Our seed funding for the Israel Religious Action Centre’s Racism Crisis Centre (RCC) provides a go-to point for Israelis who have experienced discrimination and racism. Launched in 2017, the RCC supports victims by providing representation in the legal system and case management in dealing with Israel’s complex bureaucracy.

Providing support in Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, Amharic and English, their hotline documents incidents, provides its own support and also refers victims to other services including trauma counselling.

The ad (above) was run as a public service message on Channel 10, the second largest television station in the country.

There are few more important issues in Israel that the crisis continuing to face people seeking asylum and refugees in Israel. Having escaped from some of the world’s most despotic countries, these people have sought safety in Israel, a country founded by, and for, refugees.

The Hotline for Refugees and Migrants stands at the front line of the battle for security, safety and legal certainty. In 2017, they served 1,672 people, litigated 62 cases in court, visited immigration detention centres 64 times to provide case management support, and had 126 people seeking asylum released from detention.

The work, however, is ongoing. Despite a landmark ruling at the end of 2017 declaring the government must close the Holot detention centre, 2018 began with a government announcement of forced deportations back to Africa, followed by a number of twists and turns in government policy, and even more uncertainty. We’re continuing to support the Hotline as they navigate this difficult issue.

Unfortunately, every society struggles with racism – Israel is no different.

Tmura is a unique legal clinic in that they use tort law as a tool to bring rectify injustice and discrimination.

Fighting a dozen cases at any time, Tmura focuses on helping individuals in marginalised groups – including Mizrahi Jews, Israelis of Ethiopian origin, and women who have experienced economic and domestic violence – access justice and compensation after they have experienced discrimination. Incredibly, Tmura has a 100% success record in the cases it takes on.

In one case, Tmura, together with the Equal Opportunity Commission, brought a suit against an aged care facility which had refused to hire a Palestinian citizen of Israel. It has also worked with 15 public housing tenants who had their tenancy rights infringed on. They also run training sessions for public housing tenants to help them manage their finances, stay out of debt, and understand their rights and responsibilities in public housing.

Jerusalem might seem like a united city, but in reality it’s anything but. In truth, Palestinians in East Jerusalem live very different lives to Jewish residents in West Jerusalem. Our funding for the Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) goes towards rectifying inequality in the city.

ACRI works on behalf of the city’s Palestinian residents, some 300,000 people, to fight for core government services, like health care clinics, classrooms for primary school children, roads and an adequate supply of water.

A political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict may seem distant, so in the meantime ACRI’s work is crucial in ensuring more equitable outcomes for all of Jerusalem’s residents.