2007 Civil and Human Rights
Israel-U.S. Civil Liberties Law Program — $213,000
Programs
A two-year training program, which includes a year of studies at the American University’s Washington College of Law, internships with leading U.S. civil and human rights organizations and a year working with an NIF grantee in Israel. The alumni of this program are the cornerstone of Israel’s public interest bar, regularly breaking new ground on a wide range of issues, including the rights of minority citizens, disability law, citizenship rights, children’s rights, rights of the elderly, religious freedom, the environment and individual rights. This year, Israeli’s first Ethiopian-born lawyer was accepted to the program.
Active Citizenship Education – $105,000 With no standard curriculum for civics education in Israel, there is a strong need for developing and institutionalizing the topic as a core subject to ensure that the next generation is both educated and experienced in the democratic process. In partnership with the Israel Venture Network and in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, NIF established the program as a model of civics education for grades 1-12 that involves parents, local NGOs and the surrounding community, and which integrates civics learning with the actual experience of civic engagement. A pilot project in Sderot, Kiryat Shmona and Tuba-Zangariya combines teacher training, ongoing coaching and development of teaching materials. In Sderot, the pilot project, now in its third year of implementation, is helping to counter the frustrations and feelings of vulnerability to bombardment from Gaza by channeling students’ energies into constructive civic activities.
Palestinian Initiative — $260,000 Begun as a response to the violence of the second Intifada in 2000, and re-evaluated following new research in 2006, this program strengthens co-existence by advancing the rights of Israel’s Arab minority. Grants made to NGOs focus on obtaining recognition and basic services for unrecognized villages in the Negev, developing joint industrial zones, promoting equal resources for Arab education and promoting the integration of Arab women into the workforce. NIF has five partners: The Center for Jewish-Arab Economic Development, the Regional Council for Unrecognized Negev Arab Villages, the Arab Center for Alternative Planning, the Follow-Up Committee on Arab Education and Women against Violence.
The Abu Basma Project — $100,000 The Abu Basma Project, established in 2004 by NIF in partnership with JDC-Israel and the Fromm Foundation, bolsters community development among Israel’s 80,000 Negev Bedouin who live in unrecognized villages and are on the lowest rung of the country’s socio-economic ladder. The project emphasizes developing leadership skills of local committees, assisting in planning and empowering citizens towards civic participation; building confidence, trust and cooperation between village leaders and the Council; and establishing projects focusing on employment, early childhood education, women’s issues and health.
“Kick it Out” Israel — Campaign against Racism in Soccer — $30,000 Combats racism in Israeli society by tackling the racist attitudes of soccer fans towards Arab and black players, while also promoting co-existence. The program funds volunteers who monitor crowd behavior for the compilation of a weekly index of racist behavior which is featured prominently in the media, and which resulted in new legislation outlawing racism at games. NIF is initiating more multi-cultural activities using soccer to
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