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Rights & COVID-19: Arab Minority

Translating into Arabic:


Successfully demanded that the National Employment Bureau translate unemployment benefit forms into Arabic; following our appeal the bureau announced that it would begin to offer services in Arabic (17-03-2020).


Successfully demanded the Public Broadcaster provide real-time Arabic translations of evening news (22-03-2020).


Along with the Clinic for Human Rights in Society at the University of Haifa, contacted the National Insurance Institute requesting an emergency arrangement regarding the postponement of collecting debts, and an additional request to translate all information in respect to the issue into Arabic and other languages (26-03-2020).


Legal Status:


ACRI wrote to Director of the Population and Immigration Authority demanding they automatically renew family-unification permits for Palestinians living in Israel (18-3-2020).


ACRI petitioned the High Court of Justice, demanding that social rights be granted to Palestinians who are spouses of Israelis citizens and residents, under the National Insurance Law and other social laws. Since 2002, these people, who have lived and worked here for years, cannot upgrade their status in Israel, and are thus ineligible for social rights such as unemployment or disability benefits. Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 crisis, many of them have lost their livelihoods, and are not entitled to any support (11.6.2020).


Access to healthcare and information:


Appealed to the Ministry of Health to open “drive-through” stations to check for Corona in Arab cities (25-03-2020).


Following publications regarding the lack of Corona testing in Arab communities, we appealed to the Director General of the Treasury to allocate appropriate resources for the detection of Corona in East Jerusalem and the Bedouin communities in the Negev (29-3-2020).


We sent multiple appeals to the Minister of Health and the Director General of the Ministry of Health demanding they publish information about Coronavirus patients from Arab villages and from East Jerusalem and their trajectories on their website in Hebrew and Arabic (29-03-2020).


Home demolitions:


Joined 23 other organizations in appealing to the Attorney General to cease all home demolitions in unrecognized Bedouin villages (19-3-2020). We received a response from the Justice Ministry that they will freeze home demolition proceedings in the Negev, aside from new construction (24-03-2020).


Education for all:


Along with the Clinic for Human Rights in Society at the University of Haifa, we appealed to the Minister of Education and demanded that they make the online curriculum accessible to all students in Israel; as many of the students in the unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev are not connected to the electricity grid; both Arab and Jewish students in East Jerusalem live in a difficult financial situation; and for the children of asylum seekers. We demanded all online lessons be translated into Arabic (01-04-2020). On 4.5.20, we petitioned to the High Court of Justice on the matter.

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