Rabbi Noa Sattath

September 1, 2024

The Pressing Challenges in Israeli Society pre- and post-October 7

Noa Executive Director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel

Noa shared the wide array of rights advanced by the Association for Civil Rights—LGBTI, women, social and economic rights, prisoners and detainees, and more.

While some of these areas saw significant progress, a constant has been rights violations embedded in the occupation and inequality for Palestinians in Israel. Noa shared examples of different sets of laws applying to Jews and to Palestinians.

The last few years saw an enormous unspooling of guardrails across foundational spheres of state: media, police and security and lately the judiciary. Opposition took to the streets in an impressive show for democracy. ACRI was very active in protecting the right to protest against growing police violence. The fight back for democracy has been limited to Jews only and did not translate to addressing the occupation. On the contrary, ACRI had to deal more and more with the stripping of Palestinians in the West Bank of basic rights—freedom of movement, working their land, and more, facing de facto annexation by the state.

Like virtually all Israelis, October 7 profoundly affected ACRI staff—the shock, personal loss, shattering of personal and communal security. With all this there was the understanding that the war has turbo-charged the rights violations and harm towards Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and in Israel.

Noa shared what was on their table at the moment: joining the fight to release the hostages, challenging the blocking of aid to Gaza and addressing testimonies of growing prison camps and testimonies of torture in Israel, escalating violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Throughout these challenge, ACRI continues to serve as an anchor for the fight for democracy.