A Few Facts About The Palestinians

[Hollie]

Lets get back on topic

Quote

Jews are the majority within Israel, but the non-Jewish minority (Arab, Christians, Bedouin, Druze, Baha'i and others) enjoy full citizenship with voting rights and representation in the government. Israel’s Declaration of Independence even specifically calls upon the Arab inhabitants of Israel to “participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions.” The Arab minority comprises 20% of Israel's population.

It is illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of race and Arab citizens of Israel are represented in all walks of Israeli life. Arabs have served in senior diplomatic and government positions and an Arab - Salim Joubran - currently serves as a justice on the Supreme Court.

Israeli Arabs have their own political parties and representation in the Knesset; Arabs are also members of the major Israeli political parties.

In apartheid South Africa, laws dictated where Non-whites could live, work and travel and the government imprisoned, and sometimes killed, those who protested against these policies. By contrast, Israel allows freedom of movement, assembly and speech and some of the government’s harshest critics are Arab Knesset members.

Arab students and professors study, research and teach freely at Israeli universities. At Haifa University, for example, approximately 20 percent of the students are Arabs.

Israeli society is not perfect - discrimination and unfairness exist there as it does in every other country. These differences, however, are nothing like the horrors of the apartheid system. Moreover, when inequalities are identified, minorities in Israel have the right to seek redress through the government and the courts, and progress toward equality has been made over the years.

The situation of Palestinians in the territories is different. Many Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip openly refuse to recognize Israel’s right to exist; by contrast, non-whites never sought the destruction of South Africa, only of the apartheid regime.

Unlike South Africa, where restrictions were totally racially motivated, Israel's restrictions in the territories - such as checkpoints and the security fence - was forced by incessant Palestinian terrorism. Israel has consistently demonstrated a willingness, however, to ease restrictions when violence subsides.

Meanwhile, Palestinians from the territories are allowed to work in Israel and receive similar pay and benefits to their Jewish counterparts. They are allowed to attend schools and universities. Palestinians have been given opportunities to run many of their own affairs. None of this was true for South African blacks.

Even such, 98% of the Palestinians in the territories are governed by the rules of the Palestinian Authority, which amazingly do not permit their own resident with freedoms of speech, religion, assembly or other rights taken for granted by Westerners and guaranteed in Israel.

The clearest refutation of the calumny against Israel comes from the Palestinians themselves - when asked what governments they admire most, more than 80 percent of Palestinians consistently choose Israel because they can see up close the thriving democracy in Israel, and the rights the Arab citizens enjoy there.

End Quote.

Its very easy to see the numerous differences between an apartheid state and Israel's having to place restrictions on SOME of the palestinians living within its sphere of influence

Reposting Hasbara propaganda does not change the fact that Israel is an Apartheid state. Now the facts:

"Apartheid" isn't just a term of insult; it's a word with a very specific legal meaning, as defined by the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid, adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1973 and ratified by most United Nations member states (Israel and the United States are exceptions, to their shame).

According to Article II of that convention, the term applies to acts "committed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over any other racial group of persons and systematically oppressing them." Denying those others the right to life and liberty, subjecting them to arbitrary arrest, expropriating their property, depriving them of the right to leave and return to their country or the right to freedom of movement and of residence, creating separate reserves and ghettos for the members of different racial groups, preventing mixed marriages — these are all examples of the crime of apartheid specifically mentioned in the convention.


Seeing the reference to racial groups here, some people might think of race in a putatively biological sense or as a matter of skin color. That is a rather simplistic (and dated) way of thinking about racial identity. More to the point, however, the operative definition of "racial identity" is provided in the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (to which Israel is a signatory), on which the apartheid convention explicitly draws
There, the term "racial discrimination" is defined as "any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life."

A few basic facts are now in order.

The Jewish state (for so it identifies itself, after all) maintains a system of formal and informal housing segregation both in Israel and in the occupied territories. It's obvious, of course, that Jewish settlements in the West Bank aren't exactly bursting with Palestinians. In Israel itself, however, hundreds of communities have been established for Jewish residents on land expropriated from Palestinians, in which segregation is maintained, for example, by admissions committees empowered to use ethnic criteria long since banned in the United States, or by the inability of Palestinian citizens to access land held exclusively for the Jewish people by the state-sanctioned Jewish National Fund

Jewish residents of the occupied territories enjoy various rights and privileges denied to their Palestinian neighbors. While the former enjoy the protections of Israeli civil law, the latter are subject to the harsh provisions of military law. So, while their Jewish neighbors come and go freely, West Bank Palestinians are subject to arbitrary arrest and detention, and to the denial of freedom of movement; they are frequently barred from access to educational or healthcare facilities, Christian and Muslim sites for religious worship, and so on.

Meanwhile, Palestinian citizens of Israel must contend with about 50 state laws and bills that, according to the Palestinian-Israeli human rights organization Adalah, either privilege Jews or directly discriminate against the Palestinian minority. One of the key components of Israel's nationality law, the Law of Return, for example, applies to Jews only, and excludes Palestinians, including Palestinians born in what is now the state of Israel. While Jewish citizens can move back and forth without interdiction, Israeli law expressly bars Palestinian citizens from bringing spouses from the occupied territories to live with them in Israel."



The educational systems for the two populations in Israel (not to mention the occupied territories) are kept largely separate and unequal. While overcrowded Palestinian schools in Israel crumble, Jewish students are given access to more resources and curricular options.

It is not legally possible in Israel for a Jewish citizen to marry a non-Jewish citizen. And a web of laws, regulations and military orders governing what kind of people can live in which particular spaces makes mixed marriages within the occupied territories, or across the pre-1967 border between Israel and the occupied territories, all but impossible.

And so it goes in all domains of life, from birth to death: a systematic, vigilantly policed separation of the two populations and utter contempt for the principle of equality. One group — stripped of property and rights, expelled, humiliated, punished, demolished, imprisoned and at times driven to the edge of starvation (down to the meticulously calculated last calorie) — has withered. The other group — its freedom of movement and of development not merely unrestricted but actively encouraged — has flourished, and its religious and cultural symbols adorn the regalia of the state and are emblazoned on the state flag.

The question is not whether the term "apartheid" applies here. It is why it should cause such an outcry when it is used.

Does the term 'apartheid' fit Israel? Of course it does.

An interesting fact about cutting and pasting other people's opinions is that you can find any opinion you wish.

 

[Boston1]

So full of half truths and outright lies its hard to know where to start.

But lets watch an educational video and see just how this myth of Israeli apartheid got started

This Video Just Blew the 'Israel Apartheid' Lie to Smithereens

 

[montelatici]

How can you possibly believe that Hasbara propaganda? People that have lived under Apartheid in South Africa have no doubts. But believe what you want to believe.

