Impact

After the national-religious Jewish Home party put up campaign ads in Ramle that used racist imagery and warned of intermarriage between Jews and Arabs, NIF grantees spoke out. Sikkuy: The Association for the Advancement of Civic Equality, The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), and Tag Meir condemned the racist campaign, and the Ramle municipality took down the ads.

In response to the clause in the Nation-State Law that downgraded the status of the Arabic language, Israelis held a protest event in Tel Aviv’s Habima Square dubbed “the world’s largest Arabic lesson.” Thousands of Israelis gathered to learn Arabic and hear performances by Arab and Jewish musicians.

NIF supported a coalition of artists and activists advocating against the Cultural Censorship bill, which would have allowed Culture Minister Miri Regev to act as a chief censor and control budgets of cultural institutions. Zazim — Community Action gathered over 8,000 signatures against the law. Thanks in part to these efforts, the vote on the bill has been indefinitely postponed.

People with mental health disabilities will now have access to welfare services. Following a petition from The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), Bizchut: The Israel Human Rights Center for People with Disabilities, and the Sderot Municipality, the Ministry of Welfare overturned its policy to deny services to people with mental health disabilities.

Police initially refused to issue a permit for the firstever LGBTQ pride march in Kfar Saba this summer unless the organizers paid for security costs and placed a two-meter fence that would obscure the marchers from public view. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel sued, and the police backed down from the demands. NIF has helped LGBTQ organizers overcome similar obstacles in Be’er Sheva and Jerusalem.

Following a petition from The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), the Israel Land Administration fined Mishab Housing and Construction NIS 30,000 ($8,300) for discriminating against Arab home-buyers in the Galilee town of Maalot-Tarshiha. The firm offered significant discounts to prospective Jewish buyers, but consistently told Arab buyers that the special offers had ended.