<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Institutionalized Arab Inequality in Israel | Sabbah&nbsp;Report]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p>by <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn" rel="nofollow" href="http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/author/stephen-lendman/">Stephen Lendman</a></span> on <abbr class="published" title="2011-02-26">February 26, 2011 </abbr><strong>| <a href="http://sabbah.biz/mt">Sabbah Report</a> | <a href="http://sabbah.biz/mt">www.sabbah.biz</a></strong></p>
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<p>In December 2010, the Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel published a study titled, &#8220;<span id="apture_prvw1" class="aptureLink "><span class="aptureLinkIcon" style="background-position:right -447px;"> </span><a class="aptureLink snap_noshots" href="http://www.adalah.org/upfiles/Christian%20Aid%20Report%20December%202010%20FINAL%281%29.pdf">Inequality Report: The Palestinian Arab Minority in Israel</a></span>,&#8221; [PDF] saying:</p>
<p>Affecting Jews as well, it takes many forms, including:</p>
<ul>
<li> privileged v. deprived groups;</li>
<li> Western Jews (Ashkenzim) v. Eastern ones (Mizrakhim);</li>
<li> men v. women;</li>
<li> Israeli-born Jews (Sabar) v. immigrant ones (Olim);</li>
<li> Orthodox v. secular Jews;</li>
<li> urban v. rural ones;</li>
<li> progressive v. hardline extremists;</li>
<li> gay v. straight, and so forth.</li>
</ul>
<p>Mostly,  it represents majority Jews against minority (largely Muslim) Israeli  Arabs, indigenous people living in their historic homeland, comprising  20% of the population or about 1.2 million people, excluding East  Jerusalem and Golan.<br />
<span id="more-10014"> </span><br />
Under  international law, they&#8217;re considered a national, ethnic, linguistic and  religious minority, but not under Israel&#8217;s Basic Laws. As a result,  they face &#8220;compound discrimination&#8221; as non-Jews, as well as for  belonging to one or more sub-groups. For example, women, Bedouins, the  disabled or elderly.</p>
<p>Institutionalized inequality excludes them from state resources, services and positions of power, including:</p>
<p><strong>Legalized Inequality</strong></p>
<p>As  citizens, they&#8217;re denied equality and freedom in a Jewish state. Over  30 laws directly or indirectly discriminate besides new ones at various  stages in the legislative process.</p>
<p><strong>Citizenship</strong></p>
<p>It  affords no equality, granting it solely to Jews, and under a new law,  it may be lost for reasons alleging &#8220;disloyalty&#8221; or &#8220;breach of trust.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>Income/Poverty</strong></p>
<p>Affecting  over half of Arab families, they&#8217;re  disproportionately poor compared  to one-fifth of Jews. Arab towns, villages and Bedouin communities are  the poorest.</p>
<p><strong>Redistribution of Resources and Social Welfare</strong></p>
<p>Resources are disproportionately allocated to Jews, a policy institutionalizing inequality.</p>
<p><strong>Employment</strong></p>
<p>Arabs  are discriminated against with regard to work opportunities, pay, and  conditions, largely because of entrenched structural barriers,  especially affecting women, the disabled, and other sub-groups. Failure  to perform military service impedes men, even when no connection between  it and job qualifications exist.</p>
<p>Arabs are also underrepresented  in civil service jobs, Israel&#8217;s largest employer. They constitute about  6% of public employees, despite affirmative action laws requiring fair  representation.</p>
<p><strong>Land</strong></p>
<p>Longstanding and more  recent laws deprive them of its access and use. Admissions committees in  many agricultural and community towns exclude them based on alleged  &#8220;social unsuitability,&#8221; amounting to legalized apartheid.</p>
<p>As a  result, Arab towns and villages suffer severe overcrowding, their  municipalities having jurisdiction over only 2.5% of total state land.  Moreover, since 1948, about 600 Jewish municipalities were established,  no Arab ones.</p>
<p><strong>Education</strong></p>
<p>Israel&#8217;s Ministry  of Education has centralized control, excluding Arab educators from  decision-making authority. Moreover, State Education Law sets  objectives, emphasizing Jewish history and culture. Though Arabs  represent 25% of school children, funding for them is far less than for  Jews.</p>
<p><strong>Arabic Language</strong></p>
<p>Though an official  state language, it holds vastly inferior status to Hebrew, including  regarding resources allocated for its use.</p>
<p>Health</p>
<p>On  average, Jewish life expectancy exceeds Arabs who face much higher  mortality rates, especially past age 60. In addition, Palestinian infant  mortality is double that for Jews. Poorer Arab communities are  especially impacted, lacking facilities to keep pace with needs.</p>
<p><strong>Political Participation</strong></p>
<p>Arabs  have unequal access to all areas of public life and decision-making,  including the legislature, judiciary, and civil service. Moreover,  Israel&#8217;s Attorney General and extremist MKs tried to disqualify Arab  parties from political participation, and overall limit their political  voices.</p>
<p>In addition, legislation targets free movement and speech,  including attempts to restrict political travel to Arab nations called  &#8220;enemy states.&#8221; Further, police routinely use force to arrest  Palestinian demonstrators to silence dissent.</p>