"I have been to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and I have witnessed the racially segregated roads and housing that reminded me so much of the conditions we experienced in South Africa under the racist system of Apartheid. I have witnessed the humiliation of Palestinian men, women, and children made to wait hours at Israeli military checkpoints routinely when trying to make the most basic of trips to visit relatives or attend school or college, and this humiliation is familiar to me and the many black South Africans who were corralled and regularly insulted by the security forces of the Apartheid government........“It is not a Muslim or Jewish crisis. It is a human rights crisis with roots to what amounts to an apartheid system of land ownership and control. It is a crisis that fuels other crises…"

Archbishop Desmond Tutu

 

[Boston1]

LOL How can you possibly believe that revisionist nonsense.

The simple reality is TUTU was an antisemite

Malcolm Hedding: April 2009

 

[montelatici]

Of course, anyone that criticizes Israel is an Antisemite. LOL

 

[Boston1]

Of course, anyone that criticizes Israel is an Antisemite. LOL

Well certainly anyone who runs the revisionist palestinian narrative up the flag pole at every opportunity is

 

[montelatici]

There is nothing revisionist about fact. Israel is an Apartheid state. Full stop.

 

[Boston1]

Of course there isn't, however NOTHING you are saying is fact.

Lets review the situation is Israel today

Quote

Israel is not an Apartheid state. It is a thriving modern day democracy that affords all its peoples dignity and equality under the law. Within its borders are Jews, Christians, Arabs, Druze, Armenians and many other minority groups. All have the same rights and dignity under the law. It enjoys freedom of the press and the right to peaceful protest. Women are respected under the law and allowed into all branches of human endeavour. Israel is a shining light in an Arab world that is largely in the grip of totalitarian governments. Yet it is Israel that the United Nations conference in Geneva has chosen to describe as an Apartheid one! Nothing could be further from the truth.

The conflict in Israel has nothing to do with Apartheid and never will. It is a conflict for survival and thus until Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and their fellow travelers in the Middle East come fully to terms with Israel’s existence the sufferings of the Palestinians will continue. Not because they live under an Apartheid regime but because they live under bad leadership that has led them continuously into a no man’s land of misery and despair. The idea of a Middle East without Israel is a delusion that many have to get over. Until that day dawns the blessings that Israel can bring to the region will be forfeited.

End Quote

 

[montelatici]

Of course there isn't, however NOTHING you are saying is fact.

Lets review the situation is Israel today

Quote

Israel is not an Apartheid state. It is a thriving modern day democracy that affords all its peoples dignity and equality under the law. Within its borders are Jews, Christians, Arabs, Druze, Armenians and many other minority groups. All have the same rights and dignity under the law. It enjoys freedom of the press and the right to peaceful protest. Women are respected under the law and allowed into all branches of human endeavour. Israel is a shining light in an Arab world that is largely in the grip of totalitarian governments. Yet it is Israel that the United Nations conference in Geneva has chosen to describe as an Apartheid one! Nothing could be further from the truth.

The conflict in Israel has nothing to do with Apartheid and never will. It is a conflict for survival and thus until Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and their fellow travelers in the Middle East come fully to terms with Israel’s existence the sufferings of the Palestinians will continue. Not because they live under an Apartheid regime but because they live under bad leadership that has led them continuously into a no man’s land of misery and despair. The idea of a Middle East without Israel is a delusion that many have to get over. Until that day dawns the blessings that Israel can bring to the region will be forfeited.

End Quote

Israel has the same chance of long term survival as an exclusive Jewish state as white-ruled South Africa or Rhodesia had as white states.

 

[Boston1]

Of course there isn't, however NOTHING you are saying is fact.

Lets review the situation is Israel today

Quote

Israel is not an Apartheid state. It is a thriving modern day democracy that affords all its peoples dignity and equality under the law. Within its borders are Jews, Christians, Arabs, Druze, Armenians and many other minority groups. All have the same rights and dignity under the law. It enjoys freedom of the press and the right to peaceful protest. Women are respected under the law and allowed into all branches of human endeavour. Israel is a shining light in an Arab world that is largely in the grip of totalitarian governments. Yet it is Israel that the United Nations conference in Geneva has chosen to describe as an Apartheid one! Nothing could be further from the truth.

The conflict in Israel has nothing to do with Apartheid and never will. It is a conflict for survival and thus until Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and their fellow travelers in the Middle East come fully to terms with Israel’s existence the sufferings of the Palestinians will continue. Not because they live under an Apartheid regime but because they live under bad leadership that has led them continuously into a no man’s land of misery and despair. The idea of a Middle East without Israel is a delusion that many have to get over. Until that day dawns the blessings that Israel can bring to the region will be forfeited.

End Quote

Israel has the same chance of long term survival as an exclusive Jewish state as white-ruled South Africa or Rhodesia had as white states.

Ridiculous

Israel has very little in common with South Africa or Rhodesia. Israel has a highly diverse and vibrant economy and a thriving democracy.

Israel's long term survival isn't even remotely in question other than by revisionist pro palestinion terrorist sympathizers

 

[montelatici]

Of course there isn't, however NOTHING you are saying is fact.

Lets review the situation is Israel today

Quote

Israel is not an Apartheid state. It is a thriving modern day democracy that affords all its peoples dignity and equality under the law. Within its borders are Jews, Christians, Arabs, Druze, Armenians and many other minority groups. All have the same rights and dignity under the law. It enjoys freedom of the press and the right to peaceful protest. Women are respected under the law and allowed into all branches of human endeavour. Israel is a shining light in an Arab world that is largely in the grip of totalitarian governments. Yet it is Israel that the United Nations conference in Geneva has chosen to describe as an Apartheid one! Nothing could be further from the truth.

The conflict in Israel has nothing to do with Apartheid and never will. It is a conflict for survival and thus until Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and their fellow travelers in the Middle East come fully to terms with Israel’s existence the sufferings of the Palestinians will continue. Not because they live under an Apartheid regime but because they live under bad leadership that has led them continuously into a no man’s land of misery and despair. The idea of a Middle East without Israel is a delusion that many have to get over. Until that day dawns the blessings that Israel can bring to the region will be forfeited.

End Quote

Israel has the same chance of long term survival as an exclusive Jewish state as white-ruled South Africa or Rhodesia had as white states.

Ridiculous

Israel has very little in common with South Africa or Rhodesia. Israel has a highly diverse and vibrant economy and a thriving democracy.

Israel's long term survival isn't even remotely in question other than by revisionist pro palestinion terrorist sympathizers

After losing the argument it's time the "terrorist sympathizer" insult. You know that accusing anyone of being a terrorist sympathizer without proof is a not Kosher here.

 

[montelatici]

Of course there isn't, however NOTHING you are saying is fact.

