Israeli daily TheMarker selects Adalah founder Hassan Jabareen as one of top 100 people in country “who work tirelessly to protect democracy”

English translation of TheMarker’s profile (original Hebrew profile here):

A stubborn struggle against discrimination: Adalah founder Hassan Jabareen

When attorney Hassan Jabareen founded Adalah in 1996, the Arab vote in Israel was worth nine seats at the ballot box. In the 2020 election, the Joint List secured a record-breaking 15 seats. In the 25 years that have passed between these two landmarks, Jabareen, as Adalah's director, has led a long series of struggles for the rights of the Arab minority in Israel, utilizing legal tools – first and foremost petitions to the Supreme Court – ranging from political and economic rights to issues of land discrimination, and planning and construction rights.

One of the organization's most notable achievements is the Supreme Court ruling of 2006, which determined that Arab localities suffer from budgetary discrimination in determining national priority areas. Ten years later, Netanyahu’s fourth government announced a historic five-year, NIS 15 billion plan for Arab society in Israel.

During its years of activity, Adalah has become a vital player in the public, political, and legal activities of the Arab public in Israel. Along with its achievements for the welfare of Arab citizens, Jabareen and Adalah have been criticized for promoting a political agenda that focuses on Palestinian rights, and for political positions identified with the Balad movement, which does not recognize Israel as a Jewish-democratic state and seeks to make it a state of all its citizens.

CLICK HERE for TheMarker's original Hebrew profile

(TheMarker photo by Dudu Bachar)