| Apartheid
and Discrimination in the Occupied Territories:
According to the Association for Civil Rights in
Israel 2006 Annual Report on Human Rights, “In the occupied
territories we are increasingly seeing a cheapening of human
life; there are growing restrictions on the freedom of movement
of Palestinian residents in order to ensure the security of the
Jewish settler population; the living space of the Palestinian
residents is being severely curtailed; violations of the right
to health, education, employment, family ties, and other rights
have become an inescapable part of the Palestinians` daily
reality.”
http://www.acri.org.il/english-acri/engine/story.asp?id=244
- Unequal Water Allocation
Palestinians in the West Bank have
access to only one fifth the amount of water
consumed by Israelis, despite the fact that most of the
aquifer used by both groups lies beneath Palestinian
land. Israel has taken 83% of the water underlying the
West Bank for its own residents and those of the
settlements, leaving the Palestinians with desperate
shortages.
Palestinians have no access to water from
the Jordan Basin, all of which is taken by Israelis.
Most Palestinians are not allowed to drill new wells,
and thus must buy water from Israel to compensate
partially for this inequity.
As of June 2006, some 215,000
Palestinians in 220 villages lived in communities
without a running-water network. In Palestinian towns
that do have running water, a rotating system is often
in place which restricts flow at various times to divide
available water among the villages. Due to the increased
demand for water during the hot season, Merkorot
[Israel's water company] discriminates and increases the
amount of water supplied to the settlers, at the expense
of supply to Palestinian towns. Reduction at times when
water consumption increases is accomplished by closing
the valve of the main water pipelines through which
water flows to Palestinian towns.
http://www.wws.princeton.edu/~wws401c/)
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn5037.html,
http://www.btselem.org/English/Press_Releases/20010805.asp,
http://www.btselem.org/English/Water/Index.asp
http://www.btselem.org/english/Water/Consumption_Gap.asp
http://www.btselem.org/Download/200007_Thirsty_for_a_Solution_Eng.doc
http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20060626&s=taamallah
Israeli soldiers sometimes fire at
Palestinian water tanks, rendering them unusable. A
Presbyterian minister describing his visit to a
Palestinian village wrote: “Water is precious, and there
is little of it. Due to the lack of a supply, and lack
of access to their wells, the village has a very
restricted supply. The Council has divided the village
into 3 sections, and each section gets water in its
pipes for 2 hours, three times a week. It is then that
people are able to fill up the tanks which are on the
tops of their houses, and this is their supply for the
next three days. Recently, we were told, on 3 successive
days Israeli soldiers came in to the village and fired
indiscriminately at water tanks. We were shown pictures
of many which had been punctured by bullets. Most of the
bullet holes were in the upper parts of the tanks, as
the soldiers could not see the lower parts. No
justification by an occupying army has to be given for
such actions – but one wonders what they achieve. The
one tank that they found at ground level, they shot in
the bottom, making sure that any water in it would be
lost. Next opportunity to fill up might be 3 days away.”
Similar army vandalism to water tanks occurred at the Al
Sharooq School for blind children near Bethlehem.
Christians from a church in Jerusalem had to take water
to the school until the holes in the tanks could be
repaired.
- Separate Road Systems and License Plates
There is a separate system of roadways
in the West Bank for Palestinians and for Israelis. The
roadways for Israelis are built on Palestinian land.
Palestinians have separate license plates, and must wait
in long lines at checkpoints, while Israelis usually
travel unhindered. Israel has proposed digging tunnels
for Palestinians to travel underneath illegal Jewish
settlements – most of them built on confiscated land -
to reach other Palestinian towns.
http://www.btselem.org/English/Publications/Summaries/200408_Forbidden_Roads.asp
http://www.bethlehemmedia.net/featers/2007/feat342.htm
- Freedom of movement provided for Israelis, denied to
Palestinians
Jewish Israelis can travel freely in the
West Bank. Palestinians are faced with more than 500
roadblocks and checkpoints, most of them between
Palestinian towns and other Palestinian towns. In many
cases, they are forced to leave their cars and walk
through the checkpoint to take a taxi on the other side.
In other cases, they are turned back or forced to wait
on the side of the road for hours without explanation.
This may affect people who are ill or women who are
pregnant without exception for their conditions.
