Read NIF's latest press releases and statements. For press inquiries, please contact Elisheva Goldberg at: 917.740.4031 phone or [email protected].
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Incitement, Fraud, and Fabrication
23 July 2009The New Israel Fund is committed to a democratic Israel in which progressive voices are not intimidated, threatened and misrepresented. The coarsening of discourse in Israel is an issue that many thoughtful commentators have raised, as is the unprecedented series of attacks on the Israeli-Arab community exemplified by the proposed Nakba and loyalty-oath legislation. Disgraceful behavior by some who disagree with our values or actions only demonstrates their real objective – to silence dissent and mute unpopular voices, particularly in the human rights community.
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New Israel Fund to Launch Virtual 30th Anniversary Celebration
27 April 2009As a joint celebration of NIF’s 30th anniversary and Israeli Independence Day, NIF is launching the “Celebrate Israel Your Way” campaign.
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Orthodox Jews and Arabs to March in Solidarity in Umm El Fahm
2 April 2009Jerusalem: In response to last week’s incendiary march by right-wing extremists, religious Jews will lead social activists and citizens alike in the Israeli-Arab city of Umm El Fahm to express solidarity with the local residents and Arab citizens of Israel. The event is being organized by the orthodox forum 12th of Heshvan (Yud Bet B’Heshvan), in cooperation with the New Israel Fund (NIF).
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Saving Civil Society: New Israel Fund, Israel’s NGOs and the Economic Crisis
19 December 2008Washington/Jerusalem: As the global economic crisis deepens, Israel’s non-profit sector is facing a crisis. Many NGOs have already drastically cut their budgets and some are worried about keeping their doors open. Representing a significant segment of Israel’s GDP, the nation’s NGO sector amounts to more than $20 billion annually and is comprised of thousands of organizations employing about 250,000 people. These organizations serve a central role in representing communities and populations, promoting their civil and human rights and allowing their voices to be heard. They are an important source in the provision of health, welfare and education services, and play a significant role in shaping policies that benefit all the country’s residents
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Former MK, Naomi Chazan Takes Over As President of New Israel Fund
15 December 2008Jerusalem, Israel: Naomi Chazan, former Israeli Knesset Deputy Speaker and outspoken human rights activist, began her new role as president of the New Israel Fund’s (NIF) board of directors today at the organization’s board meeting in Jerusalem. Chazan served on the NIF Board from 1992-93, resigned upon being elected to the Knesset for the Meretz party, and rejoined the NIF Board in January 2007. She is Professor Emerita of Political Science and African Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she served as Chair of the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, and has been a Visiting Professor of Government at Harvard University. Chazan currently serves as Head of the School of Government and Society at the Academic College of Tel-Aviv-Yaffo and spent the academic year 2004-2005 as the Wilhelm Fellow at the Center for International Studies at MIT.
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Israeli Psychologists Who Trained Army For ‘Disengagement’ to Head Panel at APA Conference
8 August 2008As the crisis in Israel wears on, two Israelis who are internationally recognized specialists in non-violent confrontation and “constructive struggle” will lead a symposium at the convention of the American Psychological Association in New Orleans. The panel is scheduled for Saturday, August 12th at 12 PM in Room 35 of the New Orleans Convention Center.
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New Israel Fund to Launch ‘Virtual’ International Town Hall
8 May 2008As Israel turns 60, the New Israel Fund is providing a very special opportunity to join a provocative discussion of the grave threats to religious and political freedom in Israel – and on the choices Israel must make to guarantee its future as a successful democracy.
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New Israel Fund To Hold National Series Of Events
10 October 2007Washington, DC. As Israel nears its 60th anniversary, the New Israel Fund (NIF) will challenge progressive Americans to imagine a more just, equitable and pluralistic state of Israel. NIForum 2007 will initiate a frank dialogue on the choices Israel faces on human rights, social justice and religious pluralism issues. The national series of events will include a full-day symposium in New York on Sunday, October 21, and other thought-provoking programs around North America, including a half-day symposium in San Francisco on October 28. The NIForum is the only North American event focusing on social issues in Israel; the now-annual event was inaugurated in New York in 2006.
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Ford Foundation and New Israel Fund announce $20 Million Fund For Grant Making In Israel
6 September 2007NEW YORK / JERUSALEM, 6 September 2007 – The Ford Foundation today announced a $20 million grant to extend its partnership with the New Israel Fund to support civil society, human rights and social justice organizations in Israel.
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First Feminist Orthodox Group Recommends Boycott Of Rabbinic Marriage
30 March 2007Washington, DC: As fewer and fewer secular Israeli couples register for rabbinic marriage, the founder of Israel’s first feminist-Orthodox group, “Kolech,” recommended that secular Jewish women boycott the institution entirely. In a recent conference on “chained women” who cannot obtain religious divorces, Kolech leader Chana Kehat raised a stir by stating that the more distance women maintained from the rabbinate, “the better for the whole nation.” Kolech, known in English as the Religious Women’s Forum, aims to improve the status of women by deep-seated change in the Orthodox community, is a major grantee of the New Israel Fund, and also participates in NIF/SHATIL’s Pluralism Project.
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