Adalah, ACRI and NIF to Host a Program on the Role of Civil Society Organizations in Israel

On 20 December 2001, Adalah, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and the New Israel Fund (NIF) will host a day of panel discussions entitled, “The Role of Civil Society Organizations in the Area of Human and Civil Rights in Time of Crisis and Emergency.” The program includes an opening session with former Minister of Education Shulamit Aloni and Palestinian author Salman Natour, and three panel discussions: “Is the Israeli Media Reporting the News or Towing the Government Line?”, “Where did the Liberal Leadership in Israel Disappear To?” and “The Role of Social Movements in Times of Crisis in Israel”. There will also be a showing of “The First Sons of Zion 27 (Bechorei Tzion 27)”, a film on the lives of four Palestinian families in Jaffa, followed by a discussion with Mohammad Ali Zian from the unrecognized Arab village of Um-Alsahali.

The program will be held in the Mandel Cultural Center at 1 Tikval Street in Jaffa, near the fountain on Jerusalem Avenue.  A full program schedule is included below. For more information, please call the NIF at 02-6723095.

PROGRAM SCHEDULE:

11:15 Gathering and registration

11:45 Opening session with Shulamit Aloni, former Minister of Education, and Salman Natour, author

FIRST PLENARY (12:15-13:30(

"Is the Israeli Media Reporting the News or Towing the Government Line?"

Moderator: Eliezer Ya'ari, Executive Director of the New Israel Fund

Participants:

Dr. Daniel Dor - Tel Aviv University, Editor of “Journalism Under Influence”

Walid El-Omari - Al Jazeera Reporter in the West Bank

David Witzom - Editor and Reporter, Channel One TV

Eeta Prince Gibson - Jerusalem Post

Ali Waked - Y Net Reporter

SECOND PLENARY (14:15-15:45(

"Where did the Liberal Leadership in Israel Disappear To?"

Moderator: Carmit Guy - Talk Show Moderator, Rashet Bet (Israeli Radio(

Participants:

Prof. Yuli Tamir - Tel Aviv University

Yehoshua Sobol - Playwright

Salman Natour - Author

Mohammad Bakri - Actor

Prof. Amnon Sela - Hebrew University

THIRD PLENARY (16:00-17:30)

"Human Rights: Voices from the Field"

Film: "The First Sons of Zion 27 (Bechorei Tzion 27)" - The story of four young Arab families in Jaffa. Followed by a discussion with Mohammad Ali Zian from the unrecognized Arab village of Um-Alsahali

FOURTH PLENARY (17:45-19:00)

"The Role of Social Movements in Times of Crisis in Israel"

Moderator: Yishai Menuchin, Director of Organizational Consulting, Shatil

Participants:

Suhad Bishara, Advocate - Adalah: Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel

Vered Livne - Executive Director, Association for Civil Rights in Israel

Gilad Kariv - Center for Jewish Pluralism

Dr. Henriet Dahan Kalev - Ahoti, and Ben-Gurion University.

Jessica Montell - Executive Director, Btselem