Closures are often imposed on Palestinians, keeping them
inside their own homes or villages for days.
http://www.worldpress.org/Mideast/2548.cfm
http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/opt/docs/UN/OCHA/OCHAoPt_ClosureAnalysis0106_En.pdf
http://www.iwps-pal.org/en/articles/article.php?id=997
- No Right of Return for Palestinians to West Bank
Any person with one Jewish grandparent
is allowed to move into the West Bank and settle on land
taken from Palestinians. Yet Israel has refused to grant
permanent visas to Palestinians living in other parts of
the world who wish to return to the occupied territories
of Palestine.
Many business owners who returned
to the West Bank after the Oslo Accords face the
prospect of eviction, though they have families and
children living in Palestine.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/18/1621247
http://meretzusa.blogspot.com/2006/09/baskin-sad-story-of-sam-bahour.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5345752.stm
- Family Unification Denied for Palestinians, not for
Jews.
Tens of thousands of foreign nationals
who are married to residents of the Palestinian
territories occupied by Israel since 1967 are not
allowed to live with their husbands or wives by the
Israeli authorities. In virtually every other country in
the world, there are procedures to allow such couples --
where one spouse is a foreign national -- to live
together. On the other hand, Jewish settlers living in
the occupied territories in violation of international
law are allowed to live with their spouses regardless of
the country of origin. On 22 March 2007 the Knesset
extended for fifteen months the statute that prevents
family unification of residents of East Jerusalem and
citizens of Israel married to Palestinians who are
residents of the West Bank or the Gaza Strip.
http://www.btselem.org/English/OTA/
http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=ENGMDE150182007
http://www.ifamericansknew.org/cur_sit/keepwife.html
- Palestinians imprisoned in walled ghettos; Israelis live
in beautiful settlements
Israel is building walled ghettos in the
West Bank to contain and imprison the Palestinian
population. Barriers and fences separate Palestinians
from their farmland and water resources, denying them
the ability to sustain their families on land they have
farmed for generations. Settlements for Jews only have
been built and are being built on these Palestinian
lands.
Gaza has been turned into a huge open air
prison surrounded by walls and gates. Goods and people
are often blocked from leaving.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/837695.html,
www.peacenow.org.il/data/SIP_STORAGE/files/9/2569.pdf
http://www.btselem.org/English/Press_Releases/20050329.asp
http://www.guengl.eu/showPage.jspID=2647&PR=0&AREA=27&GRP=0&SITE=0&CH=1&TYPE=1&FILENAME=showPage.jsp&INTERNAL=1&ISSUE=0&POPUP=0
- Palestinian Villages used for IDF Training Exercises;
Jewish settlements protected
Israeli soldiers routinely raid
Palestinian villages, often during the night. Residents
are awakened, soldiers burst into their homes, and
families are often made to stand outside in their
nightclothes for hours. New information from soldiers
confirms that some of these raids are merely training
exercises for Israeli troops. Jewish settlements, on the
other hand, are never subjected to army raids and are
vigorously protected.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/835090.html,
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3302667,00.html
- Jewish settler violence often ignored; Palestinian
violence vigorously pursued
According to the
Association for Civil Rights in Israel 2006 Annual
Report attacks perpetrated by Jewish settlers against
Palestinian residents are encouraged by the lax attitude
displayed by the law enforcement authorities. This has
been confirmed by members of the Christian Peacemaker
Teams, Ecumenical Accompaniers, and the Israeli media.
Palestinians who attack settlers illegally living on
their land may be shot immediately or arrested.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4482211.stm
http://www.fmep.org/analysis/articles/settler_violence_seen_escalating_in_west_bank.html
http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2006/4/18/activistsDescribeWestBankViolence
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/813228.html
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/814070.html
http://www.eappi.org/eappiweb.nsf/list/20070329shepherd.html
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/israel/hebron6-07.htm
http://www.cpt.org/archives/2005/feb05/0010.html
http://www.cpt.org/archives/2004/oct04/0010.html
http://www.btselem.org/Download/200110_Free_Rein_Eng.doc
- Proposed Ban on Israelis and Foreigners Transporting
Palestinians
(repealed after international pressure)
A new Israeli law
originally scheduled to take effect on January 19, 2007
would have made it illegal for any Israeli (including
Palestinian Israelis) or any international visitor
(including those with humanitarian agencies) to
transport a Palestinian without a permit. Even a
Palestinian woman in labor could not be driven to a
hospital by an Israeli or a volunteer unless both had
these permits. This would have severely limited
Palestinians’ freedom of movement even on Palestinian
land within the West Bank.
