, ethnicity, political affiliation, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic background." The association established its views based on the basic rights recognized in the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal D ...

, adopted by the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

in 1948, and the values in

Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel The Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel (), was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 (5 Iyar 5708), at the end of the civil war phase and beginning of the international phase of the ...

. In 1981, ACRI instituted a human rights award to be given to "individuals and organizations that have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of

". The award was renamed in 1983 as the "

Emil Grunzweig Human Rights Award The Emil Grunzweig Human Rights Award is an award made annually by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel to "an individual or NGO that has made a unique contribution to the advancement of human rights in Israel". The award was established in ...

."The Association For Civil Rights in Israel. ''The Emil Grunzweig Human Rights Award: The First 30 Years 1981-2011''. 2012. In 2009, ACRI organized what has become an annual "Human Rights March" to mark

International Human Rights Day Human Rights Day (HRD) is celebrated annually around the world on 10 December every year. The date was chosen to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on 10 December 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Huma ...

(December 10) in Tel Aviv.

Activity

ACRI's Legal Department argues cases before the

Supreme Court of Israel The Supreme Court of Israel (, Hebrew acronym Bagatz; ) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction. The Supreme Court consists of 15 jud ...

, and also seeks redress before district and labor courts, government ministries, and

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

committees. ACRI's Education Department conducts human rights training programs, produces educational curricula in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, and organizes conferences and lectures on human rights education. Additionally, ACRI operates a program on

International Humanitarian Law International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict or the laws of war, is the law that regulates the conduct of war (''wikt:jus in bello, jus in bello''). It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit ...

(IHL) and offers IHL educational workshops to social activists, students, educators, youth movement counselors, and students at pre-military academies to "enhance the participants’ knowledge of IHL, and to provide opportunities for discussion and for developing their positions on the issues involved." ACRI publishes reports and information leaflets; organizes lectures, conferences, film screenings and other public and community events covering a wide range of human rights issues; and runs a public hotline to assist people whose rights have been infringed. Internationally, ACRI submits shadow reports and provides information to UN committees and representatives regarding Israel’s compliance with its human rights obligations; meets with foreign diplomats and government representatives; participates in international conferences and NGO networks; and raises awareness of human rights issues by generating ongoing international media coverage. ACRI focus on issues pertaining to Arab Minority Rights, Anti-Democratic Initiatives, Freedom of Expression, LGBT Rights,

East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the portion of Jerusalem that was Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, held by Jordan after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Captured and occupied in 1967, th ...

, Human Rights Defenders in the

Occupied Palestinian Territories The occupied Palestinian territories, also referred to as the Palestinian territories, consist of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip—two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been occupi ...

(OPT), Migrant Workers, Child Rights,

Negev Bedouins The Negev Bedouin (, ''Badwu an-Naqab''; , ''HaBedu'im BaNegev'') are traditionally pastoral nomadic Arab tribes (Bedouin), while some are of sub-Saharan African descent, who until the later part of the 19th century would wander between Hija ...

Refugees A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

and

Asylum Seekers An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country, and makes in that other country a formal application for the right of asylum according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 14. A pers ...

, Right to Health, Women's Rights, and the Right to Housing. ACRI deals also with freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate. The association has initiated many legal actions to establish the right to demonstrate and the rights of demonstrators.

Criticism

Though ACRI does not identify itself politically, activities of the association has been criticized as assisting organizations that harm Israel's

national security National security, or national defence (national defense in American English), is the security and Defence (military), defence of a sovereign state, including its Citizenship, citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of ...

. Such criticism was made by prime-minister

over an appeal about exiling 400

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

activists to

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

in 1992. Rabin Called ACRI - "Association for Rights of Hamas". On the other side of the political spectrum, right-wing activists have called it "Association for Palestinian Civil Rights". In November 2017, Education Minister

Naftali Bennett Naftali Bennett (, ; born 25 March 1972) is an Israeli politician and businessman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 13 June 2021 to 30 June 2022, and as the alternate prime minister from 1 July to 8 November 2022. Bennett was t ...

cancelled a conference to be held in cooperation with ACRI following a letter sent by a group of bereaved families accusing ACRI of defending

terrorists Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

. ACRI denied the allegations and stated that it does not defend terrorists during their criminal proceedings, rather only in regards to their rights in prison and matters of citizenship and residency.

The Emil Grunzweig human rights award

The

is awarded annually by Association for Civil Rights in Israel to "individuals and organizations that have made a outstanding contribution to the advancement of

". The award was established in 1981 as an initiative by Professor Jacob Lorch, but was renamed in 1983 after the murder of activist

Emil Grunzweig Emil Grunzweig (; December 1, 1947 – February 10, 1983) was an Israeli teacher and peace activist affiliated with the Peace Now movement. He became an icon of the Israeli left after he was killed by a grenade thrown at a peace rally in Jerusale ...

by a grenade thrown by a right-wing Israeli extremist during a

Peace Now Peace Now ( ''Shalom Achshav'', ) is an Israeli liberal advocacy organization with the aim of promoting a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Early activism In an official document from 1982 Peace Now advocated for an und ...

demonstration against the war in Lebanon.

List of recipients

Recipients of the award have included:

Funding

As well as donations from individuals, foundations and other institutions.

International network

ACRI is a member of the

International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations The International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations (INCLO) is a network of 15 independent, national human rights organizations from different countries in the North and South that work together to promote fundamental rights and freedoms. ...

(INCLO), a network of 13 independent human rights organizations around the world with the aim of advancing human liberty in their respective countries.International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations,
Who We Are
," retrieved 9 May 2018 The

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...

(ACLU) is among the oldest of the 13.

Representative publications

Overview of Anti-Democratic Legislation Advanced by the 20th Knesset
(December 2017)--highlights recent political efforts to undermine gatekeepers of democracy and the

among other efforts to curtail democracy and fundamental rights.
2012 State of Human Rights Report

Social Rights Bill (November 2011)

Unsafe Space: The Israeli Authorities' Failure to Protect Human Rights amid Settlements in East Jerusalem (September 2010)

Failed Grade: The Education System in East Jerusalem 2010 (August 2010)

The Infiltration Prevention Bill Lies and Reality (February 2010)

References

External links

Association for Civil Rights in Israel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Association for Civil Rights In Israel Civil rights organizations Civil liberties advocacy groups Non-profit organizations based in Israel Human rights organizations based in Israel Liberalism in Israel Organizations involved in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict Organizations established in 1972