On March 15th, the Mossawa Center will host its annual conference on the legal status of the Arab minority. The conference undertakes to address the most pressing issues facing the Arab community in Israel. During the main panel, conference participants will engage in dialogue on Arab political participation in Israeli politics in the wake of the passage of the Jewish Nation-State Law and the division of the Joint List, as well as debate strategies on how best to promote equality, pluralism, democracy, and an end to the occupation.

Three panels will take place simultaneously in the afternoon. One will examine seek to find solutions to the socioeconomic challenges facing the Arab community, which emerge from discriminatory laws and budgetary neglect. Another panel will focus on Arab local councils and the various ways in which they could better serve their communities, including through increased participation of women in local politics and relations between Arab local councils and the local government. The third panel will examine the current state of the judicial system, particularly in light of recent nominations. The panel will focus on the role that the judicial system has played in the struggle for Arab citizens’ civil rights and the degree to which this struggle has come to be dependent on it.

Simultaneous translations will be provided during the opening remarks and the first/main panel. To register for the conference, please send the names, emails, and titles of all those who would like to participate to [email protected]. For more information, please contact [email protected].