After months of pressure from
human rights groups, this measure was repealed in March,
2007.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/23/africa/ME_GEN_Israel_Road_Ban.php
http://www.yesh-din.org/site/images/YD-AO-cancellation-23Mar07-[eng].pdf,
http://www.btselem.org/english/Freedom_of_Movement/20070108_Transporting_Palestinians_Forbidden.asp
- Permits to expand Palestinian homes restricted
Palestinians have great difficulty
getting permits to expand their homes or to drill new
water wells. Families who build on their own land
without these permits can have their homes demolished at
any time. At least 23,000 Palestinians have seen their
homes destroyed by Israeli bulldozers in the past 6
years.
http://www.unicef.org/oPt/oPt_Humanitarian_Monitor_Jan_07.pdf
http://www.amnestyusa.org/escr/files/israelot.pdf ,
http://www.un.org/unrwa/emergency/appeals/2005-appeal.pdf,
http://www.rhr.israel.net/pdf/jerusalem_home_demolitions_fact_sheet.pdf,
- Access to Holy Sites Limited for Christians and Muslims
Israel has built a ring of settlements
primarily for Jews around Arab East Jerusalem, cutting
it off from the rest of the West Bank. (See “Israelis
Act to Encircle East Jerusalem Enclaves in Arab Areas,
….Consolidate Control,” Washington Post, 2/7/05, p. A15).
The Wall and the Checkpoints around these settlements
make it very difficult for
Christians and Muslims in the West Bank to worship in
their holy places in Jerusalem. The city is sacred to
people of three faiths and according to Israel’s charter
was to be maintained as an open and international city.
Israel’s wall in Bethlehem also prevents Christians and
Muslims living in the area from visiting Rachel’s Tomb
and prevents Jerusalem Christians from worshiping at the
Church of the Nativity.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3263-2005Feb6.html
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/news/press/00/16feat-e.html
http://mideastchristians.virtualactivism.net/articles06/april06.htm
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2006/04/19/robert-novak-palestinian-christians-threatened-in-aboud/
www.wvi.org/wvi/archives/middle%20east/jerusalem_westbank_gaza.htm
- Brutal Prison Conditions for Palestinians held in
Israeli jails.
Palestinian detainees are denied the same protections as
Jewish prisoners. They are often denied access to an
attorney and to family members, since they are taken
into Israel to be imprisoned in violation of
international law. Torture is often used against
Palestinian prisoners and has been documented by the
Public Committee Against Torture in Israel.
http://www.stoptorture.org.il/eng/background.asp?menu=3&submenu=3
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2003/27929.htm
- Restricted access for Palestinians to Jordan Valley; no
restrictions for Jews
Israel has confiscated most of the land in the Jordan
Valley and has recently declared this area off limits to
Palestinians without a special permit. Farmers and whole
villages have lost their livelihoods as a result of
being cut off from their farmland in the valley.
Palestinians from Jericho are not allowed to visit
relatives in the rest of the Jordan Valley, which is all
occupied Palestinian land. Jews may travel freely
throughout the area. The Jordan Valley comprises a third
of the West Bank. Ehud Olmert has declared his intention
to annex all of this region to Israel, making a
Palestinian state impossible.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1709278,00.html
http://www.btselem.org/English/Settlements/20060213_Annexation_of_the_Jordan_Valley.asp
http://www.hindu.com/2006/02/09/stories/2006020904691400.htm
|
|
Apartheid
and
Discrimination
in Jerusalem:
(Though East Jerusalem is part of the
illegally occupied territories, Israel’s policies toward Arabs
in this city that is holy for three faiths deserve a special
focus.)
- Unequal Budget allocations for Jewish and Arab
Neighborhoods
In 2004, Arab
neighborhoods in East Jerusalem received only 12% of
Jerusalem's municipal budget for schools, infrastructure
and services, though their Christian and Muslim
residents comprise a third of the city's population and
pay the same taxes as Jews. These areas often have no
sidewalks, inadequate sewage treatment, and a minimum of
municipal services. According to a report in February,
2007, this disparity has increased: “East Jerusalem,
with 33% of the city’s population, gets just 8.48%. An
average of $1,415 is spent on each Jew and $310 on each
Arab.”
