[1] Adalah-NY describes itself as “a local, grassroots, non-hierarchical volunteer-only group of concerned individuals that advocates for justice, equality, and human rights for the Palestinian people through educational activities and campaign-building.

Adalah-NY organizes in support of the 2005 call by Palestinian civil society organizations to maintain non-violent means of protest -- including boycotts, divestment, and sanctions..." ” [2] The organization calls for Israel to meet “its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people's inalienable right to self-determination and fully compl[y] with the precepts of international law by: Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall; Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194.” It also “affirm[s] the right of all people to resist occupation and oppression.” Adalah-NY holds the United States responsible for “Israeli aggression,” which it describes as being “inseparably tied to the United States' illegal occupation of Iraq and larger U.S. strategies for hegemony in the region.” Adalah-NY maintains that Israel practices a policy of apartheid and ethnic cleansing, and describes the West Bank as being “carved into isolated cantons, akin to the Bantustans under South African apartheid, to which Palestinians are confined.” It further holds that Palestinian citizens of Israel are “second-class citizens” who “are systematically discriminated against by Israeli laws, courts, and society.”[3] In the view of Adalah-NY, “Israeli policy has been the root of violence in the region for 60 years.” When the IDF raided a Gaza tunnel built to kidnap Israeli soldiers, Adalah-NY called the raid “unprovoked.” It employs the slogans “Zionism = racism,” “stop the genocide,” and “Israeli defense forces = war criminals.” Adalah-NY criticized the FBI for issuing subpoenas for persons suspected of supporting terrorist groups.

[4] Adalah-NY believes that BDS is the “most effective non-violent and morally consistent means for achieving justice and genuine peace in the region....Like the global movement against apartheid in South Africa, the BDS movement takes as its task the organization of grassroots efforts to pressure institutions to hold Israel accountable.”[5] Adalah-NY has held street protests and organized “cultural events, political forums, and other political events.” In addition, it has participated with other groups in various events, including Israeli Apartheid Week in New York City.

[6] In 2010, Adalah-NY condemned the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies for not focusing on “the fundamental and systematic inequalities that are at the root of the conflict,” and urged such celebrities as Pete Seeger and Mandy Patinkin to bow out of an Arava-sponsored event.

[9] Adalah-NY posted a YouTube video in 2011 of its activists performing a flash mob at Grand Central Station to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” with special lyrics decrying the Israeli Occupation.

But the BDS movement to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against Palestinians will not be silenced.”[12] It also organized a protest against Israeli Batsheva Dance Company’s March 2012 performance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Protesters handed audience members fake programs calling the dance company a “cultural ambassador for Israel.” Earlier, Adalah-NY had written to BAM asking that it cancel Batsheva's performance.

[15] Adalah-NY has especially targeted Israeli jeweler Lev Leviev, chairman of the conglomerate Africa Israel Investments, whose Danya Cebus division is involved in constructing West Bank settlements.

In December 2012, the sixth time that Adalah-NY arranged the annual event, eighty carolers sang in front of a Madison Avenue jewelry store owned by Leviev.

The parody songs included “Buy Yourself a Merry Little Tchotchke,” “Leviev the Two-Faced Magnate,” and “Whitewashing,” set to the tune of “White Christmas.”[24] In 2010, Rebecca Vilkomerson, Executive Director of the organization Jewish Voice for Peace, nominated Adalah-NY for the Mondo Awards, presented by the Mondoweiss website to activists focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.