Adalah Holds Annual General Assembly Meeting

24/10/2008

On 24 October 2008, Adalah held its annual General Assembly meeting at its new offices in Haifa. The meeting was well-attended by GA members, including several new members and the Board of Directors and Adalah’s staff.

The GA considered numerous reports prepared by Adalah on its activities in 2006, 2007 and 2008, and its finances and its financial plans for the future. The main presentation concerned Adalah’s activities and achievements in 2007. Major achievements included precedent-setting decisions delivered on Adalah’s cases, such as a Supreme Court decision banning the state from spraying toxic chemicals on crops cultivated by Arab Bedouin farmers in the unrecognized villages in the Naqab. They also included commitments made by the state in response to Adalah’s cases, notably a commitment made by the Education Ministry before the Supreme Court to open the first high school in the unrecognized villages in the Naqab in 2009. As detailed in the reports, Adalah had planned to file 15 cases to the Israeli courts in 2007 and actually filed 20, including four major Supreme Court cases in defense of the rights of Palestinians in the 1967 Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Overall, 10 of our pending cases were resolved successfully in 2007, compared to 6 losses. In 2007, Adalah also launched the “Democratic Constitution”, the first constitution proposed by an Arab group in Israel calling for a democratic, bilingual and multi-cultural state. A highlight of our international advocacy work in 2007 was the 26 observations and recommendations set forth by the UN CERD Committee for Israel regarding issues of racial discrimination against Palestinians in Israel and the OPT, many of which were raised by Adalah.

Adalah’s Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Nazeeh Bocaie presented the audited financial reports for 2006 and 2007, which were approved by the GA. The Control Committee, comprised of Advocates Mohammed Miari and Wael Rabi, also provided its reports on Adalah’s activities and institutional and financial practices. Adalah’s budget in 2006 amounted to around US $1 million; in 2007 that figure increased by 20% to US $1.2 million. CPA Bocaie also reported to the GA on Adalah’s purchase of its office in Haifa in November 2007: Adalah paid US $226,000 for the 220m2 space, and then spent around US $72,000 in 2008 to renovate it. By buying and moving into its own office at the end of May 2008, Adalah fulfilled a long-standing goal of the organization.

Adalah has posted its activities reports and audited financial reports for 2006 and 2007 on its website: www.adalah.org.

Financial plans for the future were introduced, particularly focused on initiatives to develop greater self-reliance based on income-generating projects and local fundraising. Since its establishment, Adalah, like most human rights organizations throughout the world, has received the vast majority of its funds from foundation donor agencies based in the United States and Europe, and needs to develop and increase other sources of income. One idea for local fundraising discussed at the GA meeting concerned the transformation of the GA into a “Friends of Adalah” group. This change would encourage more people to join the GA, and would increase the involvement of the GA in Adalah’s activities and in supporting Adalah.

Lively and intense discussions were held concerning proposals to change the name of Adalah. The debate revolved around whether to change the second part of Adalah’s name – “The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel”, given that Adalah has been bringing significant cases before Israeli courts to defend the rights of Palestinians living in the OPT since 2002. Adalah has also recently begun to develop a legal project on the absentee property of Palestinian refugees; in fact, Adalah is currently the only Palestinian organization which deals with major constitutional cases before Israeli courts for all the Palestinians. GA members who supported a name change argued that the organization’s expanded mandate necessitated it, or disagreed with the terminology of the “Arab minority”. However, the GA finally decided to keep Adalah’s current name for the time being, as a majority of members thought that the organization should respect the historical background of the Adalah’s current name, which is widely recognized and emphasizes the group rights of the Arabs in Israel.

Finally, the GA reviewed the new criteria selecting new members to Adalah’s Board of Directors, which was approved in 2006. According to this new method, the Board will recommend new members to the GA when vacancies become available. These members should then be approved by the GA before their appointment as members of the Board.

Adalah’s new Board of Directors is comprised of seven members:

Dr. Khalid Abu Asbeh. Director of the Masar Institute for Educational Research, Planning and Counseling and lecturer in Politics and Public Administration, the Hebrew University. New Board member, 2008.
Ms. Suhad Aga, Advocate. Criminal defense lawyer, Public Defenders’ Office. Board member since 2004.
Prof. Muhammad Haj-Yahia. School of Social Work, The Hebrew University, specializing in violence against women. Board member since 2005.
Dr. Masoud Hamdan. Author and theatre critic, and lecturer in Arabic Language, Literature and Theatre, University of Haifa. New Board member, 2008.
Dr. Hala Khoury-Bisharat, Advocate. Adjunct lecturer in faculties of law in Israel in international criminal law. Board member since 2007.
Fuad Sultany, Advocate. Worked with Ansar al-Sajeen (The Prisoners’ Friends Association) for ten years. Board member from 2001-2004; re-joined in 2007.
Dr. Mahmoud Yazbak. Senior lecturer in Middle East History, University of Haifa, specializing in the history of Palestine. Board member since 2004.

Adalah’s Control Committee is comprised of two members:

Wael Rabie, Advocate. Runs a private law office and is a member of three Israeli Bar Association committees. Engaged in various community activities. Control Committee member since 2006.
Jeries Rawashdeh, Advocate. Runs a private law office and is an Assistant Lecturer at the Netanya Academic College in compensation law. Control Committee members since 2008.

Outgoing members of the Board of Directors and Control Committee are:

Chairperson, Prof. Marwan Dwairy. Founder and Chief Supervisor of Municipal Psychological Services Center, Nazareth; Board member since 2002.
Dr. Thabet Abu Ras. Lecturer in the Department of Geography and Environmental Development, Ben-Gurion University. Board member since 2005.
Mohammed Miari, Advocate. Founding member of the Regional Land Defense Committee, and the Director of Ansar al-Sajeen (Prisoners Friends’ Association) for seven years. Served as a member of Knesset from 1984-1992. Involved in various political and cultural activities, and currently writing a quasi-autobiography book on the status and situation of the Palestinians in Israel and the OPT. Control Committee member since 2006.

Adalah is very thankful to the three of them for and sincerely appreciates all of the hard work, commitment, and support provided to the organization over the years from the outgoing members.