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=12156
- Classroom shortages for Arab students
There is a tremendous
classroom shortage for Arab schools in East Jerusalem.
In the fall of 2006, at least 131 students were not
admitted to schools because of this shortage. According
to Abd al-Karim Lafi, the chairman of the east Jerusalem
PTA, "There is an article in the free education law that
clearly mentions that if the Ministry of Education can't
provide the space in a classroom for a child, his
parents' expenses for his education in the private
sector should be covered by the state. But apparently,
this law is not applicable to Arabs.”
http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=A374_0_1_0_M
- Wall cuts off Arab residents from their city
The separation wall in Jerusalem cuts
off 55,000 Arab residents of Jerusalem from the city
where most of them work, attend school and have jobs.
Many of them were born in Jerusalem and have lived there
all their lives. The wall is being routed to bring
30,000 Jewish residents from the illegal West Bank
settlement of Maele Adumim and thousands more from West
Bank settlements north of Jerusalem inside the envelope
of “Greater Jerusalem.”
http://www.ir-amim.org.il/eng/
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1219/p01s04a-wome.htm
- Jewish Confiscation of Arab homes and land in Jerusalem
- Restriction on Arab Home Building
“Of the 17,600 acres of land that
comprise East Jerusalem (including the Old City and the
commercial downtown of East Jerusalem), Palestinian
citizens of Jerusalem have today the right to use and
develop less than 9% of it. According to the 1995
Statistical Yearbook of Jerusalem, 35% (6,250 acres) of
the lands were expropriated for Israeli neighborhoods,
roads and other facilities While 80% of land
expropriated since 1967 comes from Palestinians, the
vast majority of that land has been designated for
Jewish housing and other needs. Close to 0% of
expropriated land has been designated for Arab use.”
http://www.rhr.israel.net/pdf/jerusalem_home_demolitions_fact_sheet.pdf
“Zoning also limits multistory buildings
in Palestinian areas, meaning that fewer housing units
can be built per dunam.* Palestinians are often allowed
to build on only some 25% - 50% of a plot, while Jewish
neighborhoods are much more likely to be allowed to
build on 120% -150% of the size of the property.” From
Rabbis for Human Rights:
http://www.rhr.israel.net/pdf/jerusalem_home_demolitions_fact_sheet.pdf
(*A dunam is a measure of land. There are about 4 dunams
to one acre.)
- Isolation of Arab neighborhoods
In at least one Jerusalem neighborhood
illegally annexed by Israel in 1967, Arab residents have
not been classified as residents of Jerusalem, and as
such are regarded as residing illegally in the homes
where they were born. They are also cut off from the
West Bank. The planned route of the barrier will
imprison them in their village. Because the residents do
not have Israeli identity cards, the Jerusalem
Municipality where they live refuses to supply vital
services, such as water, a sewage system, and garbage
collection, to the residents. The municipality has also
refrained from adopting an outline [zoning ] plan for
the village, thereby preventing the residents from
obtaining building permits.
http://www.btselem.org/English/Publications/Summaries/200309_Numan_East_Jerusalem.asp
|
|
Apartheid
and
Discrimination
in Israel
- Unequal funding for Arab education
There are separate and
inferior school systems for Arabs inside Israel. In
2001, Human Rights Watch reported that one in four of
Israel's 1.6 million schoolchildren is educated in a
completely separate public school system. The report
stated that “Palestinian Arab children attend schools
with larger classes and fewer teachers than do those in
the Jewish school system, with some children having to
travel long distances to reach the nearest school. Arab
schools also contrast dramatically with the larger
system in their frequent lack of basic learning
facilities like libraries, computers, science
laboratories, and even recreation space… The educational
system has given a low priority to teacher training for
the Arab school system… Palestinian Arab teachers on
average have lower qualifications and receive lower
salaries than non-Palestinian Arab teachers.”
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/israel2/ISRAEL0901-01.htm
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/israel2/ISRAEL0901-10.htm
http://abs.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/49/8/1075
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/israel2/ISRAEL0901-06.htm
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/israel2/ISRAEL0901-06.htm#P1339_191271
Arab history, Israel’s borders removed from public
school textbooks
Teachers are not allowed to teach
students in public schools about the Arab history in the
region. Israeli textbooks do not show the “Green Line”
or the internationally recognized border between Israel
and the occupied territories. They refer to the West
Bank as “Judea and Samaria.” “ Teachers
for the Arab schools are approved by the state security
service, the Shin Bet, and the curriculum is designed to
remove references to Palestinian history and culture….