Lets review the situation is Israel today

Quote

Israel is not an Apartheid state. It is a thriving modern day democracy that affords all its peoples dignity and equality under the law. Within its borders are Jews, Christians, Arabs, Druze, Armenians and many other minority groups. All have the same rights and dignity under the law. It enjoys freedom of the press and the right to peaceful protest. Women are respected under the law and allowed into all branches of human endeavour. Israel is a shining light in an Arab world that is largely in the grip of totalitarian governments. Yet it is Israel that the United Nations conference in Geneva has chosen to describe as an Apartheid one! Nothing could be further from the truth.

The conflict in Israel has nothing to do with Apartheid and never will. It is a conflict for survival and thus until Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and their fellow travelers in the Middle East come fully to terms with Israel’s existence the sufferings of the Palestinians will continue. Not because they live under an Apartheid regime but because they live under bad leadership that has led them continuously into a no man’s land of misery and despair. The idea of a Middle East without Israel is a delusion that many have to get over. Until that day dawns the blessings that Israel can bring to the region will be forfeited.

End Quote

Israel has the same chance of long term survival as an exclusive Jewish state as white-ruled South Africa or Rhodesia had as white states.

Ridiculous

Israel has very little in common with South Africa or Rhodesia. Israel has a highly diverse and vibrant economy and a thriving democracy.

Israel's long term survival isn't even remotely in question other than by revisionist pro palestinion terrorist sympathizers

Apartheid South Africa had a diverse and vibrant economy without the handouts Israel receives from the U.S. and world Jewry. Rhodesia was also quite a successful country, economically.

 

[Boston1]

Of course there isn't, however NOTHING you are saying is fact.

Lets review the situation is Israel today

Quote

Israel is not an Apartheid state. It is a thriving modern day democracy that affords all its peoples dignity and equality under the law. Within its borders are Jews, Christians, Arabs, Druze, Armenians and many other minority groups. All have the same rights and dignity under the law. It enjoys freedom of the press and the right to peaceful protest. Women are respected under the law and allowed into all branches of human endeavour. Israel is a shining light in an Arab world that is largely in the grip of totalitarian governments. Yet it is Israel that the United Nations conference in Geneva has chosen to describe as an Apartheid one! Nothing could be further from the truth.

The conflict in Israel has nothing to do with Apartheid and never will. It is a conflict for survival and thus until Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and their fellow travelers in the Middle East come fully to terms with Israel’s existence the sufferings of the Palestinians will continue. Not because they live under an Apartheid regime but because they live under bad leadership that has led them continuously into a no man’s land of misery and despair. The idea of a Middle East without Israel is a delusion that many have to get over. Until that day dawns the blessings that Israel can bring to the region will be forfeited.

End Quote

Israel has the same chance of long term survival as an exclusive Jewish state as white-ruled South Africa or Rhodesia had as white states.

Ridiculous

Israel has very little in common with South Africa or Rhodesia. Israel has a highly diverse and vibrant economy and a thriving democracy.

Israel's long term survival isn't even remotely in question other than by revisionist pro palestinion terrorist sympathizers

After losing the argument it's time the "terrorist sympathizer" insult. You know that accusing anyone of being a terrorist sympathizer without proof is a not Kosher here.

The hubris is astounding, I love the declaration of victory in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. LOL its really quite entertaining

Lets review shall we ;--)

Quote

But we all know that the revisionist rhetoric, things like apartheid and stolen palesinian land, are just that, revisionist rhetoric.

The Israeli's are making every effort to find peaceful solutions amid a difficult situation. Constant palestinian acts of violence require that restrictions be placed and remain in place until some reasonable period of peace has past. At which point restrictions can be eased and the palestinians might earn their way back into polite society.

The accusation of apartheid like may of the revisionist claims is demonstrably false. Anyone who studies the issue will quickly see that Israeli Arabs enjoy more rights in Israel than they do in most Arab countries. Woman specially are fully able to participate in lives of equality within the Israeli sphere that they'd never be able to enjoy in much of the Arab world.

Need I really document the numerous rights enjoyed by ALL Israeli Arabs ?

Quote

Jews are the majority within Israel, but the non-Jewish minority (Arab, Christians, Bedouin, Druze, Baha'i and others) enjoy full citizenship with voting rights and representation in the government. Israel’s Declaration of Independence even specifically calls upon the Arab inhabitants of Israel to “participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions.” The Arab minority comprises 20% of Israel's population.

It is illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of race and Arab citizens of Israel are represented in all walks of Israeli life. Arabs have served in senior diplomatic and government positions and an Arab - Salim Joubran - currently serves as a justice on the Supreme Court.

Israeli Arabs have their own political parties and representation in the Knesset; Arabs are also members of the major Israeli political parties.

In apartheid South Africa, laws dictated where Non-whites could live, work and travel and the government imprisoned, and sometimes killed, those who protested against these policies. By contrast, Israel allows freedom of movement, assembly and speech and some of the government’s harshest critics are Arab Knesset members.

Arab students and professors study, research and teach freely at Israeli universities. At Haifa University, for example, approximately 20 percent of the students are Arabs.

Israeli society is not perfect - discrimination and unfairness exist there as it does in every other country. These differences, however, are nothing like the horrors of the apartheid system. Moreover, when inequalities are identified, minorities in Israel have the right to seek redress through the government and the courts, and progress toward equality has been made over the years.

The situation of Palestinians in the territories is different. Many Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip openly refuse to recognize Israel’s right to exist; by contrast, non-whites never sought the destruction of South Africa, only of the apartheid regime.

Unlike South Africa, where restrictions were totally racially motivated, Israel'srestrictions in the territories - such as checkpoints and the security fence - was forced by incessant Palestinian terrorism. Israel has consistently demonstrated a willingness, however, to ease restrictions when violence subsides.

Meanwhile, Palestinians from the territories are allowed to work in Israel and receive similar pay and benefits to their Jewish counterparts. They are allowed to attend schools and universities. Palestinians have been given opportunities to run many of their own affairs. None of this was true for South African blacks.

Even such, 98% of the Palestinians in the territories are governed by the rules of the Palestinian Authority, which amazingly do not permit their own resident with freedoms of speech, religion, assembly or other rights taken for granted by Westerners and guaranteed in Israel.

The clearest refutation of the calumny against Israel comes from the Palestinians themselves - when asked what governments they admire most, more than 80 percent of Palestinians consistently choose Israel because they can see up close the thriving democracy in Israel, and the rights the Arab citizens enjoy there.

End Quote

 

[Billo_Really]

The palestinians are a mob with no leaders able to engage in peace, let alone in security and are rewarded right and left for their terrorist actions.

If that was true, why is it Israel who's breaking all the ceasefires?

 

[Billo_Really]

The hubris is astounding, I love the declaration of victory in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. LOL its really quite entertaining

Lets review shall we ;--)

Quote

But we all know that the revisionist rhetoric, things like apartheid and stolen palesinian land, are just that, revisionist rhetoric.

The Israeli's are making every effort to find peaceful solutions amid a difficult situation. Constant palestinian acts of violence require that restrictions be placed and remain in place until some reasonable period of peace has past. At which point restrictions can be eased and the palestinians might earn their way back into polite society.

