December 10, 2024
76 years ago today, the United Nations General Assembly declared that every human being has basic rights that no one can take away from them. These days in particular that message seems almost subversive. But that is why we are here: to remind the government, the courts, and the world that no one is undeserving of basic human rights. With that moral compass, we will never be deterred.
Those of us in the human rights field need to be resilient. We are always looking at the worst that governments and institutions and societies enact, and must necessarily be in a constant state of readiness to respond to issues as they arise. We can never give in to apathy, exhaustion, or discouragement.
This year in particular has been nothing less than a nightmare. There is a clear and troubling deterioration of democratic institutions around the world, and Israel is no exception. The judicial overhaul is back on the table. Law enforcement is being run by a racist, extremist minister and is taking its cues from him. Freedom of the press is increasingly endangered, with the Al Jazeera Law and the recent proposal by a government minister to boycott the newspaper Haaretz. Each case that we bring to court faces innumerable hurdles, and the reward for the hard work that our lawyers and staff undertake to protect human rights is verbal abuse and attacks by members of the public—and by Knesset members themselves at committee meetings. Even families of hostages have been attacked.
But what gives us the energy to keep working to advance human rights is knowing that however uphill the battles, the work that we do is important and makes a real difference in people’s lives. Just recently, the Jerusalem municipality finally agreed, after years of refusals, to establish Family Care Centers (Tipat Halav) in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Shu’afat. The Ministry of Education agreed to grant special accommodations for matriculation exams to all students evacuated from Kiryat Shmona. People experiencing bankruptcy are now able to pay for essentials using checks.
Beyond the courtrooms, beyond the yelling politicians, beyond the trolls, real people are affected by our work. The babies and young families in Shu’afat now have a place to go for medical care and advice. High schoolers from Kiryat Shmona who have gone through so much this past year—war, being evacuated from their homes, being separated from their friends and support systems—have a chance to do well on their matriculation exams and help secure their futures. People dealing with bankruptcy can pay for their essential needs, giving them both dignity during difficult times, and the ability to keep themselves afloat on a basic level. These are victories that should be savored, all the more because they were so hard-won. The weakest elements in society—minorities, the poor, the elderly, prisoners—know that they are seen, and that there is someone trying to help.
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