DIRASAT, The Arab Center for Law and Policy, was established in 2006 to address the vast need for improvement in the socio-economic status and the general attainment of substantive equality for the Arab-Palestinian minority in Israel - who comprise today nearly 20 percent of the state's population - at both the individual and collective levels. Dirasat’s endeavors in this direction are grounded in the universal concepts of human rights, justice, equality and inclusion for all on the one hand, while celebrating the history and continued development of the unique identity of each group within society on the other.
The Center was initiated by a core group of academics, professionals and community activists dedicated to carrying out the mission and goals of this institution.
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Discrimination is a regular occurrence in state resource allocations in every field (particularly in land, education, housing, employment, and social services), and Arab-Palestinian citizens continue to be excluded from the centers of power and underrepresented in public institutions, as well as in the general public sphere. The main challenge before the Arab-Palestinian minority is the translation of our aspirations for substantive and equal citizenship into proactive strategies, articulated as viable alternatives to existing frameworks of state law and policy. It is this exact interplay of law and policy that Dirasat seeks to address at the state level, while at the same time working to enhance the capacity of the Arab minority leadership to make informed decisions on strategic directions and the specific goals required to achieve substantive citizenship.
The establishment of Dirasat was motivated by the belief that meeting the challenges of engendering full equality and citizenship for the Arab-Palestinian minority requires moving beyond the intense work of responding to daily rights violations. Dirasat endeavors to achieve these goals through strategic planning, applied research that can inform both the internal (within the Arab minority) and the external decision-making processes (at the state level), publication of position papers recommending concrete law and policy reforms, dissemination of up-to-date and useful data and information to bolster advocacy efforts, and provision of capacity-building and skills training among the Arab-Palestinian minority rights community.
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Dirasat has already made a significant impact as a very active and appreciated organization contributing to the attainment of equal citizenship for the Palestinian Arab citizens in Israel. Over 700 people have thus far participated in our activities in tens of public events, including academics, educators, political and civil society activists, mayors, members of the Knesset, lawyers and teachers.
Our main projects 2009-2010, chosen collaboratively through our study days last year, include the following:
Education: Reforming Arab teacher training and expanding applied research on Arab education policy;
Local Governance: continuing and expanding our project on improving the performance of Arab local authorities;
Launching our online civil rights library.
Additional projects include:
Professional support of the Arab Pedagogic Council,
A project on Arab Women’s Employment, and
Developing our partnership with the University of Haifa’s Arab Minority Law clinic.
Dirasat, Arab Center for Law and Policy
P. O. Box 3190, Nazareth 16131
Tel: 04-6083333, Fax: 04-6083366
www.dirasat-aclp.org
dirasat.aclp@gmail.com
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