The accusation of apartheid like may of the revisionist claims is demonstrably false. Anyone who studies the issue will quickly see that Israeli Arabs enjoy more rights in Israel than they do in most Arab countries. Woman specially are fully able to participate in lives of equality within the Israeli sphere that they'd never be able to enjoy in much of the Arab world.

Need I really document the numerous rights enjoyed by ALL Israeli Arabs ?

Quote

Jews are the majority within Israel, but the non-Jewish minority (Arab, Christians, Bedouin, Druze, Baha'i and others) enjoy full citizenship with voting rights and representation in the government. Israel’s Declaration of Independence even specifically calls upon the Arab inhabitants of Israel to “participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions.” The Arab minority comprises 20% of Israel's population.

It is illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of race and Arab citizens of Israel are represented in all walks of Israeli life. Arabs have served in senior diplomatic and government positions and an Arab - Salim Joubran - currently serves as a justice on the Supreme Court.

Israeli Arabs have their own political parties and representation in the Knesset; Arabs are also members of the major Israeli political parties.

In apartheid South Africa, laws dictated where Non-whites could live, work and travel and the government imprisoned, and sometimes killed, those who protested against these policies. By contrast, Israel allows freedom of movement, assembly and speech and some of the government’s harshest critics are Arab Knesset members.

Arab students and professors study, research and teach freely at Israeli universities. At Haifa University, for example, approximately 20 percent of the students are Arabs.

Israeli society is not perfect - discrimination and unfairness exist there as it does in every other country. These differences, however, are nothing like the horrors of the apartheid system. Moreover, when inequalities are identified, minorities in Israel have the right to seek redress through the government and the courts, and progress toward equality has been made over the years.

The situation of Palestinians in the territories is different. Many Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip openly refuse to recognize Israel’s right to exist; by contrast, non-whites never sought the destruction of South Africa, only of the apartheid regime.

Unlike South Africa, where restrictions were totally racially motivated, Israel'srestrictions in the territories - such as checkpoints and the security fence - was forced by incessant Palestinian terrorism. Israel has consistently demonstrated a willingness, however, to ease restrictions when violence subsides.

Meanwhile, Palestinians from the territories are allowed to work in Israel and receive similar pay and benefits to their Jewish counterparts. They are allowed to attend schools and universities. Palestinians have been given opportunities to run many of their own affairs. None of this was true for South African blacks.

Even such, 98% of the Palestinians in the territories are governed by the rules of the Palestinian Authority, which amazingly do not permit their own resident with freedoms of speech, religion, assembly or other rights taken for granted by Westerners and guaranteed in Israel.

The clearest refutation of the calumny against Israel comes from the Palestinians themselves - when asked what governments they admire most, more than 80 percent of Palestinians consistently choose Israel because they can see up close the thriving democracy in Israel, and the rights the Arab citizens enjoy there.

End Quote

Can an Arab-Israeli become PM? No.

Can Arab-Israeli's commemorate Nakba? No.

Can an Arab-Israeli bring in his wife from the West Bank? No.

Why can Jews from all over the world come to Israel, but an Arab-Israeli citizen cannot bring in his wife from the West Bank?

 

[Boston1]

The palestinians are a mob with no leaders able to engage in peace, let alone in security and are rewarded right and left for their terrorist actions.

If that was true, why is it Israel who's breaking all the ceasefires?

Oh Please. How often is it that when Israel exorcises its right to apprehend criminals within the palestinian population its painted as a violation of a cease fire rather than a resumption of normal police function ?

the Oslo accords were broken when Israel police who were supposed to be working with palestinian security were turned on by those palestinian security forces.

The Road map for peace was also broken by the palestinians when the palestinian authority was unable to control various internal terrorits splinter groups and The Israeli's of course responded.

So tell us again about "Israel who's breaking all the ceasefires"

 

[Boston1]

The hubris is astounding, I love the declaration of victory in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. LOL its really quite entertaining

Lets review shall we ;--)

Quote

But we all know that the revisionist rhetoric, things like apartheid and stolen palesinian land, are just that, revisionist rhetoric.

The Israeli's are making every effort to find peaceful solutions amid a difficult situation. Constant palestinian acts of violence require that restrictions be placed and remain in place until some reasonable period of peace has past. At which point restrictions can be eased and the palestinians might earn their way back into polite society.

The accusation of apartheid like may of the revisionist claims is demonstrably false. Anyone who studies the issue will quickly see that Israeli Arabs enjoy more rights in Israel than they do in most Arab countries. Woman specially are fully able to participate in lives of equality within the Israeli sphere that they'd never be able to enjoy in much of the Arab world.

Need I really document the numerous rights enjoyed by ALL Israeli Arabs ?

Quote

Jews are the majority within Israel, but the non-Jewish minority (Arab, Christians, Bedouin, Druze, Baha'i and others) enjoy full citizenship with voting rights and representation in the government. Israel’s Declaration of Independence even specifically calls upon the Arab inhabitants of Israel to “participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions.” The Arab minority comprises 20% of Israel's population.

It is illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of race and Arab citizens of Israel are represented in all walks of Israeli life. Arabs have served in senior diplomatic and government positions and an Arab - Salim Joubran - currently serves as a justice on the Supreme Court.

Israeli Arabs have their own political parties and representation in the Knesset; Arabs are also members of the major Israeli political parties.

In apartheid South Africa, laws dictated where Non-whites could live, work and travel and the government imprisoned, and sometimes killed, those who protested against these policies. By contrast, Israel allows freedom of movement, assembly and speech and some of the government’s harshest critics are Arab Knesset members.

Arab students and professors study, research and teach freely at Israeli universities. At Haifa University, for example, approximately 20 percent of the students are Arabs.

Israeli society is not perfect - discrimination and unfairness exist there as it does in every other country. These differences, however, are nothing like the horrors of the apartheid system. Moreover, when inequalities are identified, minorities in Israel have the right to seek redress through the government and the courts, and progress toward equality has been made over the years.

The situation of Palestinians in the territories is different. Many Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip openly refuse to recognize Israel’s right to exist; by contrast, non-whites never sought the destruction of South Africa, only of the apartheid regime.

Unlike South Africa, where restrictions were totally racially motivated, Israel'srestrictions in the territories - such as checkpoints and the security fence - was forced by incessant Palestinian terrorism. Israel has consistently demonstrated a willingness, however, to ease restrictions when violence subsides.

Meanwhile, Palestinians from the territories are allowed to work in Israel and receive similar pay and benefits to their Jewish counterparts. They are allowed to attend schools and universities. Palestinians have been given opportunities to run many of their own affairs. None of this was true for South African blacks.

Even such, 98% of the Palestinians in the territories are governed by the rules of the Palestinian Authority, which amazingly do not permit their own resident with freedoms of speech, religion, assembly or other rights taken for granted by Westerners and guaranteed in Israel.

