The Mossawa Center is planning an advocacy and educational program in the US from October 8-21. During this program, the Mossawa Center will aim to raise awareness about the rights of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel and their potential role in peace building initiatives. The Mossawa Center hopes to strengthen its partnerships with American civil rights organizations, activists, and political figures, with the ultimate goal of establishing long-lasting alliances with the Mossawa Center and with the Friends of Mossawa in the USA (501 c 3) that reflect mutual commitments to human rights, civil liberties, and respect to minorities.
We will update the schedule in the coming days and will notify you accordingly. The cities we will be heading to and their corresponding dates tentatively are:
Over the past few of years, the Palestinian Arab minority in Israel has experienced an unprecedented series of attacks on their civil, democratic, and human rights.
Throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Palestinian Arab community suffers from a lack of healthcare infrastructure and direct neglect by the Israeli government. At the same time, the political stalemate in Israel led to critical government funding drying up, further exacerbating inequality and gaps between the Palestinian Arab and Jewish communities.
Even with a new face to the Israeli government, Palestinian Arab citizens continue to face heavy discrimination on all fronts. In terms of the State Budget, only about 9 billion shekels ($2.78b) out of the allocated 15 billion ($4.64b) were spent over the past 5 years to develop the Palestinian Arab community. Moreover, the Palestinian Arab community’s needs require at least another 9.4 billion shekels ($2.91b) to be allocated for it in the 2022 State Budget as it lags in everything from healthcare to education to housing.
In May 2021, Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel faced some of the most severe persecution in decades. Racist lynch mobs in countless cities all over the country viciously attacked Palestinian Arab citizens and destroyed their property and businesses, all the while chanting “death to Arabs.” Under the subsequent "Operation Law and Order" - a mass detention campaign – over 2,100 Palestinian Arab citizens were arrested, including 300 minors, of whom only 450 were served indictments; creating a clear tactic of intimidation towards the community in its entirety.
However, the Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel have huge potential in leading a movement that would disrupt the status quo in Israel and bring about real, long-lasting change to the region.
For more information about these events or for details regarding the tour, please contact Suha Salman Mousa – Executive Director of the Mossawa Center and Friends of Mossawa (North America) at suha@mossawa.org.