AlManarah Association

AlManarah Association (Arabic: جمعية المنارة, "The Lighthouse"; Hebrew: עמותת אלמנארה) is an Israeli non-profit association headquartered in Nazareth. It works to advance the rights, accessibility and social inclusion of persons with disabilities within Israel's Arab society. The organization was founded in 2005 by Abbas Abbas, a lawyer who is himself blind, and is registered with the Israeli Registrar of Associations under the name "AlManarah – Association for the Advancement of Persons with Disabilities." Its activities combine advocacy and accessibility promotion, empowerment programs, education and culture, and the development of accessible content in Arabic. AlManarah's flagship project is ArabCast, a digital library of recorded Arabic-language books. The library began in 2010 as a physical library producing recorded books, braille books, large-print texts and electronic materials, and in 2014 its digital version, ArabCast, was launched with establishment and funding from the Taawon foundation. The library serves users in Israel and in Arab countries, and is accessible via the arabcast.org website and a smartphone app for Android and iOS with screen-reader and voice-interface support. Use of the library is free for persons with disabilities upon presentation of certification, while a paid subscription is offered to the general public. The association reports serving more than 1,000 beneficiaries per year through its community programs, more than 10,000 participants per year through social-awareness projects, and more than 1,000,000 users per year through its digital projects. According to figures the association presents, more than 570,000 persons with disabilities live in Israel's Arab society. In 2016 AlManarah was granted Special Consultative Status by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Beyond the library, AlManarah operates advocacy and rights work including a counseling hotline and an accessibility center; education, employment and empowerment programs such as academic-preparation courses, computer, music, braille and language enrichment courses, life-skills courses, and a vocational placement and on-the-job support program; and cultural, sports and community activities in Nazareth, including a community center with clubs for children, youth, adults and families, a musical ensemble of musicians with disabilities, a social theater integrating actors with and without disabilities, and the CoVision tandem-cycling group in which visually impaired and sighted riders — Jewish and Arab — ride together. In October 2018 the association launched an Arabic-language podcast on disability, accessibility and inclusion, produced in its Nazareth studios. In May 2024 it launched a revamped version of its app under the name ArabCast Books at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.