The clearest refutation of the calumny against Israel comes from the Palestinians themselves - when asked what governments they admire most, more than 80 percent of Palestinians consistently choose Israel because they can see up close the thriving democracy in Israel, and the rights the Arab citizens enjoy there.

End Quote

Can an Arab-Israeli become PM? No.

Can Arab-Israeli's commemorate Nakba? No.

Can an Arab-Israeli bring in his wife from the West Bank? No.

Why can Jews from all over the world come to Israel, but an Arab-Israeli citizen cannot bring in his wife from the West Bank?

I love how the palestinian apologists make one wild claim after another with absolutely not a shred of supporting evidence

So can you substantiate a singe one of those very interesting assertions ?

 

[montelatici]

As of 2008.


"Constitutional Equality There is no provision in Israeli law for the concept of constitutional equality. It is absent from The Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom, which since 1992 has served as Israel’s constitutional Bill of Rights.

9 While laws exist which protect the equal rights of disadvantaged groups such as women and the disabled, no general statute relates to the right to equality for all citizens. Moreover, there is no statute which specifically protects equal rights for the major Arab minority in Israel.

Military Service The Israeli Government uses military service as a requirement for various public benefits. Given that the vast majority of Palestinian-Arabs are not allowed to serve in the Israeli military, this requirement camouflages as a racist policy. This limits the ability of many Palestinian-Arabs to receive “housing loans preference in public employment, and financial aid for university study.”

10 However, Yeshiva students who are granted exemptions from military service when requested, nonetheless receive some of these benefits due to the “traditional place of Torah study in Jewish heritage.”

11 Citizens without Citizenship The Israeli Law of Return grants automatic citizenship and financial benefits (oleh status) to any Jew looking to immigrate to Israel, to her/his spouse, children, grandchildren, and their respective spouses.

12 The right to acquire Israeli nationality automatically and without preconditions, on the basis of the Right to Return, was not merely granted to Jewish immigrants after the establishment of Israel, but was given retroactively to Jews who had immigrated to Palestine or had been born there before the creation of the State. However, Palestinian-Arab refugees who were expelled from their land and homes in 1948 are not granted the Right of Return and not even entitled to residency or citizenship status. Indeed, even spouses of Arab citizens of Israel can only gain citizenship of residency status thorough complicated and exhausting legal procedures. Like other states, to be born in Israel is one of the ways of acquiring Israeli nationality, provided that one of the parents is an Israeli citizen.

13 Therefore, an Arab born in Israel who is not included under Nationality Law and not granted the Right to Return and whose parents had not acquired Israeli nationality through residence in Israel (i.e. belonging to an “unrecognized village” or denied status as an internally displaced person) would also not get Israeli citizenship on the basis of being born in Israel. Yet, the Jewish child automatically acquires Israeli nationality according to the Law of Return and is granted this nationality without other conditions.

14 Education The Israeli education system is based on the State Education Law of 1953. This Law established a system of schools designed to meet the explicit demands of the Jewish community. The objectives the Israeli education system as explicitly stated in Article 2 of this Law are to exclusively advance Jewish culture and Zionist ideology.

15 Discriminatory Curriculum The Minister of Education and Culture is authorized to set education curricula for each state institution and the Arab schools are not outside of the boundaries of Article 2 of this law. As no autonomous educational system has been established for the Arab community, Palestinian students are subjected to an educational curriculum which has been developed by and for the Jewish population: e.g. Arab students are expected to spend more time studying the Torah than their own religious texts; Zionist literature and poetry are included in the standard curriculum, but not Palestinian classics; matriculation exams include questions on Judaism, but not the Muslim, Christian, or Druze faiths.

16 In addition, studies have found that Israeli textbooks contain persistent negative and racist references to Arabs and Palestinians.

17 The Ministry of Education does not deny that the reason for such direct discrimination in the curriculum is fear that Arab history, culture, elements and symbols will “rouse national feelings among the Arab citizens.”

18 In fact, the renowned works of Palestinian poet and writer Mahmoud Darwish can be taught in the Israeli-Jewish curriculum, but are vehemently excluded from the Arab education system due to such fears, thus denying the needs of this community as a minority with a heritage and national affiliation. Discriminatory Funding for Education The inferior status of Arab schools is also largely due to discriminatory budget allocations, resulting in a lack of funding and resources. While nearly 1/3 of all Jewish students have received support from governmentfunded enrichment programs for impoverished students, Arab students are not eligible for these programs. In fact, there is no funding for educational enrichment programs for Arab students in Israel.

19 Also, government funded pre-schools do not operate in Arab towns or villages, and more than half of the tens of thousands of Arab children with special needs are denied access to appropriate classes or schools. The result of these and other societal discrepancies is that the education opportunities available to Arab students is vastly inferior to that provided to Jewish students and is reflected in the drop-out rates which, among 16-17 year olds is 40% for Arabs and 9% for Jews.

20 4 Political Participation Election to the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) is limited by 2 laws which require political parties to accept the “existence of the State of Israel as a state of the Jewish people.”21 In practice, these laws dictate that a political party calling for full equality of the Palestinian-Arab community in Israel may be disqualified. In order to become a politician of the Knesset, a Palestinian politician is forced to essentially negate her/his own identity, history and entitlement to equal rights. Unrecognized Arab Villages Approximately 100,000 Palestinians in Israel (10% of the Palestinian population) reside in villages which have been deemed “illegal” by the State and therefore cannot be found on any map, have no local council or government representation, and receive no government services such as: health facilities, running water, connection to a sewage or electricity network, safe access to major roads, postal services, connection to telephone network, adequate education facilities, environmental upkeep and security.22 These villages are known as “unrecognized villages” and total 45 in the Naqab/Negev Valley and 9 in the Galilee. Most of these communities existed prior to the establishment of Israel and their residents continue to struggle to survive as citizens of a state that denies them their most basic rights and needs. In 1965 the Knesset passed the Planning and Construction Law, a national plan for future development. Dozens of Palestinian villages were denied official recognition by this discriminatory law and therefore excluded from development planning schemes.

23 Overnight, all buildings in these “unrecognized” villages became retroactively “illegal” and “unlicensed” and therefore subject at any moment to demolition. At the same time, planning authorities were given the right to plan projects on these lands, establishing exclusively Jewish settlements on the remains of the villages. Land Confiscation There exists in Israel a multi-faceted framework of laws and military regulations which have granted the State the legal authority to confiscate Palestinian land and property. In addition to legal manipulation, Arab citizens of Israel are faced with a number of administrative practices to limit their use of the land, including discriminatory national planning and zoning regulations, as well as forced evictions and housing demolitions. Absentee Property Law In 1950 the Israeli government passed the Absentee Property Law which defined all those who were expelled, fled or left the country in the first few years of the war (1948-1952) as “absentees” and their property as “absentee property.”