The Shin Bet prohibits even great Arab and Palestinian
literature from inclusion in the curriculum”
http://www.peykarandeesh.org/noFarsi/Condition.html,
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/796896.html,
http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/21480/format/html/displaystory.html
Unequal funding for Arab towns
Arab towns and villages in Israel do not
receive the same funding as Jewish towns, even though
taxation rates are equal for Arabs and Jews. Israel has
a system of progressive taxation, with wealthier
individuals paying more than those with low incomes.
Under such a system, poorer communities are supposed to
be helped by the higher taxes paid in wealthier ones,
but this is not the case when it comes to Arab
neighborhoods in Israel According to a report by the US
State Department, Government spending was proportionally
lower in predominantly Arab areas than in Jewish areas,
which adversely affected children in Arab villages and
cities.”
http://www.jewishcurrents.org/2003-jan-muraskin.htm
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2003/27929.htm
According to Israeli journalist Ori Nir,
“Between
1975 and 2000, only 0.3 percent of public construction
initiated and subsidized by the Israeli government was
for Arabs.” In the years 2000 – 2004,Arab
citizens received less than 5% of the overall Regular
Budget of Israel. In 2005, less than 3% of the
Development Budget was allocated to the Arab
communities.
http://www.fmep.org/analysis/articles/israels_arab_minority.html,
http://www.jfjfp.org/factsheets/arabsinisrael.htm
http://www.mossawacenter.org/files/files/File/mossawa%20news%202005.pdf
Right of return for Jews only
Palestinians are denied
the right to return to homes and lands that have been
taken from them in Israel, while a person with one
Jewish grandparent anywhere in the world can settle on
land that has been taken from Arabs inside Israel or on
Palestinian land in the occupied territories in
violation of international law. (The Geneva Conventions
prohibit a country from moving its own population into
territory it occupies: “The Occupying Power shall not
deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population
into the territory it occupies.” – Article 49)
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/92.htm,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2001/israel_and_the_palestinians/issues/1099279.stm
http://www.jatonyc.org/UNresolutions.html,
http://www.nakbainhebrew.org/index.php?lang=english,
http://www.jewishcurrents.org/2003-jan-muraskin.htm
Denial of family unification for Arabs
In 2003, the Israeli
Knesset enacted legislation that denies any possibility
of formal residency status for Palestinians from the
West Bank or Gaza who are married to Israeli citizens or
residents.
According to UCLA professor
Saree Makdisi, “Israel's
newly revised nationality law … prohibits Palestinian
citizens of Israel from marrying Palestinians from the
occupied territories and living with their spouses in
Israel. The same law does not apply to Jewish Israelis
who marry Jewish settlers living in the occupied
territories. Interestingly, similar legislation had been
proposed in South Africa at the peak of Apartheid, only
to be rejected by that country's supreme court. Israel's
nationality law, however, was endorsed by Israel's High
Court just this year.” (2006)
The law is unconstitutional as it
discriminates on the basis of national origin.
http://www.acri.org.il/english-acri/engine/story.asp?id=255.
http://www.monabaker.com/pMachine/more.php?id=A2104_0_1_0_M,
http://www.ifamericansknew.org/cur_sit/racism.html
Unrecognized Arab Villages Denied Basic Services or
Destroyed
Many Palestinian
villages, some predating the establishment of Israel,
are unrecognized by the government, and thus receive no
running water, electricity, or access roads.
Some do not appear on maps. A
number have been destroyed in recent years.
http://www.shalomctr.org/node/382 Approximately 450
Palestinian villages were destroyed after Israel
declared its independence in 1948.http://www.palestineremembered.com/.
