Racism in Israel

Template:POV-title Racism and ethnic discrimination in Israel includes instances of racism, discrimination and bias against ethnic groups in Israeli society. Israel government officials and others have denied some instances of racism and discrimination. The Israeli government and many groups within Israel have undertaken efforts to combat discrimination.

Israel define itself as a "Jewish state", yet it has laws that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, marital status, or sexual orientation. The law also prohibits discrimination by both government and nongovernment entities on the basis of race, religion, political beliefs, and age, and prohibits incitement to racism.

Nevertheless, organizations such as Amnesty International, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), and the United States Department of State have published reports that document racism and discrimination directed towards racial and ethnic groups in Israel.

The absorption of the Ethiopian Jews into Israeli society has been cited as a unique attempt to incorporate a nonwhite group as equal citizens with full rights as part of a Western predominantly white country.

Objectors to those claims, including Canadian MP Irwin Cotler and author Raphael Israeli, have observed the increasing reports on racism in Israel as part of a campaign to defame and ostracize Israel. The claims of institutional racism in Israel has itself been criticized, and protested at the UN by Israel and the United stats as a form of racism in itself.

Directed at Arabs

See also anti-Arabism in Israel

Racism against Arabs or Palestinians by the Israeli state and it's Jewish citizens, as identified by Palestinian citizens and organizations as well as human rights organizations, is expressed through personal attitudes, the media, education, immigration rights, housing segregation, and social life. Nearly all those characterizations have been denied by the state of Israel.

Israel's Declaration of Independence called for the establishment of a Jewish state with equality of social and political rights, irrespective of religion, race, or sex. The rights of citizens are guaranteed by a set of basic laws (Israel does not have a written constitution). Although this set of laws does not explicitly include the term "right to equality", the Israeli Supreme Court has consistently interpreted "Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty" and "Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation (1994)" as guaranteeing equal rights for all Israeli citizens.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that "Arab Israelis are citizens of Israel with equal rights" and states that "The only legal distinction between Arab and Jewish citizens is not one of rights, but rather of civic duty. Since Israel's establishment, Arab citizens have been exempted from compulsory service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)."

According to the 2004 U.S. State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for Israel and the Occupied Territories, the Israeli government had done "little to reduce institutional, legal, and societal discrimination against the country's Arab citizens." The 2005 US Department of State report on Israel wrote: "[T]he government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there were problems in some areas, including... institutional, legal, and societal discrimination against the country’s Arab citizens." Former Likud MK and Minister of Defense Moshe Arens has criticized the treatment of minorities in Israel, saying that they did not bear the full obligation of Israeli citizenship, nor were they extended the full privileges of citizenship. In recent polling (2003–2009) between 42% and 56% of Israelis agreed that "Israeli Arabs suffer from discrimination as opposed to Jewish citizens;" 80% of Israeli Arabs agreed with that statement in 2009.

Polls

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) published reports documenting racism in Israel, and the 2007 report suggested that anti-Arab racism in the country was increasing. Israeli minister charged the poll as biased and not credible. The Israeli government spokesman responded that the Israeli government was "committed to fighting racism whenever it raises it ugly head and is committed to full equality to all Israeli citizens, irrespective of ethnicity, creed or background, as defined by our declaration of independence". One analysis of the report summarized it thus: "Over two-thirds Israeli teens believe Arabs to be less intelligent, uncultured and violent. Over a third of Israeli teens fear Arabs all together....The report becomes even grimmer, citing the ACRI's racism poll, taken in March of 2007, in which 50% of Israelis taking part said they would not live in the same building as Arabs, will not befriend, or let their children befriend Arabs and would not let Arabs into their homes." The 2008 report from ACRI says the trend of increasing racism is continuing., However, Isi Leibler of the Jerusalem Center for Public affairs argues that Israeli Jews are troubled by "increasingly hostile, even treasonable outbursts by Israeli Arabs against the state" while it is at war with neighboring countries, and are genuinely worried, not racists.

In the media

Some authors, such as David Hirsi and Ayala Emmet, have criticized the Israeli media for portraying Arabs negatively. The Israeli media has been described as "racist" in its portrayals of Arabs and Palestinians by Israeli Arab Nabilia Espanioly

Barry Rubin, editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal, argued that Israeli media never used racial stereotypes or epithets, while Arab and Palestinian media have had numerous racist remarks and cartoons about such American leaders as Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, and Barack Obama.

Education system

See also: Education in Israel

Israel's education system has been sometimes been described as biased or prejudiced against Arabs.

