The Mossawa Center uses the method of international advocacy to compliment and support its work within Israel. The Mossawa Center has developed strategies to work towards the protection of human rights with several other countries. International institutions often view the Mossawa Center as an important source for information regarding civil society in Israel and the situation of Arab citizens, publicizing our findings in newsletters and reports. The Mossawa Center works with the European Union, the Council of Europe, parliamentarians in countries such as Germany, France, Italy, Belgium and Britain, and the United States. The Mossawa Center regularly updates embassies in Israel about the social, economic, and political status of the Arab citizens of Israel. A number of tools are used to reach regional and international audiences, including mailings, advocacy tours, media campaigns, presentations and leadership in various forums and conference, and lobbying governments of countries around the world.

For example, the Mossawa Center is actively involved in regional forums such as the Euro-Med Civil Forum, the Euro-Med Social Forum, and the Arab Social Forum, bringing the civil society concerns of the Arab community to the forefront of international discussion. The Mossawa Center is also a part of the discussion and steering committees who prepare and organize these forums. In particular, Mossawa Center representatives have been elected to work as part of the Euro-Med Nongovernmental Platform in the organization of the Naples Civil Forum and as part of the Steering Committee for the official establishment and enlargement of the Platform under the guidance of the Luxemburg Presidency.

The Mossawa Center has also engaged in discussion regarding environment and development work in cooperation with the Heinrich Böll Foundation (German). In 2001, delegates from the Mossawa Center participated in a convention on these issues in Johannesburg, South Africa.

In 2002, representatives of the Mossawa Center reported to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, presenting the first report to this body on the status of the Arab minority in Israel.

In 2002, the Mossawa Center also participated and presented at a conference led by the International Coalition Against Racism in Italy.

In November 2003, Mossawa Center delegates helped organize, participated and presented in the Euro-Med Civil Forum. The Forum is comprised of 200 NGOs who are proactive in addressing human rights violations and other issues concerning civil society carried out by contributing States who are party to human rights agreements with the European Union. These concerns are then brought to the E.U. and cases are lobbied.

In 2004, the Mossawa Center was invited to participate in the World Social Forum in Bombay, India by Amnesty International.

In 2004, Mossawa Center delegates presented on the socio-economic situation of Arab citizens of Israel at a socio-economic conference in Jordan for representatives from the Arab World.

Currently (2004), the Mossawa Center is leading an advocacy campaign in the United States and Europe to raise awareness about the Citizenship and Family Unification Law (Temporary Order, 2003). The law, renewed for 6 months in July 2004, states that spouses of Israeli citizens from the West Bank and Gaza cannot obtain citizenship. Furthermore, the offspring of such a couple is only allowed to reside in Israel with the Israeli parent until the age of 12, with permission from the Interior Ministry, at which time they must leave the country.

In 2004, three delegations worked in the United States: participating in dialogue with professionals regarding the socio-economic status of Arab citizens; presenting to various NGOs and individuals in the Midwest about the socio-economic, legal and political status of Arab citizens, Citizenship Law and Family Unification Campaign, and discrimination in the Negev regarding the Negev Development Plan; and a U.S. State Department sponsored advocacy tour in Washington, D.C. and New York City to meet with government officials, human rights NGOs and individuals about the above issues.

The Mossawa Center has also become an active partner with international human rights networks. The Mossawa Center has exchanged information with the International Federation for Human Rights about defending human rights in Israel and the Middle East. As a result, there have been a number of collaborative activities, including a report on the 13 killings of Arab citizens by Israeli police forces in October 2000, a petition to the United Nations against the Citizenship and Family Unification Law (Temporary Order-2003), and the Israeli Campaign Against the Bedouins in the Negev.

Also, the Mossawa Center has worked closely with field workers from Human Rights Watch, assisting in their research and preparation of the report Second Class: Discrimination Against Palestinian Children in the Israeli School System, and with the International Federation for Human Rights in preparing their report Foreigners Within: The Status of the Palestinian Minority in Israel. Habitat International worked with the Mossawa Center to prepare information for a report it submitted to the United Nations, entitled Habitat International Coalition-Housing and Land Rights Network. Most recently, the Mossawa Center was involved in the creation of Amnesty International’s report Under the Rubble: House demolition and destruction of land and property (May 2004).