Association for Civil Rights in Israel
Encyclopedia
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel ' onMouseout='HidePop("59349")' href="/topics/Arabic_language">Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

: ) was created as an independent non-partisan organization to protect human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

 and civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...

 in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 and the territories under its control.

The association was created in 1972 and its founders were a group of people mainly academics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...

 that felt the need for an independent extra-parliamentary organization to protect civil rights.

The association established its views on the basic rights that were recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...

, that was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...

 in 1948, and the values in Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel
Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel
The Israeli Declaration of Independence , made on 14 May 1948 , the day before the British Mandate was due to expire, was the announcement by David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization and chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, that the new Jewish state named the...

. Today the association is the largest human rights organization in Israel, and is the only organization in Israel that deals with entire range of human rights, e.g. the right to live, freedom of speech and information, the right for education, etc.

The association is working to protect human rights through legislation by promotion of civil rights bills; through judicial means, by hearings in the different judicial instances, mostly through the Supreme Court of Israel
Supreme Court of Israel
The Supreme Court is at the head of the court system and highest judicial instance in Israel. The Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem.The area of its jurisdiction is all of Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. A ruling of the Supreme Court is binding upon every court, other than the Supreme...

; through educational means; through public means by writing publications, conducting continuing education programs in the educational system, and conducting educational activities among the Israeli Security Forces
Israeli Security Forces
Security forces in Israel include a variety of organizations, including law enforcement, military, paramilitary, governmental, and intelligence agencies.-Military:...

.

The association is an organization of members that works through a professional staff and volunteers. Among them, many central figures from the fields of the law, education, press, from the academy and from the general public. Its financial resources come from the membership fees and from donations in Israel and around the world. It does not receive money from political parties or from the government. ACRI produces an annual 'State of Human Rights' report.

In 2000, ACRI received the Israel Bar’s annual prize for Contribution to Law and Society in Israel.

As of 2009, the president of the association is the author Sami Michael
Sami Michael
Sami Michael is an Israeli author. Since 2001, Michael has been the President of The Association for Civil Rights in Israel .Michael was among the first in Israel to call for the creation of an independent Palestinian state to exist alongside Israel. In his novels Michael writes about the...

. Among the organization's previous presidents: Professor Ruth Gavison
Ruth Gavison
Ruth Gavison is an Israeli Law professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She is also a Senior Fellow Emeritus at the Israel Democracy Institute...

 and Israeli Supreme Court Judges Shimon Agranat
Shimon Agranat
Shimon Agranat was the President of the Supreme Court of Israel from 1965 until 1976.-Biography:Agranat was born to a Zionist family in Louisville, Kentucky in 1906. He attended the University of Chicago and later its law school. Agranat emigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1930 and settled in...

 and Haim Cohn

The Emil Grunzweig Human Rights Award
Emil Grunzweig Human Rights Award
The Emil Grunzweig Human Rights Award is an award made annually by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel to "an individual or NGO that has made a unique contribution to the advancement of human rights in Israel"...

is an annual award made by the association to "an individual or NGO that has made a unique contribution to the advancement of human rights in Israel". The award was established in 1981 but was renamed in 1983 after the murder of activist Emil Grunzweig by a grenade thrown by a right-wing sympathizer during a Peace Now demonstration against the war in Lebanon.

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