<p>&#8220;Years of deliberate  discrimination, unequal citizenship and a limited voice in the  political system have left Palestinian citizens&#8221; feeling vulnerable,  marginalized, insecure and distrustful of state authority, exacerbated  by being considered a &#8220;fifth column.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>Framework of Legalized Inequality</strong></p>
<p>Israel&#8217;s  Basic Laws afford rights solely to Jews. Arabs clearly aren&#8217;t wanted so  aren&#8217;t treated equally under the law. As a result, institutionalized  discrimination harms them in all aspects of daily life, including  citizenship and family unification rights, forcing them to live apart or  insecure under threat of separation.</p>
<p><strong>A Case Study of Discriminatory Resource Allocation</strong></p>
<p>Government  provides &#8220;budget balancing grants&#8221; to municipalities and local councils  to fund essential services. Arab communities are systematically cheated  despite far greater need.</p>
<p>The current system affords extra grants  to towns  absorbing new Jewish immigrants, so-called &#8220;front line&#8221;  communities, and others called &#8220;socially diverse,&#8221; excluding Arab ones  considered homogeneous. Nearly always, Jewish communities are helped.  Adalah&#8217;s 2001 Supreme Court petition for redress is still pending.</p>
<p>Further,  Amendment 146 to the Income Tax Act affords Israeli communities near  Gaza and others exemptions for political reasons. All Arab towns and  villages were excluded.</p>
<p><strong>A Case Study of Military Service Excluding Arabs from Railway Inspection Work</strong></p>
<p>In  2009, the Israeli Railway Company (IRC) and another firm employing  guards concluded an agreement, excluding applicants with no military  service from consideration. Over 130 Arab citizens held guard positions.  The decision threatened their status or ability to obtain future  employment. A temporary September 2009 court injunction prevented those  employed from being fired. After a follow-up February 2010 hearing, the  Railway Company cancelled the exclusionary  provisions.</p>
<p><strong>A Case Study of Arab Family Unsuitability to Live in Rakefet</strong></p>
<p>Fatina  and Ahmed Zubeidat hold Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design College of  Architecture degrees with distinction. Both are practicing architects.  After marrying in 2006, they applied to live in Rakefet, located in  Misgav in northern Israel. Its admissions committee requires applicants  take an acceptance test. It excluded them on grounds of &#8220;social  unsuitability.&#8221; In September 2007, Adalah petitioned Israel&#8217;s Supreme  Court, demanding admissions committees be abolished. In October, the  Court ordered Rakeft set aside land for the family, pending a final  decision. It&#8217;s still pending.</p>
<p><strong>A Case Study of Unrecognized Bedouin Al Araqib Village Destruction</strong></p>
<p>On  July 27, 2010, al-Araqib residents were awakened at dawn, surrounded by  police carrying guns, tear gas, truncheons and other arms. Declaring  the village a &#8220;closed area,&#8221; its 250 residents were ordered out in two  minutes, warned that resistance would forcibly remove them.</p>
<p>Almost  immediately, 1,300 police officers began demolishing homes while  residents tried salvaging belongings. All 45 houses were bulldozed.  Villagers were displaced and their belongings confiscated. Police also  uprooted 4,500 olive trees. Tax Authority representatives accompanied  police, seizing property of indebted residents.</p>
<p>No prior warnings  were given. A week later, the village was destroyed a second time,  police again using excessive force, including pushing, stomping,  dragging, assaulting, and cursing people present at the time. Adalah  immediately demanded a criminal investigation. Numerous other villages  have also been targeted. None so far have gotten redress.</p>
<p><strong>A Case Study of a Possible First Ever Unrecognized Bedouin Village High School</strong></p>
<p>None  exist in any unrecognized Bedouin village. In Abu Tulul region,  El-Shihabi is home to about 12,000 Bedouin citizens. About 750 are of  high school age. However, only about 170 can attend 12 – 15 km away,  requiring public or other transportation to reach.</p>
<p>In 2005, Adalah  petitioned Israel&#8217;s Supreme Court for 35 Bedouin girls and six local  NGOs, demanding an accessible high school be built nearby. In January  2007, the Court ruled for one to begin operating on September 1, 2009 to  no avail. On September 22, 2009, Adalah again petitioned for  enforcement, including that non-implementation be considered in contempt  of court.</p>
<p><strong>A Case Study of Mother and Child Clinic Closures</strong></p>
<p>In  October 2009, Israel&#8217;s Ministry of Health (MOH) closed clinics in three  unrecognized villages – Qasr el-Ser, Abu Tlul and Wadi el-Niam. They  specialize in post-natal care with three others established after  Adalah&#8217;s successful 1997 Supreme Court petition.</p>
<p>MOH&#8217;s reasons for  closure were bogus. As a result, the health and lives of thousands of  pregnant Bedouin women, new mothers and their babies are at risk. On  December 16, 2009, Adalah petitioned Israel&#8217;s Supreme Court, demanding  clinics remain open. On August 11, 2010, two reopened. The other is  still closed.</p>
<p><strong>Case Study about Protesters Killed in October 2000</strong></p>
<p>In  October 2000, at the start of the Second Intifada, police killed 13  unarmed Palestinians, protesting occupation brutality. Snipers shot most  in the head or chest. Hundreds of others were injured and over 1,000  arrested. Despite Or Commission recommendations, no one was held  responsible. Over 10 years later, no commander, soldier, policeman, or  political official was charged with cold-blooded murder. Given impunity,  they remain safe from prosecution.</p>
