On April 5^th, the American Task Force on Palestine sponsored the event “Minority and Civil Rights in Israel: Working Toward a Shared Future.” The event was co-sponsored by  Americans for Peace Now, Churches for Middle East Peace, Foundation for Middle East Peace, New Israel Fund, and Project Engage. The Mossawa Center, an advocacy center for Arabs in Israel, helped to coordinate a delegation of civil society leaders representative of a myriad of ethnic and religious groups within Israel to engage with an American audience Washington regarding the challenges they face.

The featured panelists included Mr. Jafar Farah, Director of the Mossawa Center; Ms. Amal El-Sana Al-Hjooj, Co-Executive Director of the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development; Ms. Einat Hurvitz, Director of legal and public policy at the Israel Religious Action Center; Dr. Alla Shainskaya, Chairwoman of the Board of “Our Heritage, Charter for Democracy”; and Ms. Tammy Katsabian, Former attorney for the Tmura Center. 

The panelists discussed discriminatory legislation, government practices as well as other structural obstacles faced by Arab citizens of Israel and other minorities in Israel.  They also presented their various strategies to overcome discrimination and to build partnerships working towards equality and peace in Israel. The delegation called upon the general American public and policy makers alike to pay more attention to the situation of various minority groups in Israel, to publicize the issues facing these communities in the general discourse surrounding Israel, and to support the various organizations’ efforts.