Over 100 Arab law students and tens of attorneys and activists working in the field of human rights participated in a unique conference organized by Adalah over three days (14-16 September 2006) in Neve Shalom / Wahat al-Salam. The aim of the conference was to increase awareness among the future generation of Arab lawyers in Israel of human rights, and its applications in public and private law.
The opening lecture was given by Adalah’s General Director, Attorney Hassan Jabareen, who discussed the importance of the role of cause lawyers who work to achieve social change. Attorney Jabareen examined a number of major petitions filed by Adalah, generating a discussion on the collective rights of the Arab minority in Israel.
The keynote speaker was Justice Salim Joubran, the first Arab Justice to receive a permanent appointment to sit on the Israeli Supreme Court. Justice Joubran discussed the role of attorneys in defending human rights, and the important part played by human rights organizations in this regard. A lively discussion took place between the students and Justice Joubran, with many participants asking insightful questions to Justice Joubran about his work as a judge. He then talked about the various stages of his professional life, from starting as a young lawyer to becoming a Supreme Court Justice, and offered the students advice on legal advocacy and representation before the courts.
The first panel, facilitated by Dr. Thabet Abu Ras, a lecturer a Ben-Gurion University and a member of Adalah’s Board of Directors, dealt with various models of human rights organizations working in legal advocacy. Advocate Sahar Francis from the Addameer Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights Association spoke on Addameer’s activities in support of Palestinian political prisoners in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), particularly in light of the grave violations of detainees’ rights in the Israeli military court system. Professor Kenneth Mann, former Public Defender and Founder of the Public Defender’s Office in Israel spoke on the crucial role played by the Public Defender’s Office in guaranteeing representation for detainees and defendants in criminal cases, who often appeared in court without attorneys prior to the establishment of the office. Professor Mann also talked to the students about a number of dilemmas faced by the Public Defender’s Office in principle cases.
Attorney Dan Yakir, the Legal Advisor to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), examined ACRI’s legal work, focusing on principle petitions, including petitions related to the rights of the Arab minority in Israel. Attorney Dori Spivak, Deputy Director of Clinical Programs at Tel Aviv University’s Faculty of Law discussed the clinics petitions and the role of human rights clinics in training students to work in the field.
The second panel discussion was held on the subject of integrating human rights language into other fields of law. Attorney Avigdor Feldman presented a film which showed the re-enactment of the killing of Israeli soldier Oleg Shaichet by an Arab citizen of Israel, who confessed to the killing. However, it later emerged that he was completely innocent. Through the presentation, Attorney Feldman analyzed the findings brought to light by the re-enactment of the crime, thereby demonstrating the danger of convicting a person solely on the basis of his confession alone.
In the same panel, Attorney Muhammad Dahleh, former Chairperson of Adalah’s Board of Directors, presented the legal strategies which he employed in the “Beit Sourik” case, which he submitted to the Supreme Court against the path of the Separation Wall. Next, Attorney Salim Wakim spoke on the legal difficulties inherent in legal representation on cases relating to the OPTs, as well as some successes in this area. Attorney Yossi Wolfson from the HaMoked Center for the Defence of the Individual spoke on the relationship between human rights and tort law, and the utility of employing tort law in making claims for damages against the security forces, as part of the struggle against violence by the Israeli police and army. The panel was facilitated by Dr. Michael Karayanni, a lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
The final panel dealt with the subject of media, the law and human rights. Ms. Kholod Masalha from the I’lam Media Center presented information on the image of the Arab individual in the Israeli media. Journalist Yoav Stern, a correspondent on Arab issues for the Israeli daily newspaper Ha’aretz and recent winner of a European Union award for his series of reports from the Arab town of Umm al-Fahem during the 2006 Knesset elections, spoke on covering the rights of the Arab public in Israel in the Hebrew-language media. Ms. Lorit Ashqar, a news editor for an Israeli television network, examined the obstacles associated with working as an Arab in her field, and how these increased since the start of the war between Israel and Hizbullah, particularly in relation to freedom of expression in news broadcasting. Adalah Attorney Abeer Baker, the conference coordinator, discussed minority rights in the media from a legal perspective, and the state’s duty to ensure the appropriate representation of Arabs in the media, both in terms of visibility and employment. Attorney Baker related her arguments to Israeli law and the Arab minority’s rights to language, freedom of expression, dignity and equality.
On the final day of the conference, four workshops were held on the following issues: the law, woman and social rights, moderated by Adalah Attorney Sawsan Zaher; land rights, moderated by Adalah Attorney Suhad Bishara and Adalah’s Urban and Regional Planner, Hana Hamdan, which included the screening of the film “The Unrecognized,” written and commissioned by Adalah (to watch the film, see: http://www.theunrecognized.org) on the unrecognized Arab Bedouin villages in the Naqab (Negev); the legal status of Palestinian political prisoners, moderated by Adalah Attorney Abeer Baker; and cultural and religious rights, moderated by Adalah Attorney Adel Bader.
The conference also included cultural activities, including the screening of two films: “October’s Cry,” which deals with the events of October 2000 (directed by Ms. Julie Gal); and “Arna’s Children,” which relates the true story of the lives of Palestinian children from the Jenin refugee camp, from their childhoods through to the deaths of some of them during incursions into the camp by the Israeli military during “Operation Defensive Shield” in 2002 (directed by Mr. Juliano Meir Khamis). The comedy duo Hanna Shamas and Ayman Nahas also presented satirical socio-political comedy sketches.