Funded by:       European Union

Partner: The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI)           

Starting Date: November 2012

Ending Date:   November 2015

Injecting Human Rights into the Planning Discourse in Israel is a joint project sponsored by the European Union. The project is based on the cooperation between The Arab Center for Alternative Planning and The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI). The overall objective of the project is to inject human rights into the planning discourse in Israel, specifically towards the Arab minority, in order to promote equitable planning procedures and process, fair allocation of resources, improved access to planning information, and fair representation in planning for the Arab minority in Israel. 

Specifically, the project will:

(1) Research and analyze institutional mechanisms related to planning procedures and processes to completely understand, identify, and address areas of discrimination against Arabs;

(2) Promote dialogue in planning between the Arab minority and State planning decision makers, judges, and authority representatives;

(3) Increase awareness and importance among judges, lawyers, and decision makers regarding right to housing;

(4) Expand awareness among State decision makers, judges, lawyers, and the general Israeli public of the notion of illegal construction due to lack of any alternatives;

(5) Contribute to the discourse on planning and construction issues through Amicus Curiae briefs;

(6) Empower Arab citizens to abide by planning regulations and participate in the planning process.  Arab planning professionals, Arab municipalities, mayors, Knesset committees of interior and other members of Knesset working on promotion of human rights and other NGO’s and civil society organizations working in the field are key stakeholders in the action.