Adalah Files an Appeal to the District Court against the Municipality of Haifa Demanding that it Publish Announcements in the Arabic-Language Media

Orna Kohn, a lawyer for Adalah, filed an appeal to the District Court of Haifa today requesting that the Court issue a declaratory order against the Municipality of Haifa for its refusal to publish its public announcements in the Arabic-language media.  Currently, the Municipality publishes its announcements only in the Hebrew-language media, despite the fact that 14% of Haifa’s residents are Arab. 

In its appeal, Adalah claimed that “By not publishing its public announcements in the Arabic-language media, the Municipality of Haifa discriminates against the Arab residents of Haifa concerning the receipt of vital information about the municipality’s services.”  These announcements include information on road closures and other traffic safety and parking matters, hours of operation of the municipality, which changes due to holidays, conditions of the Haifa beaches, emergency contacts, an opening ceremony for a project to renovate an Arab neighborhood, and other events hosted by the municipality. 

Adalah claimed in its appeal that the Municipality’s policy disregards the safety of its Arab residents.  Moreover, as a service provision center for the greater metropolitan region, which is 20% Arab, and for the Northern District, which is 50% Arab, the Haifa Municipality has a particular obligation to publish its announcements in the Arabic language media. Vital governmental services are provided in Haifa which include: hospitals, specialized clinics, radiology centers, harbor access, an airport, and governmental offices.  Further, the Municipality’s expenditures on advertising show that it considers this to be an important channel for relaying information to its residents.

Adalah claimed that the Municipality, by refusing to publish its ads in the Arabic- language media, violates Israeli law, according to which all authorities in the country are obliged to respect the status of Arabic as an official language of Israel.