In 2001, Human Rights Watch issued a report that stated: "Government-run Arab schools are a world apart from government-run Jewish schools. In virtually every respect, Palestinian Arab children get an education inferior to that of Jewish children, and their relatively poor performance in school reflects this."

Funding for schooling has been reported as discriminatory against Arab students: a 2009 study from the Hebrew University's School of Education demonstrated that the Israeli Education Ministry's budget for assistance to poor students "severely" discriminated against Arabs. It also showed that the average per-student allocation at Arab junior high schools was one-fifth the average at Jewish ones.

The Follow-Up Committee for Arab Education notes that the Israeli government spends an average of $192 per year on each Arab student compared to $1,100 per Jewish student. The drop-out rate for Arab citizens of Israel is twice as high as that of their Jewish counterparts (12 percent versus 6 percent). The same group also notes that there is a 5,000-classroom shortage in the Arab sector.

Zionism

See also Zionism as racist

Some critics of Israel equate Zionism with racism, or describe Zionism itself as racist or discriminatory. In 1975 the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 3379, stating in its conclusion that "Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination". The resolution was revoked by Resolution 46/86 on December 16, 1991. Speaking to the General Assembly, George H. W. Bush said "...to equate Zionism with the intolerable sin of racism is to twist history and forget the terrible plight of Jews in World War II and indeed throughout history." Supporters of Zionism argue that the movement is non-discrimanatory and contains no racist aspects.

Law of return controversy

See also: Law of return § Controversy

Some critics of Israel have described the Law of return as racist because it discriminates against Arabs. Palestinians and advocates for Palestinian refugee rights criticize the Law of Return, which they compare to the Palestinian claim to a right of return. These critics consider the Law, as contrasted against the denial of the right of Palestinian refugees to return, as offensive and as institutionalized ethnic discrimination.

Defenders of the Law argue that the right granted to Jews along with their relatives under the Law does not discriminate against non-Jews, but is a form of "positive" discrimination. Israel has residency and citizenship laws for non-Jews that are equivalent to those in other liberal democracies. It is argued that these kinds of laws are common and consistent with international law, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination Article I(3) which allows for preferential immigration treatment of some groups, provided there is no discrimination against a specific group. The Law of Return is not the only one way of acquiring citizenship. For example, non-Jews can become citizens by naturalization, residence, or marrying an Israeli citizen. Naturalization, for instance, is available under certain circumstances for the non-Jewish parents of a citizen who has completed his or her army service. The Law of Return was intended to deal with historic homelessness and persecution of Jews around the world.

In addition, proponents of the law point out that in addition to Israel, several other countries provide immigration privileges to individuals with ethnic ties to these countries. Examples include Germany, Serbia, Greece, Japan, Turkey, Ireland, Russia, Italy, Spain, Chile, Poland and Finland. (See Right of return and Repatriation laws.)

Marriage

Israel's Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law bars immigration by family reunification to couples of an Israeli citizen and a resident of the Israeli-occupied territories. Amnesty International says this mostly affects Arabs. The law has been condemned by Amnesty International as "racial discrimination". The government says the law say it is aimed at preventing terrorist attacks. Some leaders of the Kadima party support the law on the basis of preserving Israel's "democratic" and "Jewish nature".

Incidents

The Mossawa Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens in Israel reported a tenfold increase in racist incidents against Arabs in 2008. Jerusalem reported the highest number of incidents. The report blames Israeli leaders for the violence, saying "These attacks are not the hand of fate, but a direct result of incitement against the Arab citizens of this country by religious, public, and elected officials."

During the Arab riots in October 2000 events, hundreds of Arab residents of Jaffa burned tires, threw rocks, and beat reporters. Thousands of Jewish Israelis counter-rioted in Nazareth and Tel Aviv, throwing stones at Arabs, destroying Arab property, and chanting "death to Arabs". Haaretz editorialized that that year's "Yom Kippur will be infamous for the violent, racist outburst by Jews against Arabs within Israel". Sam Lehman-Wilzig, Political Communications Professor at Bar-Ilan University, said that rioting is rare and alien to Jewish political society. "The numbers (of riots) are so low because of our Jewish political culture which encourages protesting, but seriously discourages violent protest," he said. He argues that the riots were caused since Israelis felt threated by the "pressure cooker syndrome" of fighting not just the Palestinians and Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas, but also the Israeli Arab population.

The Bedouin claim they face discrimination and have submitted a counter-report to the United Nations that disputes the Israeli Government's official state report. They claim they are not treated as equal citizens in Israel and that Bedouin towns are not provided the same level of services or land that Jewish towns of the same size are and they are not given fair access to water. The city of Be'er Sheva refused to recognize a Bedouin holy site, despite a High Court recommendation.