24 The lands and properties of the refugees were also confiscated, transferred to an ad hoc custodian, and eventually used for the purposes of Jewish settlement. Those who remained within the State, even those who became Israeli citizens, were classified as “present-absentees” and prevented from reclaiming their lands and possessions. Jewish National Fund Law The Jewish National Fund Law of 1953 dissolves and re-organizes the JNF from a company in the UK to an Israeli company, passing on its racist policies to the State. Under the said Law, the JNF was transferred to Israel and all its assets situated in the area of Jurisdiction of the Government. Much can be said about the racist policies of the JNF, but the story of the destroyed and uprooted Arab villages of Imwas, Yalu and Beit Nuba for the erection of ‘Canada Park’ is an example that is indicative, not only of much of JNF activities beyond the Green Line, but also of JNF activities inside Israel-proper.

5 Basic Law: Israel-Lands Law and Israel-Lands Administration Law In 1960, these two laws were formulated on behalf of Israel government deeming that the land controlled by the JNF would now be administered by a single authority, the Israel Land Administration (ILA).25 However, it was agreed that “the lands controlled by the ILA shall be administered according to the principles of the JNF,” meaning that a Jew has a right to receive land controlled by the ILA, but a non-Jew does not enjoy this right “unless the apartment or plot of land is located in the special 'zone of residence' assigned to non-Jews.”26 The JNF effectively controls the ILA and dominates committees set up to vet applicants to hundreds of rural communities. Given the JNF’s declared goal of “purchasing and developing land as a national resource of the Jewish people, by the Jewish people, and for the Jewish people,” it forbids the ILA from selling or leasing of the land to non-Jews.27 This arrangement has allowed it to discriminate against Arab citizens on behalf of the Israeli government, denying them access in the form of leasing and cultivation to 93% of the land.

Special Status for Jewish Organizations Under the World Zionist Organization – Jewish Agency Law of 1952 major Jewish and Zionist organizations are granted special status as quasi-governmental bodies. These organizations manage land, housing and service provision, almost exclusively serving the Jewish population.

30 As no non-Jewish organizations are granted similar status, this produces a remarkably lower quality of life for the Palestinian-Arab community. Israel: A Democracy for Jews Only Israel purports to be an ethnic democratic state, but these terms are self-contradictory. Section 1a of the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom states that the purpose of the law is “to protect human dignity and liberty, in order to establish… the values of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.”

31 However, by establishing a hierarchy placing the interests of Jewish citizens above all others, the Israeli legal system creates the basis for a pervasive system of legal and social discrimination against its Palestinian-Arab citizenry.

http://www.cjpmo.org/DisplayDocument.aspx?DocumentID=219

 

[Hollie]

As of 2008.


"Constitutional Equality There is no provision in Israeli law for the concept of constitutional equality. It is absent from The Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom, which since 1992 has served as Israel’s constitutional Bill of Rights.

9 While laws exist which protect the equal rights of disadvantaged groups such as women and the disabled, no general statute relates to the right to equality for all citizens. Moreover, there is no statute which specifically protects equal rights for the major Arab minority in Israel.

Military Service The Israeli Government uses military service as a requirement for various public benefits. Given that the vast majority of Palestinian-Arabs are not allowed to serve in the Israeli military, this requirement camouflages as a racist policy. This limits the ability of many Palestinian-Arabs to receive “housing loans preference in public employment, and financial aid for university study.”

10 However, Yeshiva students who are granted exemptions from military service when requested, nonetheless receive some of these benefits due to the “traditional place of Torah study in Jewish heritage.”

11 Citizens without Citizenship The Israeli Law of Return grants automatic citizenship and financial benefits (oleh status) to any Jew looking to immigrate to Israel, to her/his spouse, children, grandchildren, and their respective spouses.

12 The right to acquire Israeli nationality automatically and without preconditions, on the basis of the Right to Return, was not merely granted to Jewish immigrants after the establishment of Israel, but was given retroactively to Jews who had immigrated to Palestine or had been born there before the creation of the State. However, Palestinian-Arab refugees who were expelled from their land and homes in 1948 are not granted the Right of Return and not even entitled to residency or citizenship status. Indeed, even spouses of Arab citizens of Israel can only gain citizenship of residency status thorough complicated and exhausting legal procedures. Like other states, to be born in Israel is one of the ways of acquiring Israeli nationality, provided that one of the parents is an Israeli citizen.

13 Therefore, an Arab born in Israel who is not included under Nationality Law and not granted the Right to Return and whose parents had not acquired Israeli nationality through residence in Israel (i.e. belonging to an “unrecognized village” or denied status as an internally displaced person) would also not get Israeli citizenship on the basis of being born in Israel. Yet, the Jewish child automatically acquires Israeli nationality according to the Law of Return and is granted this nationality without other conditions.

14 Education The Israeli education system is based on the State Education Law of 1953. This Law established a system of schools designed to meet the explicit demands of the Jewish community. The objectives the Israeli education system as explicitly stated in Article 2 of this Law are to exclusively advance Jewish culture and Zionist ideology.

15 Discriminatory Curriculum The Minister of Education and Culture is authorized to set education curricula for each state institution and the Arab schools are not outside of the boundaries of Article 2 of this law. As no autonomous educational system has been established for the Arab community, Palestinian students are subjected to an educational curriculum which has been developed by and for the Jewish population: e.g. Arab students are expected to spend more time studying the Torah than their own religious texts; Zionist literature and poetry are included in the standard curriculum, but not Palestinian classics; matriculation exams include questions on Judaism, but not the Muslim, Christian, or Druze faiths.

16 In addition, studies have found that Israeli textbooks contain persistent negative and racist references to Arabs and Palestinians.

17 The Ministry of Education does not deny that the reason for such direct discrimination in the curriculum is fear that Arab history, culture, elements and symbols will “rouse national feelings among the Arab citizens.”

18 In fact, the renowned works of Palestinian poet and writer Mahmoud Darwish can be taught in the Israeli-Jewish curriculum, but are vehemently excluded from the Arab education system due to such fears, thus denying the needs of this community as a minority with a heritage and national affiliation. Discriminatory Funding for Education The inferior status of Arab schools is also largely due to discriminatory budget allocations, resulting in a lack of funding and resources. While nearly 1/3 of all Jewish students have received support from governmentfunded enrichment programs for impoverished students, Arab students are not eligible for these programs. In fact, there is no funding for educational enrichment programs for Arab students in Israel.

19 Also, government funded pre-schools do not operate in Arab towns or villages, and more than half of the tens of thousands of Arab children with special needs are denied access to appropriate classes or schools. The result of these and other societal discrepancies is that the education opportunities available to Arab students is vastly inferior to that provided to Jewish students and is reflected in the drop-out rates which, among 16-17 year olds is 40% for Arabs and 9% for Jews.