215,000 Palestinians in 220 villages have no connection
to a sewer system.
http://www.peykarandeesh.org/noFarsi/Condition.html
Limits on Arab growth
Since 1948, scores of new communities
have been founded for Jews, but very few for
Palestinians, causing Israeli Arabs severe residential
overcrowding. According to Israeli Ori Nir, Washington bureau chief
for The Forward, “No Arab community has been created
since 1948, except for towns created for Bedouins in the
Negev, whereas something like 1000 towns have been
created for Israeli Jews.”
http://www.fmep.org/analysis/articles/israels_arab_minority.html
http://www.peykarandeesh.org/noFarsi/Condition.html
In 2002, the Nature Reserve and National
Park Authority presented to the Northern District
Planning and Building Committee for a nature preserve
and national park which would surround 5 Arab villages
in northern Israel and border others. It included the
provision that privately owned Arab land could be
confiscated for this purpose. Restrictions would be
placed on Arab farmers. The goal of this is to prevent
further growth in these Arab communities.
http://www.adalah.org/eng/intladvocacy/CESCR-land.pdf
Confiscation of Arab Land for Jewish Use
Land can be and is confiscated from Arab
villages and made available for Jewish use. Susahan, a
Jewish Israeli living in an Arab village inside Israel
bears witness to this phenomenon in her book The
Other Side of Israel.
http://www.peykarandeesh.org/noFarsi/Condition.htm l
Plans to “Judaize” the Arab areas of the Galilee
The area of the Galilee in northern
Israel is where many Israeli Arabs live. Some are
descended from the earliest Christians, while others are
Muslim. In September, 2001, the Israeli Government’s
Northern District Committee for Planning and Building
issued a plan to “Judaize” the Galilee region, citing
the presence of Arabs in that region as a problem. The
plan restricts the development of industrial, commercial
and development areas in Arab villages, and places
industrial, commercial and tourism facilities in or near
Jewish areas.
http://www.adalah.org/eng/intladvocacy/CESCR-land.pdf
Limits on Land leased to Arabs
All land in Israel must be leased. It is
not privately owned. Until recently, Israeli Arabs were
not permitted to lease land from the Israeli Land
Administration, which controls 93% of the arable land in
Israel. This land is either state-owned (80%) or owned
by the Jewish National Fund (13%). Much of it was
expropriated from Arabs. In an effort to head off a
legal challenge, the Attorney General announced that ILA
should not discriminate; however, a deal was reached
under which equally valued government land would be
transferred to the Jewish National Fund for each lease
of its land to Arabs. This would effectively keep at
least the same amount of Israeli land in the hands of
the Jewish National Fund. (There is an excellent article
on this at
http://semitism.net/2005/02/09/OLD97, a web site started
by American Jews who have visited the region and oppose
the occupation.)
Restricted access to good jobs for Arabs
Service in the Israeli army is a
prerequisite for the best private and public sector jobs
in Israel. Most non-Jews other than Druze are not
allowed to serve in the army so these jobs are not often
available to Israeli Arabs. Arabs are thus denied the
benefits that come from these jobs and from army
service. However, religious Jews who do not serve in the
army face no such discrimination and receive all
benefits and opportunities accrued to those in army
service.
http://www.caabu.org/pdf/Israeli-Arabs-final.pdf,
http://www.jfjfp.org/factsheets/arabsinisrael.htm
According to a report by the US State
Department, in 2004, only 3 percent of civil service
employees in Israel were from the Arab sector.
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61690.htm
Discrimination in public places
Arab citizens of Israel are often discriminated against
through denial of access to recreation spaces, swimming
pools, water parks and other public places frequented by
its Jewish citizens.
http://www.law.nyu.edu/journals/jilp/issues/36/36_4_Cohen-Eliya.pdf
Arab citizens of Israel have less “green
space” available, even in mixed race towns inside
Israel.
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-
9663.2005.00474.x?cookieSet=1&journalCode=tesg
Discrimination at airports and train stations
Arabs are frequently taken aside at Israel’s airports
and train stations and searched, often invasively.
They are more likely to be detained or accompanied to
the plane by security personnel. Most Jews
normally travel without any difficulty, while Arab
citizens of Israel often face aggressive questioning
simply because of their ethnicity. There are exceptions.
