3 Spring-Summer 2017 of alleged war crimes. Thus, the IAJLJ brought to Israel a delegation of judges from France, organized by veteran member Joseph Roubache, and only recently collaborated with the AJC – Global Jewish Advocacy – to bring a delegation of European prosecutors to Israel – as reported in this edition of Justice. I believe that hosting delegations is an essential component of our mission to increase foreign jurists' familiarity with the Israeli legal system and is a process that should be continued with vigor. In addition, during my tenure as President, emphasis was placed on the Association's character as a human rights organization, a principle enunciated by its founding fathers, René Cassin, Haim Cohn and Arthur Goldberg. In this context, the IAJLJ joined the petition submitted to the Israel High Court of Justice by a number of human rights organizations and private individuals regarding the book The King's Torah, which in our view, deviated dangerously from the right to freedom of expression towards incitement against non-Jews. The views of our Association, among those of others, were heard, and an order nisi was issued. Though ultimately the petition was rejected, Supreme Court Justice Elyakim Rubinstein, who wrote the decision, expressed great concern regarding the way in which the author's opinions had been set out in the book. Our Association worked with other organizations on the problem of refugees in Israel; a painful phenomenon, which regrettably, to this day, has not been resolved in a proper manner, even though the State of Israel is a party to the Refugee Convention. The phenomenon of radicalization in the world has not by-passed the State of Israel, where, to our sorrow, we encounter intolerance towards "the other," to the point of racism. Despite the provisions of the Declaration of Independence, we remain unfortunately far removed from a situation of equal human rights between Israeli Arabs and Jewish citizens of the state. In fairness, it should be noted that in recent years considerable resources have been allocated by the Israeli government to the Arab population, with the aim of integrating women into the employment market, introducing proper public transportation into Arab localities and more. There has also been a shift in construction plans for the Arab villages. Had we also witnessed declarations by our leadership regarding acceptance of "the other," we might have believed that we were at the beginning of a new path. Unfortunately, such declarations have not been heard, and the current state of affairs is still far from satisfactory. Therefore, the IAJLJ is now examining possibilities of assisting the Israeli Arab population on appropriate issues. In order to present a balanced picture, I would like to stress that I have encountered the welcomed activities of numerous private organizations in which many young forces have initiated a variety of cooperative initiatives between the Arab and Jewish populations in Israel. I regard this as a hopeful sign that the right course may still be taken. A different issue of considerable importance is the worldwide deployment of organizations and law firms that are members of the IAJLJ. Their presence and contribution enables rapid action on any subject on the global agenda necessitating our attention. Noteworthy in this context is the initiative of a law firm in Vienna with lawyers who are members of the organization, that asked the IAJLJ to hold a joint seminar on legal enforcement against antisemitic incidents, and particularly the issue of antisemitism on the Internet. I would like to encourage other law offices around the world to initiate similar joint activities with the IAJLJ on issues of mutual concern to us. Recently, I visited Santiago, Chile, and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, where I spoke to local lawyers as well as community members. I think that such events are important, and contacts should be maintained wherever possible with members around the world. During my tenure, I tried to encourage the recruitment of young people from Israel and the world. I believe that I have succeeded in a certain sense, but there is still much work for the next IAJLJ President to do. Before concluding, I would like to refer to our legal journal Justice. I am sure you have noticed that there has been a significant improvement in the latest issues. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Mala Tabory for her professionalism and the great amount of work she invested as Editor of the publication, which have produced the excellent results we see today. As I am summarizing a period, I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to Ronit Gidron, CEO of the organization, for her great work and commitment to our causes, as well as to the office manager Iris Zilberman for her enormous dedication and great investment in ensuring the efficient management of our work. Last but not least, I cannot end without mentioning two dear people with whom I have worked a great deal, and who, to my great sorrow, are no longer with us: Dr. Daniel Lack and Dr. Meir Rosenne. They each helped me tirelessly day and night, believing unhesitatingly in the righteousness of the road and I miss them very much. Finally, my thanks go to retired Judge and former President of the Association, Hadassa Ben-Itto, who listened attentively to questions and opinions and provided me with assistance on a variety of issues with her usual unstinting wisdom. Irit Kohn
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