The following sections provide more detailed information on NIF’s work on-the-ground in Israel, with examples of how NIF grantees are making a difference, descriptions of major new projects and initiatives and a listing of the organizations to which NIF made core grants of $20,000 or more. For a full listing of grants and more information on NIF’s grantees and programs, please visit www.nif.org.
accomplishments 2006 Human Rights NIF and grantee Machsom Watch challenged the harassment of non-Jewish passengers traveling through Ben-Gurion airport by offering to monitor security checks. As a result, Prime Minister Olmert asked the Transportation Ministry to explore ways to end the mistreatment and introduce new technology to allow for less invasive searches. On Tu B’Shvat, over 300 Israeli Jews planted 500 olive saplings with Arab farmers to compensate for trees damaged by settler vigilantes. The event was initiated by NIF and veteran NIF grantees Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), BINA: Center for Jewish Identity and Hebrew Culture, Rabbis for Human Rights and the Kibbutz Movement. The campaign’s results: vandalism against Palestinian olive trees ceased after the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) began protecting the groves. After a petition by NIF grantee Hamoked: Center for Defense of the Individual, Israel’s Supreme Court ordered the government to dismantle eight kilometers of the Security Fence near the West Bank Jewish settlement of Tzofin, after finding that the Fence route was
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designed to provide the Jewish settlement with land to expand and had no security considerations. Tzofin’s secret plans, which were discovered by NIF grantee Bimkom: Planners for Planning Rights, persuaded the justices to reverse their 2002 decision rejecting the original petition. The Supreme Court approved a petition permitting compensatory payments to residents of the West Bank and Gaza, canceling a section of the existing “Intifada legislation” that had prevented legal redress for harm to civilians or civilian property. NIF grantee human rights groups involved in this petition included Adalah, HaMoked and Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI). The Knesset passed comprehensive legislation outlawing all forms of trafficking, including trafficking in labor, children and organs. The law, written with input from NIF grantees Hotline for Migrant Workers and Workers’ Hotline: Kav LaOved, provides compensation for victims of trafficking, including sex slaves, from fines imposed on convicted traffickers.