Tebeka’s Legal Advocacy Project

Tebeka’s Legal Advocacy Project aims to protect the fundamental rights of Ethiopian Israelis and to promote policies and initiatives that support their successful integration in Israel. Beyond that, the Legal Advocacy Project ultimately serves to help safeguard the civil liberties of all Israeli citizens and contribute meaningfully to the just and equitable rule of law in Israel.

Impact Litigation: Tebeka litigates cases before the lower courts and Israel’s High Court of Justice involving claims of discrimination and equal protection violations, often with community-wide and national impact.

Policy Initiatives: Tebeka works with Knesset members to enact legislation that protects minority rights in Israel and conducts watchdog activities to ensure these policies are enforced. Tebeka also collaborates with municipality leaders and public agency providers to develop sensible and culturally sensitive solutions that address the unique challenge facing Ethiopian immigrants in Israel.

Public Awareness Campaigns: Tebeka hosts conferences and seminars for Israeli jurists, politicians and public agency providers to advance their understanding of the social dynamics and legal issues facing Ethiopian Israelis. Tebeka spearheads media campaigns that spotlight discriminatory practices against Ethiopian Israeli individuals and the community as a whole. Tebeka also holds workshops and seminars to inform Ethiopian immigrants about their rights and responsibilities as citizens in a democracy.

Tebeka’s Legal Advocacy Project

Notable achievements through the Legal Advocacy Project include:

• Reversing school quota policies in numerous municipalities that restricted the number of Ethiopian Israeli children allowed to enroll in public schools and publicly-funded private schools
• Ending school segregation practices in numerous schools that prevented Ethiopian Israeli children from interacting with their Israeli-born peers
• Securing precedent-setting award damages in 2010 holding the Municipality of Arad and the Ministry of Education liable to Ethiopian Israeli families whose children were prevented from enrolling in their local schools
• Challenging racial profiling and police violence against Ethiopian Israelis
• Challenging civil rights violations against Ethiopian Israelis in the workplace, in their access to public places and in their provision of social entitlements
• Guaranteeing access to voting materials and court translation services in Amharic
• Ensuring that all parents in Israel have access to legal counsel in child custody hearings where the State has taken action to remove children from their homes
• Protecting marriage equality rights for Ethiopian Israelis
• Helping establish a national day of remembrance for the 4,000 Ethiopian Jews who died en route to Israel during Operation Moses