DIRASAT Releases its Second Annual Yearbook on Arab Minority Rights

Special focus on Arab Local Authorities

Dirasat, the Arab Center on Law and Policy, is pleased to announce the publication of its second annual yearbook, Kitab Dirasat 2009.  The yearbook contains a select yet varied collection of the leading research findings and recommendations of 2009 on the struggle for full and substantive equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, with a special focus on Arab local authorities. The yearbook was distributed last week at the National Conference of the Heads of Arab Local Authorities. It will also be distributed to Arab schools, university students, activists, academics, NGOs and the press, and it will serve as an annual report to the Arab-Palestinian community.

Highlights from the yearbook include an interview with Dirasat-affiliated Prof. Khawla Abu-Baker focusing on the status of Arab women within Arab society and Israeli society at large, as well as a foreword from Dirasat General Director, Dr. Yousef T. Jabareen, on empowering Arab civil society in Israel. The ongoing research under Dirasat's guidance presented in the yearbook includes papers on: Jerusalem as an Internal Immigration Destination; a Critical Look at Private Sector Services to Arab Society; Arab Students in Jordanian Universities. It also contains a series of three Dirasat Position Papers with Policy Recommendations on Arab Teacher Training in Israel; the Psychometric Exam and Higher Education Accessibility; and Youth at Risk: A Critical View.

The spotlight of the report is a series of analyses and critiques of Arab local governance, including the initial research results of an ongoing special focus research project on Arab local authorities conducted by Dirasat. The section opens with an interview with former Mayor of Umm al-Fahem, Sheik Hashem Abed al-Rahman, concentrating on the state of Arab local authorities today and the challenges they face. The papers published in the yearbook on this topic are: Financial Challenges: Fragile Situation under Sustainable Threat; Arab Local Authorities: Reality and Challenges; The Role of Local Leadership: A Critical Look; A Critique of the Responsiveness in Paying Local Taxes; Initial Recommendations: How to Exit the Crisis; Local Authorities' Role in Regional Building and Planning; and finally Dirasat's essential Bibliography for Arab Local Authorities.

In addition, the report includes a summary of Dirasat's activities over the year 2008-9.

While currently available only in Arabic, Dirasat hopes to publish the yearbook in Hebrew and English, funding permitting.