Adalah brings vision of equality to Congress

Adalah Justice Project brings vision of equality to US Congress

MK Jamal Zahalka (2nd from left) with Adalah and US partners delegation meet with Senator Bernie Sanders (3rd from left).

Adalah Justice Project arranged a delegation to DC in September 2018 with Chairman of the Joint List group in the Israeli Knesset, MK Jamal Zahalka, and Hassan Jabareen, General Director of Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel. They met with members of Congress, including Senator Bernie Sanders, to urge them to support a progressive vision for Israel/Palestine rooted in justice and equality for all – regardless of race or religion.

Their visit followed the Knesset’s recent passage of the Jewish Nation-State Law, a law of constitutional status that formally enshrines the superior rights and privileges of Jewish people over Palestinian citizens of Israel, who make up 20 percent of the population.

In June, MK Zahalka and colleagues proposed a progressive alternative vision: Basic Law: Israel A State for All Its Citizens, which was denied a reading in the Israeli Knesset because of its call for full equality for all people, including the collective rights of Palestinian citizens.

Zahalka and Jabareen also met with think tanks and progressive groups to raise awareness of the implications of the Nation-State law in the context of the global rise of authoritarianism, and to discuss ways of working together to promote an alternative vision that would secure freedom and equality for Palestinians while advancing the cause of global justice for all.