Ittijah or "Union of Arab Community-Based Associations" is a network for Palestinian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) founded in 1995 in Israel. The organization's stated goals are promoting Palestinian Arab civil society and advocating political, economic and social change for Palestinians who are denied access to infrastructure and services "due to discriminatory practices and policies of the (Israeli) State". Based in Haifa, it is dedicated to coordinating activities and strategies of member organizations while fostering advocacy, capacity-building, and networking. Ittijah's advocacy efforts concentrate on building awareness of the social, political and economic needs of Palestinian Arabs at the (inter-Palestinian), regional (Arab) and international levels. Advocacy is directed at governments, civil society groups, donor agencies, other indigenous peoples and human rights agencies, unions, and Palestinian solidarity groups. Ittijah hosts regular Ambassadorial study days and solidarity delegations, produces fact sheet publications, and arranges conferences and meetings. Ittijah's capacity building efforts strive to increase the human, technical, financial and educational resources of its member organizations. Ittijah places international volunteers with local organizations and provides translation assistance with English language correspondence. Ittijah's networking efforts are engaged at the grassroots through international levels extending from field-based networking with women's and youth groups at the local level through regional inter-Arab and international levels. Particular attention is paid to developing a network of specialists engaged in building civil society infrastructure, communication and cooperation. Ittijah's helped create the "Youth Network," a collaboration between ten Community-based Associations that involved in a year-long project with participating Palestinian youth from diverse regions. Conferences In 2000, Ittijah arranged a regional conference in Cyprus for Palestinian civil society groups from all parts of historical Palestine and Lebanon. Three Palestinian networks attended; Ittijah: Union of Arab Community-Based Associations; PNGO (The Palestinian NGO Network in the West Bank and Gaza Strip), and The Collective Forum for Palestinian NGOs in Lebanon. The conference noted the indivisible nature of the Palestinian people, warned against accepting divisions imposed upon them by others, and defined the role of the three networks in working towards a unified Palestinian civil society, including Palestinians living in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and the large Palestinian refugee communities in Lebanon. Ittijah also attended the Durban World Conference against Racism in 2001. Ittijah facilitated communication between Palestinian NGOs on the issue of racism, particularly what it believes is Israeli-state racism against Palestinian citizens, and discriminatory practices in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Ittijah