20 4 Political Participation Election to the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) is limited by 2 laws which require political parties to accept the “existence of the State of Israel as a state of the Jewish people.”21 In practice, these laws dictate that a political party calling for full equality of the Palestinian-Arab community in Israel may be disqualified. In order to become a politician of the Knesset, a Palestinian politician is forced to essentially negate her/his own identity, history and entitlement to equal rights. Unrecognized Arab Villages Approximately 100,000 Palestinians in Israel (10% of the Palestinian population) reside in villages which have been deemed “illegal” by the State and therefore cannot be found on any map, have no local council or government representation, and receive no government services such as: health facilities, running water, connection to a sewage or electricity network, safe access to major roads, postal services, connection to telephone network, adequate education facilities, environmental upkeep and security.22 These villages are known as “unrecognized villages” and total 45 in the Naqab/Negev Valley and 9 in the Galilee. Most of these communities existed prior to the establishment of Israel and their residents continue to struggle to survive as citizens of a state that denies them their most basic rights and needs. In 1965 the Knesset passed the Planning and Construction Law, a national plan for future development. Dozens of Palestinian villages were denied official recognition by this discriminatory law and therefore excluded from development planning schemes.

23 Overnight, all buildings in these “unrecognized” villages became retroactively “illegal” and “unlicensed” and therefore subject at any moment to demolition. At the same time, planning authorities were given the right to plan projects on these lands, establishing exclusively Jewish settlements on the remains of the villages. Land Confiscation There exists in Israel a multi-faceted framework of laws and military regulations which have granted the State the legal authority to confiscate Palestinian land and property. In addition to legal manipulation, Arab citizens of Israel are faced with a number of administrative practices to limit their use of the land, including discriminatory national planning and zoning regulations, as well as forced evictions and housing demolitions. Absentee Property Law In 1950 the Israeli government passed the Absentee Property Law which defined all those who were expelled, fled or left the country in the first few years of the war (1948-1952) as “absentees” and their property as “absentee property.”

24 The lands and properties of the refugees were also confiscated, transferred to an ad hoc custodian, and eventually used for the purposes of Jewish settlement. Those who remained within the State, even those who became Israeli citizens, were classified as “present-absentees” and prevented from reclaiming their lands and possessions. Jewish National Fund Law The Jewish National Fund Law of 1953 dissolves and re-organizes the JNF from a company in the UK to an Israeli company, passing on its racist policies to the State. Under the said Law, the JNF was transferred to Israel and all its assets situated in the area of Jurisdiction of the Government. Much can be said about the racist policies of the JNF, but the story of the destroyed and uprooted Arab villages of Imwas, Yalu and Beit Nuba for the erection of ‘Canada Park’ is an example that is indicative, not only of much of JNF activities beyond the Green Line, but also of JNF activities inside Israel-proper.

5 Basic Law: Israel-Lands Law and Israel-Lands Administration Law In 1960, these two laws were formulated on behalf of Israel government deeming that the land controlled by the JNF would now be administered by a single authority, the Israel Land Administration (ILA).25 However, it was agreed that “the lands controlled by the ILA shall be administered according to the principles of the JNF,” meaning that a Jew has a right to receive land controlled by the ILA, but a non-Jew does not enjoy this right “unless the apartment or plot of land is located in the special 'zone of residence' assigned to non-Jews.”26 The JNF effectively controls the ILA and dominates committees set up to vet applicants to hundreds of rural communities. Given the JNF’s declared goal of “purchasing and developing land as a national resource of the Jewish people, by the Jewish people, and for the Jewish people,” it forbids the ILA from selling or leasing of the land to non-Jews.27 This arrangement has allowed it to discriminate against Arab citizens on behalf of the Israeli government, denying them access in the form of leasing and cultivation to 93% of the land.

Special Status for Jewish Organizations Under the World Zionist Organization – Jewish Agency Law of 1952 major Jewish and Zionist organizations are granted special status as quasi-governmental bodies. These organizations manage land, housing and service provision, almost exclusively serving the Jewish population.

30 As no non-Jewish organizations are granted similar status, this produces a remarkably lower quality of life for the Palestinian-Arab community. Israel: A Democracy for Jews Only Israel purports to be an ethnic democratic state, but these terms are self-contradictory. Section 1a of the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom states that the purpose of the law is “to protect human dignity and liberty, in order to establish… the values of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.”

31 However, by establishing a hierarchy placing the interests of Jewish citizens above all others, the Israeli legal system creates the basis for a pervasive system of legal and social discrimination against its Palestinian-Arab citizenry.

http://www.cjpmo.org/DisplayDocument.aspx?DocumentID=219

Ok. So you scoured the web and found an obscure advocacy group with an agenda.

 

[Boston1]

As of 2008.


"Constitutional Equality There is no provision in Israeli law for the concept of constitutional equality. It is absent from The Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom, which since 1992 has served as Israel’s constitutional Bill of Rights.

9 While laws exist which protect the equal rights of disadvantaged groups such as women and the disabled, no general statute relates to the right to equality for all citizens. Moreover, there is no statute which specifically protects equal rights for the major Arab minority in Israel.

Military Service The Israeli Government uses military service as a requirement for various public benefits. Given that the vast majority of Palestinian-Arabs are not allowed to serve in the Israeli military, this requirement camouflages as a racist policy. This limits the ability of many Palestinian-Arabs to receive “housing loans preference in public employment, and financial aid for university study.”

10 However, Yeshiva students who are granted exemptions from military service when requested, nonetheless receive some of these benefits due to the “traditional place of Torah study in Jewish heritage.”

11 Citizens without Citizenship The Israeli Law of Return grants automatic citizenship and financial benefits (oleh status) to any Jew looking to immigrate to Israel, to her/his spouse, children, grandchildren, and their respective spouses.

12 The right to acquire Israeli nationality automatically and without preconditions, on the basis of the Right to Return, was not merely granted to Jewish immigrants after the establishment of Israel, but was given retroactively to Jews who had immigrated to Palestine or had been born there before the creation of the State. However, Palestinian-Arab refugees who were expelled from their land and homes in 1948 are not granted the Right of Return and not even entitled to residency or citizenship status. Indeed, even spouses of Arab citizens of Israel can only gain citizenship of residency status thorough complicated and exhausting legal procedures. Like other states, to be born in Israel is one of the ways of acquiring Israeli nationality, provided that one of the parents is an Israeli citizen.

13 Therefore, an Arab born in Israel who is not included under Nationality Law and not granted the Right to Return and whose parents had not acquired Israeli nationality through residence in Israel (i.e. belonging to an “unrecognized village” or denied status as an internally displaced person) would also not get Israeli citizenship on the basis of being born in Israel. Yet, the Jewish child automatically acquires Israeli nationality according to the Law of Return and is granted this nationality without other conditions.

