Alternative Information Center (AIC)

http://www.alternativenews.org/english/

About the AIC - The Alternative Information Center (AIC)


The Alternative Information Center (AIC) was established in 1984 by Palestinian and Israeli grassroots activists as a binational organisation to promote the human and national rights of the Palestinian people and a just peace for Palestinians and Israelis based on progressive principles and respect for international law. Even prior to the First Intifada, the AIC created and disseminated information and analyses about Palestinian and Israeli societies to and about the other, realising that socioeconomic and cultural processes are no less crucial to understanding and ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict than political ones. The AIC was a local pioneer in the field of human rights, conducting some of the first ever data collection, research and analyses on issues such as Israeli torture of Palestinian prisoners, home demolitions and Palestinian residency rights in Jerusalem, all within their broader social, political, economic and cultural contexts.


One of the most veteran NGOs in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, several human rights and grasroots action groups were created based on the AIC model and which went on to specialise in specific aspects of the AIC’s more comprehensive work.


The AIC is one of the sole joint Palestinian-Israeli organisations in existence, acting as a material bridge and platform for politically responsible cooperation between Palestinians and Israelis and a counter to the prevailing philosophies and practices of separation between the two communities. What has allowed the AIC to continue to exist and even flourish when so many other joint initiatives came and went, is its clear political foundation shared by all its members and on the basis of which all work is conducted:


Complete end to the 1967 occupation of the Palestinian and Syrian territories, in accordance with international law and resolutions;

Recognition and fulfillment of the Palestinian Right of Return, as both an individual human and national collective right;

Necessity of a joint Palestinian-Israeli-international struggle for a just peace and democratic, progressive values and institutions;


AIC partners in 2011 include:3F, Associazione Comunita Papa Giovanni XXIII, Ayuntamiento de Xixon through the help of Paz con Dignidad, the Basque Government through the help of Mundubat, the Belgian Government through the help of Solidarite Socialiste, the Catalan Government through the help of Sodepau, Diakonia, Gobierno de Espana – Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y de Cooperacion through the help of Mundubat, Inter-Church Organisation for Development Cooperation (ICCO), and Junta Castilla-La Manch through the help of ACSUR Las Segovias, and the tens of thousands of activists around the world struggling for a just peace.