The Right to an Address for Arab Citizens Living in Unrecognized Villages

Successfully petitioned the Court in 06/97 against the Ministry of Interior (MOI) to allow residents of the unrecognized village of Husseniya to list the village as their official address on their identity cards. Adalah argued that the prohibition violates citizens' right to participate in elections without difficulty, the right to receive mail in one's village or home, and the right to maintain a community ('the right to be we'). In 11/98, the Court accepted the case and ordered the MOI to pay Adalah NIS 5,000 in legal expenses. This is the first time that Arab citizens have been permitted by the state to list an unrecognized village as their official address.

(H.C. 3607/97, Mohammed Sawa'ed, et. al. v. Ministry of the Interior, et. al.)