[Seattle] Safeguarding Democracy and Civil Rights in Israel

New Israel Fund presents
Safeguarding Democracy and Civil Rights in Israel

A conversation with Sharon Abraham-Weiss
Executive Director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel
Israel’s oldest and largest civil rights organization

Wednesday, October 21 at 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Hosted by Congregation Beth Shalom, 6800 35th Ave NE, Seattle

Co-sponsored by Congregation Beth Shalom and the Kavana Cooperative

During last summer’s war, already gaping societal divides in Israel were widened. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), the country’s equivalent of the ACLU, advocated for the protection of vulnerable populations near Gaza and the protection of civil liberties in wartime. ACRI has won legal landmarks before Israel’s Supreme Court such as recognition of same-sex marriages and non-Orthodox conversions from outside Israel, the right of women to become IDF pilots, and safeguarding Africans seeking refuge from genocide.

Sharon Abraham-Weiss, one of Israel’s foremost legal experts and litigators, comes to Seattle to share the vibrancy of Israel’s democratic values at a time when liberal Zionism and Jewish democracy is under question from inside Israel and out.

About Us

Sharon Abraham-Weiss is the executive director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI). Previously, she represented ACRI in such landmark cases dealing with family unification, social welfare, and state land distribution. She has also served on the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission of the Ministry of Economy. Ms. Abraham-Weiss is a founding member of Itach-Maaki: Women Lawyers for Social Justice and co-founder of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Breira Center, which coordinates law students volunteering in the community. Ms. Abraham-Weiss holds LL.B. and B.Sc. degrees from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and an LL.M from Tel Aviv University. She also holds an M.A. in public administration from Harvard Kennedy School, where she was a Wexner Fellow.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, established in 1972, is Israel’s oldest and largest human rights organization and the only one dealing with the entire spectrum of human rights and civil liberties issues in Israel. More about ACRI here: www.acri.org.il/en/

The New Israel Fund is the leading organization committed to equality and democracy for all Israelis. Widely credited with building Israeli progressive civil society, we have provided millions of dollars to more than 850 organizations since our inception in 1979. More about NIF here: www.nif.org

Our PNW Regional Council are public leaders dedicated to our work: Hemda Arad, Sarah Boden, Jon Bridge, Zehava Chen-Levy, Allen and Carol Gown, Rabbi Anson Laytner, Sara Litt, Prof. Joel Migdal, Lisa Orlick-Salka, Prof. Eric Orlin, Prof. Noam Pianko, Simcha Shtull, and Rabbi Daniel Weiner.

(Can’t make this event? Sharon also speaks at lunch with Lambda Legal in downtown Seattle. Details here.)

Event Location