AlManarah Association was founded in 2005 by Abbas Abbas, a lawyer from Nazareth who was born with a congenital and progressive visual impairment. According to interviews with him, the decision to establish an independent organization crystallized after he was rejected from a position at a human rights organization when the interviewers learned of his disability. He had earned a bachelor's degree in law and, in 2004, a master's degree in law from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem specializing in human rights, as well as a master's degree in business administration. The association was established in 2005 and initially focused mainly on advocacy and outreach among people with blindness and visual impairments in Arab society. Over the years its activity expanded to all types of disabilities and to different age groups, and to the fields of education, culture, employment and sport. Its flagship project is an accessible Arabic-language library for people with visual impairments and reading disabilities, known in Arabic as مكتبة المنارة العالمية المسموعة. The library was founded in 2010 as a physical library that produced recorded books, braille books, enlarged texts and electronic materials. In 2014 its digital version, ArabCast, was launched, established and funded by the Taawon foundation. Recordings are made in the association's studios in Nazareth by professional narrators and volunteers, and the collection includes fiction, poetry, children's and youth literature, biographies, non-fiction, study materials and podcasts. The library is accessible through the arabcast.org website and via a smartphone app for Android and iOS, including support for screen readers and a voice interface. Use of the library is free for people with disabilities, subject to presentation of certification, while a paid subscription is offered to the general public. As of 2017 the library counted about 4,500 recorded titles, amounting to more than 50,000 hours of listening across more than thirty subjects, and served about 60,000 users with more than 200,000 entries per month. The number of titles was reported as about 5,000 in 2018 and about 5,500 in 2020. Contributors of recordings and content came, according to a 2017 report, from Israel, Egypt, Libya, the Gaza Strip, Saudi Arabia and the United States. As of 2026 the app shows more than 100,000 downloads. In December 2016 the association launched an expanded version of the audio library. In May 2024 it launched a revamped version of the app under the name ArabCast Books, at a ceremony at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. Within the "Reading by Listening" program, recorded books are distributed to elementary schools in Arab society through the app, and are used for in-class listening and follow-up processing activities. The program is also intended for students with reading disabilities and learning disabilities. In the field of advocacy, rights and accessibility, the association works to advance the rights of persons with disabilities in the areas of accessibility, education and employment, by appealing to state institutions and in some cases to the courts. It operates a counseling line providing emotional and legal responses to persons with disabilities and their family members, alongside individual counseling, as well as an accessibility center that provides consulting and training to the education system and to business bodies. In education, employment and empowerment, the association holds workshops and training for school students, parents, academics, professionals and media personnel, in order to raise awareness of disability issues in Arab society, as well as support and empowerment groups for persons with disabilities and parents of children with disabilities. Its programs include academic study preparation courses, enrichment courses in computers, music, braille and languages, life-skills courses, and a program for vocational placement and accompaniment of employees with disabilities in workplaces. In culture, sport and community activity, the association operates a community center in Nazareth with clubs for children, youth, adults and families, alongside classes and leisure activities. In the cultural field it operates a musical ensemble of musicians with disabilities, as well as a social theater integrating actors with and without disabilities; the theater program is recognized as a framework for national service. In the sports field the association operates the "CoVision" group, a tandem-cycling group in which people with visual impairments and sighted riders ride together, with the participation of Jewish and Arab riders. In media and digital content, in October 2018 the association launched an Arabic-language podcast dealing with issues of disability, accessibility and inclusion, produced in the association's studios in Nazareth. In terms of recognition and awards: in 2009 the association and its founder were selected by the international Ashoka organization as the outstanding social initiative on behalf of Israel for that year. In 2016 the association was granted Special Consultative Status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), based on an application submitted in 2015; its periodic reports for 2016–2019 and 2020–2023 were recorded by the Council. In 2017 the AlManarah library won the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for the Arabic Language, in its third cycle, in the "Culture, Thought and Knowledge Society" track, in the amount of $70,000. In 2018 the digital library was selected as an outstanding initiative in the field of information accessibility within the Zero Project, at a conference held at the UN offices in Vienna. In 2020 Adv. Abbas Abbas received the Variety award for his contribution to the integration of persons with disabilities in the community. In 2021 Adv. Abbas Abbas was included among the "Heroes of the Year" of Keshet 12 and Mifal HaPais. In 2023 the library was recognized as a public library by the Ministry of Culture and Sport. In 2024 the association met the conditions for receiving the Midot effectiveness seal, valid until December 2027.

• 2024

  Revamped app launched as ArabCast Books at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair; association meets conditions for Midot effectiveness seal valid to December 2027.

• 2023

  Library recognized as a public library by the Ministry of Culture and Sport.

• 2021

  Adv. Abbas Abbas named among Keshet 12 and Mifal HaPais "Heroes of the Year".

• 2020

  Adv. Abbas Abbas receives the Variety award for contribution to inclusion of persons with disabilities.

• 2018

  Digital library selected as an outstanding initiative by Zero Project in Vienna; Arabic-language podcast launched in October.

• 2017

  AlManarah library wins Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for the Arabic Language ($70,000).

• 2016

  Granted Special Consultative Status by UN ECOSOC; expanded version of the audio library launched in December.

• 2014

  Digital version of the library launched as ArabCast, established and funded by the Taawon foundation.

• 2010

  AlManarah library founded as a physical library producing recorded, braille and large-print materials.

• 2009

  Association and founder selected by Ashoka as Israel's outstanding social initiative of the year.

• 2005

  AlManarah Association founded by Abbas Abbas in Nazareth.

A leading non-profit center for empowering persons with disabilities, their families and society at large, focused on Israel's Arab society and on accessible Arabic-language content.

• ArabCast (ArabCast Books)

  Accessible Arabic digital library of recorded books, braille and large-print materials, accessible via website and mobile app.

• AlManarah recorded library

  Physical and digital library producing recorded Arabic books, braille books, enlarged texts and electronic materials.

• AlManarah podcast

  Arabic-language podcast on disability, accessibility and inclusion, produced in Nazareth studios.

• CoVision

  Tandem-cycling group bringing together visually impaired and sighted, Jewish and Arab riders.

• Accessibility center

  Consulting and training services for the education system and business bodies.

• Advocacy and legal counseling hotline

  Emotional and legal support for persons with disabilities and their families.

1. 1home - AlManarah - The Association for Arab Persons with Disabilitiesalmanarah.org
2. 2AlManarah Association - Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3עמותת אלמנארה - Wikipedia (Hebrew)he.wikipedia.org