Photo credit: Omer Simkha/Wikimedia Commons

NIF flagship grantee Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) won its case in the Supreme Court against Israel Railways. They took Israel Railways to court when the state-owned company’s security guards began preventing passengers from entering stations and boarding trains when traveling to protests, because of clothes or materials with political content. 

In the wake of the petition, Israel Railways announced that it canceled guidelines preventing demonstrators from using trains due to restrictions on political messages. Israel Railways is now adopting the guidelines set out by the Attorney General on the right to exercise freedom of expression and demonstrations in public spaces.

Following the announcement by Israel Railways, ACRI Legal Department Director, Oded Feller and Coordinator of the Freedom to Protest, Sivan Tahel, said that this was an important achievement in the campaign for freedom of expression and protest in Israel. “We welcome the decision by Israel Railways, which does not have the authority to censor expression and prohibit entry on the basis that that people’s expression might arouse controversy and restrict demonstrations. Delaying and preventing use of public transportation because people are expressing opinions and exercising their freedom to demonstrate undermines the core of democracy.”