List of Israeli organisations active against the Occupation
The description below are those taken from the websites of those organisations. To reach the website, click on the name of the organisation.
Adalah
The first Arab-run nonprofit legal center in Israel. The organization was established in November 1996 and its main goal is to achieve equal rights and minority rights protection for Arab citizens of Israel.
Alternative Information Centre (AIC)
The Alternative Information Center (AIC) is an internationally oriented, progressive, joint Palestinian-Israeli activist organization. It is engaged in dissemination of information, political advocacy, grassroots activism and critical analysis of the Palestinian and Israeli societies as well as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The AIC strives to promote full individual and collective social, economic, political and gender equality, freedom and democracy and a rejection of the philosophy (ideology and praxis) (weltanschauung) of separation.
The most urgent regional task is to find a just solution to the century-old colonial conflict in Palestine and confront the ongoing Israeli occupation-regime within its international framework. The AIC method of action develops from the awareness that local struggle must be practically and analytically situated within the framework of the global justice struggle.
The internal AIC structure and working relationship aims to reflect the above mentioned values.
Al Haq
http://www.alhaq.org/
Human rights organization established in 1979; publishes reports (including an annual summary) on the human rights situation in the Occupied Territories; carries out legal research; has a database on human rights and legal issues;
Amnesty International -Israel Section
The Israel section of Amnesty International participates in the organization’s campaigns to prevent human rights violations around the world. In accordance with Amnesty International’s guidelines, the Israel section does not deal with human rights violations within Israel, the Palestinian Authority, or other countries in the Middle East.
B’TZELEM
The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories was established in 1989 by a group of prominent academics, attorneys, journalists, and Knesset members. It endeavors to document and educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in the Occupied Territories, combat the phenomenon of denial prevalent among the Israeli public, and help create a human rights culture in Israel. B’Tselem in Hebrew literally means “in the image of,” and is also used as a synonym for human dignity. The word is taken from Genesis 1:27 “And God created humans in his image. In the image of God did He create him.” It is in this spirit that the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “All human beings are born equal in dignity and rights.“
Bimkom
Planners for Planning Rights The organization was established in May 1999 by planners and architects with the goal of strengthening the connection between human rights and spatial planning in Israel. As a professional organization, Bimkom strives to achieve the right to equality and social justice in matters of planning, development, and the allocation of land resources, and assists communities and minorities affected by social and economic disadvantage and by civil rights’ discriminations to exercise their rights in this area.
Breaking the Silence
An organization of veteran Israeli soldiers that collects testimonies of soldiers who served in the Occupied Territories during the Second Intifada. Soldiers who serve in the Territories are witness to, and participate in military actions which change them immensely. Cases of abuse towards Palestinians, looting, and destruction of property have been the norm for years, but are still excused as military necessities, or explained as extreme and unique cases. Our testimonies portray a different and grim picture of questionable orders in many areas regarding Palestinian civilians. These demonstrate the depth of corruption which is spreading in the Israeli military. While this reality known to Israeli soldiers and commanders exists in Israel’s back yard, Israeli society continues to turn a blind eye, and to deny that which happens in its name. Discharged soldiers who return to civilian life discover the gap between the reality which they encountered in the Territories , and the silence which they encounter at home. In order to become a civilian again, soldiers are forced to ignore their past experiences. Breaking the Silence voices the experiences of those soldiers, in order to force Israeli society to address the reality which it created. Until today, Breaking the Silence interviewed hundreds of soldiers who served in the territories, and continues interviewing soldiers daily. These interviews are published on this website, in testimonial booklets, through different media outlets, and also through lectures and tours to Hebron. The testimonies are published with minimal editing and with complete confidentiality, in order to protect the soldiers and to encourage them to speak.
Gisha
Center for the Legal Protection of Freedom of Movement An Israeli not-for-profit organization that seeks to protect the fundamental rights of Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories by imposing human rights law as a limitation on the behavior of Israel’s military.
Gush Shalom
The primary aim of Gush Shalom is to influence Israeli public opinion and lead it towards peace and conciliation with the Palestinian people, based on the following principles:
Putting an end to the occupation
Accepting the right of the Palestinian people to establish an independent and sovereign State of Palestine in all the territories occupied by Israel in 1967
Reinstating the pre-1967 “Green Line” as the border between the State of Israel and the State of Palestine (with possible minor exchanges of territories agreed between the parties); the border will be open for the free movement of people and goods, subject to mutual agreement.
Establishing Jerusalem as the capital of the two states, with East Jerusalem (including the Haram al-Sharif) serving as the capital of Palestine and West Jerusalem (including the Western Wall) serving as the capital of Israel. The city is to be united on the physical and municipal level, based on mutual agreement.
Recognizing in principle the Right of Return of the Palestinian refugees, allowing each refugee to choose freely between compensation and repatriation to Palestine and Israel, and fixing by mutual agreement the number of refugees who will be able to return to Israel in annual quotas, without undermining the foundations of Israel.
Safeguarding the security of both Israel and Palestine by mutual agreement and guarantees.
Striving for overall peace between Israel and all Arab countries and the creation of a regional union.
HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual
An Israeli human rights organization whose main objective is to offer legal and administrative assistance and advocacy to Palestinians of the Occupied Territories whose rights are violated due to Israel’s policies. These include Detainee Rights; Residency Rights and Family Unification; Freedom of Movement; Violence by security forces and settlers; House Demolitions and Deportations. HaMoked’s site contains information relating to these human rights violations: Israeli laws and regulations; international conventions; petitions to the Israeli High Court of Justice; claims for compensation for damages; decisions by Israeli and other courts; and other official documents and reports.
