WEBSITE GOALS

This Website focuses on CIVIL RIGHTS, HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW in the STATE OF ISRAEL.

Evidence - Concrete & Undeniable
We believe that a nation's Laws, and official rationale for their laws as expressed in official publications, provide concrete and undeniable evidence of the true attitudes of that nation toward its minorities and/or other groups who do not hold leadership positions in the government.

The Basic Paradox
In Israel we find a struggle between the government's attempt to develop a Jewish State, special for the Jewish people, versus the effort to create a truly democratic state distinguished by its practice of justice and freedom from hatred and prejudice.

Success But Crucial Failure
But the evidence of the Laws themselves indicate that the government succeeded in the former, but failed in the latter. Sadly, the State of Israel is not a country where its minority and non-Jewish populations find equality, justice and freedom. And this failure not only fails one of the basic founding principles of the State of Israel, but it conflicts with the basic moral principles of the Jewish Religion which the State is supposed to support and embody.

An Important Question
An important question for future generations is - does the effort to create a nation and society that gives special privilege and position to one group above all others automatically preclude the possibility of creating a truly just democracy free of discrimination and hatred for all?

We believe that the example of Israel answers this question in the affirmative - that government-level privilege does automatically lead to lack of justice and to detrimental discrimination (oppression) because the population groups not privileged are forced into a second class status and many of their rights have to be curtailed in order to keep them there.

It is Human Nature to Rebel against Second-Class Status
This unavoidably leads to disastisfaction amongst that group of people because they thus lose self-determination over their own lives and society. This dissatisfaction would thus naturally lead to revolt which escalates the conflict between the groups, thus increasing the hatred and lack of empathy between the groups, which then inevitably would eventually lead to inhumane suppression of rebellion, and political oppression and economic exploitation.

This is seen more in evidence in the adjacent Palestinian territories which Israel occupies because the oppression and exploitation is more intense there.

WEBSITE GOALS:
Our website has 3 primary goals:

• (1) To serve as a professional level resource for civil rights and human rights lawyers doing legal work in Israel and territories she occupies.
• (2) To provide primary and secondary source material for researchers and activists interested in civil rights and the legalized discrimination practiced by the State of Israel and territories she occupies.
• (3) To provide educational materials for educators and activists interested in learning about and teaching about civil rights in the State of Israel and territories she occupies.

HOW TO USE THIS WEBSITE:
This website has 3 sections:

• (1) DATABASES: provide in easy-to-use sortable online databases the basic categories of legal documents such as the Laws themselves, Court Cases, Military Orders in the occupied territories, Emergency Regulations, UN Resolutions, and other relevant historic documents. Summaries for all, and full texts of many are provided.
• (2) EXPLANATORY ESSAYS & BRIEFS: explaining how Israeli democracy works, how discrimination works both in Israel and in the territories she occupies, and a historical explanation of why discrimination developed in the State of Israel.
• (3) EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS: are provided for --
  • (A) Learning about and teaching about how discrimination, oppression and exploitation are legalized in Israel and the adjacent occupied Palestinian territories (see the Study Guide);
  • (B) showing what some groups have developed to educate others including the general public about legalized discrimination in Israel and the adjacent occupied Palestinian territories.
• (4) WEBSITE SERVICES: various services and features of the website such as the website MAP, BIBLIOGRAPHY, NEWSLETTER, etc. New features and tools are added all the time, and are listed chronologically in the NEWS section so that you can keep up with the progress of the site development. There is also a MEMBERSHIP section which gives contact info for the Israel Law Resource Center, and ways to help out with the work of the Center.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

• (1) Feedback: we are always interested in feedback from our visitors and members. We are especially concerned with ACCURACY, as well as how to make the website easier to use (especially for professsionals in the legal profession).
• (2) Access: if anyone can offer access to Israeli legal materials we would greatly appreciate it.
• (3) Translation: we need translators from Hebrew and Arabic to English, and eventually other languages as well.
• (4) Expansion: eventually we would like to cover civil rights law of all the countries of the Middle East, and eventually other important areas of law such as constitutional, business, family, environmental, etc.
• (5) Funds: we require funds to pay for everything from server space to office supplies.

If you can help, please visit our MEMBERSHIP page where you make online donations, or email us at info@israellawresourcecenter.org