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Support NIF
Help us promote equality and justice for ALL Israelis.
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Human Rights in the Territories |
 One of Israel’s greatest challenges is upholding the human rights of Palestinians in the territories while maintaining Israel’s security. Palestinian residents of the West Bank do not have many options for recourse when their rights have been violated. They are politically voiceless, held hostage by the Separation Fence, and constrained by military rule and frequent land grabs by settlers. Thus, for many Palestinians the NIF family of human rights organizations is often the only channel for redress. NIF’s grantees and partners work to ensure that treatment at border crossings is in accordance with Israeli and international law, seek legal solutions to change unfair policies and laws and publicize human rights violations and land grabs.
NIF Successes and Resources
Personal Story: Breaking down Barriers
 Khalil Al-Khalayla's life was recently transformed. The 42 year-old Palestinian shepherd and father of five in the West Bank village of Samua in the South Hebron Hills had been unable to tend his livestock properly for several years because of a 41 kilometer wall built by the Israeli army.
"It was impossible to make a living and I was considering selling my livestock," he recalls. "The wall prevented my flocks from reaching the best grazing lands and wells. Then I was encouraged by some Israeli human rights organizations to appeal to the Israeli courts. I was not very confident but they assured me we could win, and we did."
The High Court ordered the Israeli Defense Force to dismantle the wall within six months, following a petition by NIF grantee Association for Human Rights in Israel (ACRI) and residents of the South Hebron Hills, including Al-Khalayla. The wall, which was the height of a highway divide, was not part of the Security Barrier and seemed to serve no purpose other than to disrupt the lives of civilians like Al-Khalayla. "My goats and sheep are flourishing since the wall was removed," he says. "The court ruling has also brought me a great deal of respect and prestige in my village. Many villagers were cynical and told me we would get no justice from the Jewish court. But we proved the cynics wrong.”
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