30 March marks the 37th Land Day, as Israel continues to use a range of tactics to confiscate what remains of Arab land. This month, Adalah, together with Bimkom - Planners for Human Rights, filed an appeal against the building of a forest and parkplanned on top of the ruins of the unrecognized Arab Bedoiun village of Atir in the Naqab (Negev) to try to block one more destruction and confiscation.
Adalah also defended Arab Bedouin citizens living in the unrecognized village of Wadi al-Na'am, who were being sued by the right-wing pro-settlement NGO Regavim to demolish and re-locate three elementary schools in the village as a way to pressure the people to leave their lands. The Supreme Court dismissed the case finding that Regavim did not have standing to sue the villagers. Wadi al-Na’am is in danger as it is slated for destruction by the Begin recommendations to the Prawer Plan.
Arab Women in Public Service
To mark International Women's Day (8 March), Adalah issued a position paper on Arab women in government employment. Despite the passage of laws and state commitments to increase the proportion of Arab women employees, these obligations have not been met. Arab women hold a negligible number of government positions, while Jewish women have made substantial gains in the civil sector.
International Day Against Racism: Racist attacks increasing and legal database
Coinciding with International Day Against Racism (21 March), Adalah sent two letters to the Attorney General demanding the opening of criminal investigations into two separate racist assaults, one on an Arab restaurant worker in Tel Aviv, and the other on an Arab woman at a train station in Jerusalem. These attacks are part of a growing manifestation of racism erupting on the Israeli street.