<p><strong>Legitimate Political Activity Criminalized</strong></p>
<p>In  November 2009, Israel&#8217;s Attorney General indicted Arab MK Mohammed  Barakeh, leader of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash),  for participating in four nonviolent protests against Israel&#8217;s  Separation Wall, the 2006 Lebanon war, and its officials remaining  unaccountable for the October 2000 killings.</p>
<p>In January 2010, the  Knesset House Committee voted to strip Tajammoa/Balad party MK Sa&#8217;id  Naffaa of his parliamentary immunity. Israel&#8217;s Attorney General then  indicted him for visiting Syria in September 2007 as part of a holy site  pilgrimage. Charges included contact with a foreign agent.</p>
<p>Earlier,  MK Azmi Bishara, then National Democratic Assembly/Balad head, was  indicted for political speech -for &#8220;supporting a terrorist organization  (Hezbollah).&#8221; In fact, he merely analyzed factors leading to Israel&#8217;s  southern Lebanon occupation and right to resist it. Charges followed the  Knesset voting to strip him of parliamentary immunity. At the time, it  was unprecedented in Israeli politics. In February 2006, Israel&#8217;s  Supreme Court dismissed all charges unanimously.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, on  June 7, 2010, the Knesset House Committee revoked Tajammoa/Balad member  Haneen Zoabi&#8217;s parliamentary privileges for participating in the May  2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla. As a result, she lost her diplomatic  passport, overseas travel privileges, and right to have the Knesset pay  her legal expenses in case of criminal prosecution. Overall, she was  viciously assailed. Called a &#8220;terrorist&#8221; and &#8220;traitor,&#8221; extremist  ministers and MKs wanted, but failed, to have her Knesset membership and  citizenship revoked.</p>
<p>Two recent articles explained Israel&#8217;s gross <a href="http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/12/social-inequality-in-israel.html">mistreatment</a> of Israeli <a href="http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/10/viciously-attacking-israeli-arabs.html">Arab citizens</a>.</p>
<p>Socially,  politically and economically they&#8217;re denied rights for being Arabs in a  Jewish state, affording them solely to Jews. Increasingly less of them,  in fact, benefit under predatory neoliberal harshness, rewarding the  rich, abandoning the rest.</p>
<p>As a result, Israel is a nation of  extreme, growing inequality, mostly affecting Arabs. Studies, in fact,  found Israel, America and Britain the most unequal western societies, an  indictment of neoliberal betrayal.</p>
<p>Moreover, Muslims face violent  and ad hominem attacks, with no protections afforded them. As a result,  some call Israel a failed state, more hypocrisy than democracy,  resembling how Arundhati Roy once described India, calling it a  &#8220;limbless, headless, soulless torso left bleeding under the butcher&#8217;s  clever with a flag driven deep into her mutilated heart.&#8221;</p>
<p>For  Israeli Arabs, it&#8217;s daily reality. For Occupied Palestinians, its worse.  For besieged Gazans, it&#8217;s catastrophic because world leaders abandoned  them.</p>
<p><strong>A Final Comment</strong></p>
<p>On February 25, a  full Spanish High Court panel (its Audencia Nacional) rejected a Spanish  prosecutor&#8217;s attempt to halt investigation into America&#8217;s involvement  in torture at Guantanamo. In response, the Center for Constitutional  Rights said:</p>
<p>&#8220;This is a monumental decision that will enable a  Spanish judge to continue a case on the &#8216;authorized and systemic plan of  torture and ill treatment&#8217; by US officials at Guantanamo.&#8221; Former  commanding officer Gen. Geoffrey Miller &#8220;has already been implicated,  and the case will surely move up the chain of command.&#8221;</p>
<p>Importantly,  &#8220;this will be the first real investigation of the US torture  program….This is a victory for accountability and a blow against  impunity.&#8221; CCR applauded Spain&#8217;s High Court decision &#8220;for not bowing to  political pressure and for undertaking what may be the most important  investigation in decades.&#8221;</p>
<p>If successful, might other unindicted  US and Israeli war criminals be far behind? Also, will courageous  lawyers like persecuted Paul Bergrin be vindicated? At times, justice  moves in slow, incremental steps. Perhaps this is a first major one.</p>
<p><em>* <a href="http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/author/stephen-lendman/">Stephen Lendman</a> lives in Chicago and can be reached at <a href="mailto:lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net">lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net</a>. Also visit his blog site at <a href="http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">sjlendman.blogspot.com</a> and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the  Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays  at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon.</em></p>
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<p><a href="http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2011/02/26/institutionalized-arab-inequality-in-israel/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SabbahsBlog+%28Sabbah+Report%29">Institutionalized Arab Inequality in Israel | Sabbah Report</a>.</p>
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