Israel
- Israeli Arabs
Israeli Arabs, or
1948 Palestinians, are those Arabs who remained inside the borders of
what would become Israel after 1948, when most Arabs fled the country in
the 1948 Arab-Israeli War (see also Nakba). They make up 19% of Israel's
population (2003). They sometimes consider themselves Palestinian,
sometimes Israeli, and sometimes both. They are sometimes taken to
include Druze and Circassians, and sometimes taken to exclude them;
within Israeli Arabs, the Bedouin form a distinct subgroup, as do the
Israeli Arab Christians. The noted Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish,
though since exiled, was an Israeli Arab; other well-known Israeli Arabs
include the politician and novelist Emile Habibi, the film director Elie
Suleiman and the politician Azmi Bishara.
Israeli Arabs are considered to be full citizens of the State of Israel.
There are a number of Israeli Arabs sitting as members of the Knesset
(Parliament), and an Arab Justice presides in the Supreme Court. To some
extent Israeli Arabs face discrimination as individuals, in part as a
result of inequality in the allocation of governmental resources. The
same government, however, also adopted affirmative action policies in
recruiting Israeli Arabs to the civil service.
Apart from the Druze and Circassians, they are not required to serve in
the IDF, although some, notably among the Bedouin, do so.
Some of them became internal refugees in 1948 (see Palestinian
refugees.)
Discrimination Against Israeli Arabs
According to the 2004 U.S. State Department Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices for Israel and the occupied territories, the Israeli
government "did little to reduce institutional, legal, and societal
discrimination against the country's Arab citizens."
Examples of discrimination against Israeli Arabs cited in the State
Department report include the following:
* "According to a 2003 Haifa University study, a tendency existed to
impose heavier prison terms to Arab citizens than to Jewish citizens.
Human rights advocates claimed that Arab citizens were more likely to be
convicted of murder and to have been denied bail."
* "Government spending on children was proportionally lower in
predominantly Arab areas than in Jewish areas. ... According to the
Government's February 2002 report to the U.N., government investment per
Arab pupil was approximately 60 percent of investment per Jewish pupil.
... According to Human Rights Watch, during the year, the Government
provided 1 teacher for every 16 Jewish primary school children compared
to 1 teacher for every 19.7 Arab children. "
* "The Orr Commission of Inquiry's report ... stated that the
'Government handling of the Arab sector has been primarily neglectful
and discriminatory,' that the Government 'did not show sufficient
sensitivity to the needs of the Arab population, and did not take enough
action to allocate state resources in an equal manner.' As a result,
'serious distress prevailed in the Arab sector in various areas.
Evidence of distress included poverty, unemployment, a shortage of land,
serious problems in the education system, and substantially defective
infrastructure.'"
* "In November, the Israeli-Arab advocacy NGO Sikkuy's annual report
stated that 45 percent of Arab families were poor, in contrast to 15
percent of Jewish families, and that the rate of infant mortality in the
Arab sector was 8 out of 1,000 births--twice that of the Jewish
population."
* "According to a report by Mossawa, racist violence against Arab
citizens has increased, and the Government has not done enough to
prevent this problem. The annual report cited 17 acts of violence by
Jewish citizens against Arab citizens. ... A Haifa University poll
released in June revealed that over 63 percent of Jews believed that the
Government should encourage Israeli Arabs to emigrate."
* "Approximately 93 percent of land in the country was public domain,
including that owned by the state and some 12.5 percent owned by the
Jewish National Fund (JNF). All public land by law may only be leased,
not sold. The JNF's statutes prohibit the sale or lease of land to
non-Jews. In October, civil rights groups petitioned the High Court of
Justice claiming that a bid announcement by the Israel Land
Administration (ILA) involving JNF land was discriminatory in that it
banned Arabs from bidding."
* "Israeli-Arab advocacy organizations have challenged the Government's
policy of demolishing illegal buildings in the Arab sector, and claimed
that the Government was more restrictive in issuing building permits in
Arab communities than in Jewish communities, thereby not accommodating
natural growth. In February, security forces demolished several homes
allegedly built without authorization in the Arab village of Beineh."
* "In June, the Supreme Court ruled that omitting Arab towns from
specific government social and economic plans is discriminatory. This
judgment builds on previous assessments of disadvantages suffered by
Arab Israelis."
* "Israeli-Arab organizations have challenged as discriminatory the 1996
"Master Plan for the Northern Areas of Israel," which listed as priority
goals increasing the Galilee's Jewish population and blocking the
territorial contiguity of Arab towns."
* "Israeli Arabs were underrepresented in the student bodies and
faculties of most universities and in higher professional and business
ranks. The Bureau of Statistics noted that the median number of school
years for the Jewish population is 3 years more than for the Arab
population. Well educated Arabs often were unable to find jobs
commensurate with their level of education. According to Sikkuy, Arab
citizens held approximately 60 to 70 of the country's 5,000 university
faculty positions."
* "Israeli Arabs were not required to perform mandatory military service
and, in practice, only a small percentage of Israeli Arabs served in the
military. Those who did not serve in the army had less access than other
citizens to social and economic benefits for which military service was
a prerequisite or an advantage, such as housing, new-household
subsidies, and employment, especially government or security-related
industrial employment. Regarding the latter, for security reasons,
Israeli Arabs generally were restricted from working in companies with
defense contracts or in security-related fields."
Modifications to Citizenship and Entry law
On July 31, 2003 Israel enacted the Citizenship and Entry into Israel
Law (Temporary Provision), 5763-2003, a one year amendment to Israel's
Citizenship Law denying citizenship and Israeli residence to
Palestinians who reside in the West Bank or Gaza Strip and who marry
Israelis, though this rule is waived for any Palestinian "who identifies
with the State of Israel and its goals, when he or a member of his
family has taken concrete action to advance the security, economy or any
other matter important to the State." Upon expiry the law was extended
for six months in August 2004, and again for 4 months in February 2005.
Although this law affected all Israelis, it disproportionately affected
Israeli Arabs, and was considered by many to be highly discriminatory.
On May 8, 2005, The Israeli ministerial committee for issues of
legislation once again amended the Citizenship and Entry into Israel
Law, to restrict citizenship and residence in Israel only to Palestinian
men of up to age of 35, and Palestinian women of up to age of 25. The
new bill was formulated in accordance with Shin Bet statistics showing
that involvement in terror attacks declines with age. This newest
amendment, in practice, removes restrictions from half of the
Palestinian population requesting legal status through marriage in
Israel. Furthermore, Palestinian children under the age of 16 who have
one parent who married an Israeli can now obtain citizenship
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_Arab
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