Kav Adom
The site of Israeli citizens who support the immediate withdrawal of I.D.F from Lebanon.
Kav La’Oved
Non-profit organization established by a group of volunteers in 1990 dedicated to protecting the rights of disadvantaged workers in Israel.
Machsom Watch
Women for Human Rights Founded in 2001 by a group of Israeli women in response to reports on violations of the Human Rights of Palestinian civilians at military and police checkpoints. The group conducts daily surveillances at various checkpoints, observes the procedures at the checkpoints, challenges wrongdoings, assists the local population and provide updated web reports.
Mossawa – The Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens of Israel
The organization was established in October of 1997 as a Non Governmental Organization. Mossawa works to promote equality for Arab\Palestinians within the borders of Israel. Mossawa utilizes advocacy methods to change the social and political status of Arab/Palestinians in Israel in an attempt to gain minority recognition and rights, without sacrificing their national and cultural rights as Palestinians.
Peace Now
Peace Now is the largest extra-parliamentary movement in Israel, the country’s oldest peace movement and the only peace group to have had a broad public base. This is now well eroded.
Physicians for Human Rights – Israel
PHR-Israel, established in 1988, is dedicated to promoting and protecting the medical human rights of residents of Israel and the Occupied Territories. PHR-Israel opposes the subjugation of medical care to political considerations and fights against breaches of medical human rights by the Israeli authorities. PHR-Israel also works to rectify and prevent breakdowns in health care delivery in the West Bank.
Physicians for Human Rights
Physicians For Human Rights-Israel was founded in 1988 with the goal of struggling for human rights, in particular the right to health, in Israel and the Occupied Territories. Human dignity, wellness of mind and body and the right to health are at the core of the world view of the organization and direct and instruct our activities and efforts on both the individual and general level. Our activities integrate advocacy and action toward changing harmful policies and direct action providing healthcare. Today Physicians For Human Rights-Israel has more than 1150 members, over half of whom are healthcare providers.
Rabbis for Human Rights
The only organization in Israel today concerned specifically with giving voice to the Jewish tradition of human rights. RHR has helped numerous individuals, publicized causes, engaged in civil disobedience, lobbied the Knesset and participated in a landmark high court case limiting the scope of the army to abuse human rights under the guise of security.
Ta’ayush: Arab Jewish Partnership
The Arab Association for Human Rights (HRA) Founded in 1988, HRA works to promote and protect the political, civil, economic, and cultural rights of the Palestinian Arab minority in Israel and to further the domestic implementation of international human rights principles.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI)
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel was established in 1972. ACRI is a non-partisan, independent organisation that works for the protection of human and civil rights in Israel and in the territories under its control.
The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI)
An apolitical organization dedicated to the elimination of torture as a means of interrogation by Israel’s security forces. PCATI is the only organization in Israel exclusively devoted to the issue of illegal interrogation. PCATI documents, monitors and responds to cases of illegal interrogation, ill-treatment and police brutality within Israel, the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian National Authority.
The site of Israeli citizens who support the immediate withdrawal of IDF from Lebanon
We — Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel — live surrounded by walls and barbed wire: the walls of segregation, racism, and discrimination between Jews and Arabs within Israel; the walls of closure and siege encircling the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip; and the wall of war surrounding all inhabitants of Israel, so long as Israel remains an armed fortress in the heart of the Middle East. In the fall of 2000 we joined together to form “Ta’ayush” (Arabic for “life in common”), a grassroots movement of Arabs and Jews working to break down the walls of racism and segregation by constructing a true Arab-Jewish partnership. A future of equality, justice and peace begins today, between us, through concrete, daily actions of solidarity to end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and to achieve full civil equality for all Israeli citizens.
Women in Black
Women in Black is a world-wide network of women committed to peace with justice and actively opposed to injustice, war, militarism and other forms of violence. As women experiencing these things in different ways in different regions of the world, we support each other’s movements. An important focus is challenging the militarist policies of our own governments. We are not an organisation, but a means of communicating and a formula for action.
Yesh Din – Volunteers for Human Rights
An Israeli not-for-profit organization comprised of women and men who have come together to take concrete action against the constant human rights abuses inflicted on the Palestinian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The members of the organization come from diverse personal, professional and political backgrounds, but share a deep concern for the significant damage these abuses are causing Palestinian and Israeli societies. To ensure the effectiveness of its action, Yesh Din is assisted by legal, human rights and media professionals.
Yesh Gvul
Yesh Gvul (“There is a limit !”) is an Israeli peace group campaigning against the occupation by backing soldiers who refuse duties of a repressive or aggressive nature. The brutal role of the Israeli army in subjugating the Palestinian population places numerous servicemen in a grave moral and political dilemma, as they are required to enforce policies they deem illegal, immoral and ultimately harmful to Israeli interests. The army hierarchy demands compliance, but many soldiers, whether conscripts or reservists, find that they cannot in good conscience obey the orders of their superiors. Yesh Gvul arose in response to the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, as growing numbers of soldiers grasped that the campaign, with its bloodshed and havoc, was an act of naked and futile aggression in which they wanted no part. 168 servicemen were jailed, some repeatedly, for refusing to serve in the campaign: the actual number of refusals was far greater, but their rising numbers deterred the army from prosecuting most of the refuseniks. The first Palestinian intifada in 1987 likewise prompted further refusals, with close on 200 jailed, though the army again backed down from jailing many of the recalcitrant soldiers, indicating that refusals were significantly more numerous. A notably high ratio of refuseniks are combat officers (ranking from sergeant to major) i.e. soldiers who have served with distinction.
Zochrot
An organization of Israelis who commemorate the Palestinian Nakba in Hebrew, and document Palestinian villages and towns which were destroyed by Israel, in Hebrew.