14 Education The Israeli education system is based on the State Education Law of 1953. This Law established a system of schools designed to meet the explicit demands of the Jewish community. The objectives the Israeli education system as explicitly stated in Article 2 of this Law are to exclusively advance Jewish culture and Zionist ideology.

15 Discriminatory Curriculum The Minister of Education and Culture is authorized to set education curricula for each state institution and the Arab schools are not outside of the boundaries of Article 2 of this law. As no autonomous educational system has been established for the Arab community, Palestinian students are subjected to an educational curriculum which has been developed by and for the Jewish population: e.g. Arab students are expected to spend more time studying the Torah than their own religious texts; Zionist literature and poetry are included in the standard curriculum, but not Palestinian classics; matriculation exams include questions on Judaism, but not the Muslim, Christian, or Druze faiths.

16 In addition, studies have found that Israeli textbooks contain persistent negative and racist references to Arabs and Palestinians.

17 The Ministry of Education does not deny that the reason for such direct discrimination in the curriculum is fear that Arab history, culture, elements and symbols will “rouse national feelings among the Arab citizens.”

18 In fact, the renowned works of Palestinian poet and writer Mahmoud Darwish can be taught in the Israeli-Jewish curriculum, but are vehemently excluded from the Arab education system due to such fears, thus denying the needs of this community as a minority with a heritage and national affiliation. Discriminatory Funding for Education The inferior status of Arab schools is also largely due to discriminatory budget allocations, resulting in a lack of funding and resources. While nearly 1/3 of all Jewish students have received support from governmentfunded enrichment programs for impoverished students, Arab students are not eligible for these programs. In fact, there is no funding for educational enrichment programs for Arab students in Israel.

19 Also, government funded pre-schools do not operate in Arab towns or villages, and more than half of the tens of thousands of Arab children with special needs are denied access to appropriate classes or schools. The result of these and other societal discrepancies is that the education opportunities available to Arab students is vastly inferior to that provided to Jewish students and is reflected in the drop-out rates which, among 16-17 year olds is 40% for Arabs and 9% for Jews.

20 4 Political Participation Election to the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) is limited by 2 laws which require political parties to accept the “existence of the State of Israel as a state of the Jewish people.”21 In practice, these laws dictate that a political party calling for full equality of the Palestinian-Arab community in Israel may be disqualified. In order to become a politician of the Knesset, a Palestinian politician is forced to essentially negate her/his own identity, history and entitlement to equal rights. Unrecognized Arab Villages Approximately 100,000 Palestinians in Israel (10% of the Palestinian population) reside in villages which have been deemed “illegal” by the State and therefore cannot be found on any map, have no local council or government representation, and receive no government services such as: health facilities, running water, connection to a sewage or electricity network, safe access to major roads, postal services, connection to telephone network, adequate education facilities, environmental upkeep and security.22 These villages are known as “unrecognized villages” and total 45 in the Naqab/Negev Valley and 9 in the Galilee. Most of these communities existed prior to the establishment of Israel and their residents continue to struggle to survive as citizens of a state that denies them their most basic rights and needs. In 1965 the Knesset passed the Planning and Construction Law, a national plan for future development. Dozens of Palestinian villages were denied official recognition by this discriminatory law and therefore excluded from development planning schemes.

23 Overnight, all buildings in these “unrecognized” villages became retroactively “illegal” and “unlicensed” and therefore subject at any moment to demolition. At the same time, planning authorities were given the right to plan projects on these lands, establishing exclusively Jewish settlements on the remains of the villages. Land Confiscation There exists in Israel a multi-faceted framework of laws and military regulations which have granted the State the legal authority to confiscate Palestinian land and property. In addition to legal manipulation, Arab citizens of Israel are faced with a number of administrative practices to limit their use of the land, including discriminatory national planning and zoning regulations, as well as forced evictions and housing demolitions. Absentee Property Law In 1950 the Israeli government passed the Absentee Property Law which defined all those who were expelled, fled or left the country in the first few years of the war (1948-1952) as “absentees” and their property as “absentee property.”

24 The lands and properties of the refugees were also confiscated, transferred to an ad hoc custodian, and eventually used for the purposes of Jewish settlement. Those who remained within the State, even those who became Israeli citizens, were classified as “present-absentees” and prevented from reclaiming their lands and possessions. Jewish National Fund Law The Jewish National Fund Law of 1953 dissolves and re-organizes the JNF from a company in the UK to an Israeli company, passing on its racist policies to the State. Under the said Law, the JNF was transferred to Israel and all its assets situated in the area of Jurisdiction of the Government. Much can be said about the racist policies of the JNF, but the story of the destroyed and uprooted Arab villages of Imwas, Yalu and Beit Nuba for the erection of ‘Canada Park’ is an example that is indicative, not only of much of JNF activities beyond the Green Line, but also of JNF activities inside Israel-proper.

5 Basic Law: Israel-Lands Law and Israel-Lands Administration Law In 1960, these two laws were formulated on behalf of Israel government deeming that the land controlled by the JNF would now be administered by a single authority, the Israel Land Administration (ILA).25 However, it was agreed that “the lands controlled by the ILA shall be administered according to the principles of the JNF,” meaning that a Jew has a right to receive land controlled by the ILA, but a non-Jew does not enjoy this right “unless the apartment or plot of land is located in the special 'zone of residence' assigned to non-Jews.”26 The JNF effectively controls the ILA and dominates committees set up to vet applicants to hundreds of rural communities. Given the JNF’s declared goal of “purchasing and developing land as a national resource of the Jewish people, by the Jewish people, and for the Jewish people,” it forbids the ILA from selling or leasing of the land to non-Jews.27 This arrangement has allowed it to discriminate against Arab citizens on behalf of the Israeli government, denying them access in the form of leasing and cultivation to 93% of the land.

Special Status for Jewish Organizations Under the World Zionist Organization – Jewish Agency Law of 1952 major Jewish and Zionist organizations are granted special status as quasi-governmental bodies. These organizations manage land, housing and service provision, almost exclusively serving the Jewish population.

30 As no non-Jewish organizations are granted similar status, this produces a remarkably lower quality of life for the Palestinian-Arab community. Israel: A Democracy for Jews Only Israel purports to be an ethnic democratic state, but these terms are self-contradictory. Section 1a of the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom states that the purpose of the law is “to protect human dignity and liberty, in order to establish… the values of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.”

31 However, by establishing a hierarchy placing the interests of Jewish citizens above all others, the Israeli legal system creates the basis for a pervasive system of legal and social discrimination against its Palestinian-Arab citizenry.

http://www.cjpmo.org/DisplayDocument.aspx?DocumentID=219

Ok. So you scoured the web and found an obscure advocacy group with an agenda.

Yeah that hype was about as disjointed as it gets. And again I see no supporting evidence given for any of the hundreds of accusations made in that article. Which looked to me like an opinion piece rather than any kind of reviewed work.

The simple reality is its all rhetoric and no substance

as usual