In recent days, information has been spread via media channels and the internet regarding the launch of an important and much-awaited program for distributing food stamps to low-income families. However, the publications, meant to inform the public about the project and educate eligible populations about their rights, were published only in Hebrew.
Today (31.12.2020), we appealed to the Director of the Ministry of the Interior demanding that the publications be translated to Arabic immediately. In the appeal, ACRI’s Attorney Reut Shaer noted that there is a significant overrepresentation of the Arab population among low-income families, and therefore families who speak Arabic as a native language are the primary target audience for the Food Security Project. Absence of the translated information in a time of need discriminates against the non-Hebrew speaking population, and prevents it from gaining fair access to information and benefits from the government.
About a week after our appeal, the information was translated into Arabic.