Israeli or international peace activists may also face
delays or invasive searches, but Arabs face these
regardless of political affiliation or activity.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/796747.html
http://www.adalah.org/newsletter/eng/dec06/hra-report.pdf.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/827861.html
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=851098
http://www.peykarandeesh.org/noFarsi/Condition.html
Failure to Protect Arab Citizens During Wartime
Almost all Arab towns and villages in the northern part
of Israel lack public bomb shelters, even though they
have been constructed with varying degrees of adequacy
in most Jewish communities. Similarly, the civil defense
authorities failed to ensure that Arab communities had
air raid sirens to warn inhabitants of incoming fire,
though these are present in Jewish towns. As a result
many people in Arab villages died in their streets
during the Lebanon war while most Jews waited out the
war in shelters, though some of these lacked air
conditioning or other amenities.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/14/1358258,
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article5703.shtml
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1173173947932&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2F
During the war, civil defense officials issued emergency
instructions to families about how to protect themselves
-- on the radio and television, and in brochures -- only
in Hebrew, though Arabic is one of Israel’s two official
languages.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article5703.shtml
Failure to Compensate Jewish and Arab Citizens Equally
for War Damages
After the Lebanon war, Arab villages were denied
compensation for damages, though many Jewish
neighborhoods received funds. Interest-free loans of up
to $10,000 were available, but only to Jewish
businessmen or those who had served in the Israeli army,
which excludes almost the entire Arab population.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/763244.html
Destruction of Unrecognized Arab villages
“The Bedouin citizens residing in the unrecognized
villages of the Negev have for many years suffered from
severe discrimination and marginalization; during this
past year, they were the victims of particularly harsh
enforcement policies – aided by the amendment to the law
that was enacted this year (the Public Land Law
{Expulsion of Trespassers}) – including the demolition
of houses and the destruction of crops. While the
Bedouin are subject to great pressure to leave their
place of residence without a viable alternative or
adequate compensation, these same state authorities who
are applying the pressure are allocating large plots of
land to Jews only, and empowering the local Jewish
municipal authorities with the authority to “guard the
land” from its original occupants.” Association for
Civil Rights in Israel 2006 Annual Report on Human
Rights
http://www.acri.org.il/english-acri/engine/story.asp?id=244
Poisoning, uprooting of Bedouin Israeli citizens’ crops
The government of Israel has sent planes
to spread poison on Bedouin crops, poisoning livestock
and causing health problems among the population. By
some accounts, this practice was halted in 2006. More
often now these crops are destroyed by Israeli
authorities turning them under.
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/where_we_work/palterr_israel/bedouin.htm
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=275276&contrassID=2&subContrassID=15&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y&itemNo=275276
http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde150332004
http://www.adalah.org/eng/intladvocacy/CESCR-land.pdf
http://www.icahd.org/eng/articles.asp?menu=6&submenu=2&article=336
(photo of plane poisoning crops)
No Constitutional Protection for Minorities
Israel has no constitution to
protect the rights of the 24.5% of
its citizens who are non-Jewish.
It openly declares itself “a
state of the Jewish people’”
though a quarter of all Israelis
are non-Jewish. Many of their
families lived here for
generations before Israel was
established. Many believe there
is an inherent contradiction
between Israel’s claims to be a
democratic state and its actions
to keep it a Jewish state
without defining equal rights
for all citizens.
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/981336.html
http://www.mossawacenter.org/default.php?lng=3&dp=2&fl=25&pg=9
http://www.wcl.american.edu/hrbrief/v5i2/html/arabmi.htm
Unequal application of the law
to Jews and non-Jews
“A dual system of law
discriminates between Jewish
Israelis and indigenous
Palestinians based on a
constructed status of “Jewish
nationality.” This prejudicial
application of law is apparent
in all processes of the legal
system, from the rights to
information and fair trial to
detention and prison treatment.”
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/ngos/jointngo5-PartIII-1.pdf
(Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights)
Government leaders talk openly
of expelling Arabs from Israel.
Christians have lived in the
land that became Israel for 2000
years, Muslims for more than
1300 years. Now these citizens
are referred to as a demographic
threat, or “the Arab Problem.”
The most offensive of these is
Avigdor Lieberman, recently
appointed to a key cabinet post
by Ehud Olmert. When the first
Arab minister was appointed to
the government recently,
Lieberman called on Defense
Minister Amir Peretz to resign.
Another official said "This is
assimilation…I call on the prime
minister not to approve this
appointment to protect the state
of Israel's interest as a Jewish
and Zionist state." Lieberman
said that Israel's Arab minority
was a "problem" which required
"separation," declaring that
Israel must redraw its map to
"exchange" part of the Arab
population, in order to create a
more "homogeneous Jewish state."
Almost a third of Israel’s
Jewish citizens favor
transferring Arabs out of
Israel, and 60% think they
should be encouraged to leave.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/812447.html
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10522.htm
|
|