Often Israeli-Arab soccer players face chants from the crowd when they play such as "no Arabs, no terrorism".

Abbas Zakour, an Arab Member of the Knesset, was stabbed by an immigrant gang speaking Russian-accented Hebrew who shouted anti-Arab chants. The attack was part of a "stabbing rampage" and was described as a "hate crime".

Racism by Israeli-Arabs

Towards Jews

Polls

A 2009 PEW poll, which included 527 Israeli Arab respondents, showed that 35 percent of Israeli Arabs said their opinion of Jews was unfavorable, while 56% said their opinion was favorable (the figures amongst Israeli Jews were 94% favorable; 6% unfavorable). Regarding attitudes towards Christians, 73% of Israeli Arab respondents stated that they view Christians favourably whilst 20% responded that they view Christians unfavourably. The Israeli Jewish respondents were divided between 49% expressing dislike towards Christians and an equal number expressing favourable views towards Christians.

A 2007 poll found that 40.5% of the Arab citizens of Israel denied the Holocaust In 2009, a University of Haifa's poll showed that Holocaust denial was widespread among Israeli Arabs and showed it on the rise from 2007.

Attacks

Among the brazen attacks (amid a worrisome involvement of Israeli Arabs in terrorist attacks directed against Israeli Jews ) are the 2008 bulldozer attacks , described by a writer:"He took the bulldozer, with which he fed his own wife and family, and used it to crush other families to death, simply for being Israeli Jews." On July 7, 2008 a writer in Israel's lefty paper Haaretz asks: "If justifying the murder of innocents because they belong to a certain hated group is not abject racism, I'd like to know what is."

One important Arab anti-Jewish riots was in Oct 2008, on Yom Kippur, when an Arab driver drove dangerously in Jewish neighbourhoods causing clashes, incited by calls from the mosque , Arabs ran riot through Jewish areas of the city. "Calling "Death to the Jews" and Allah hu akbar ("Allah is great"), the rioters vandalized hundreds of Jewish-owned shops and vehicles, and threw rocks at people on their way to or from Yom Kippur prayers."

During the course of monitoring elections in 2009, a Member of the Knesset (MK) replaced another Jewish election monitor at the Israeli-Arab town of Umm El-Fahm, who was prevented by police from entering the city because of threats by local Arabs on his life. as soon as the MK began to perform his duties, an Israeli-Arab mob rioted outside attacking the guards and shouts of “Death to the Jews!” could be heard.

In 2010, walls of synagogues and Jewish residence in the mixed Jewish-Arab Ajami neighborhood of Jaffa were sprayed with swastikas.

Leadership

Journalist Ben-Meir wrote: "What's racist is denying the Jewish people a state of their own. Certain Arab Knesset members talk incessantly about the Palestinian people's rights, including their own state. But in the same breath they refuse to acknowledge Israel as the state of the Jewish people and deny the very existence of a Jewish people as a nation with national rights." he goes on to say that those deserving racist epithet are such Arab Member of Knesset (MK), who attended the conference of hate in Geneva and called themselves "victims of Israel's racist apartheid" while serving as a member of the Israeli parliament. Ariel Natan Pasko, a policy analyst,suggested that prominent Arab leaders such as Arab member of Knesset A. Tibi is racist because he "turned away from integration" and "wants to build an Arab university in Nazareth, as well as an Arab hospital in the Galilee."

The head of the Islamic movement in Israel's Northern Branch, was charged with incitement to racism and to violence. During legal proceedings, the prosecution said that Sheikh Raed Salah made his inflammatory remarks "with the objective of inciting racism." he also accused Jews of using children's blood to bake bread. He said, ""We have never allowed ourselves to knead [the dough for] the bread that breaks the fast in the holy month of Ramadan with children's blood," he said. "Whoever wants a more thorough explanation, let him ask what used to happen to some children in Europe, whose blood was mixed in with the dough of the [Jewish] holy bread."

In Umm el-Fahm – the heartland of the Islamic Movement’s Northern Branch, Salah is a hero, “Salah is our leader, not just here, but for all the Arabs in Israel.” explained an Arab resident. His movement is a faction of the regional Muslim Brotherhood.

Towards Blacks

Arabs have been accused of racism towards blacks. An Arab Bus driver was charged with racism as he said to an Ethiopian: "Drink milk and you'll be white." In August 2010, an Israeli-Arab, Elias Abuelazam has been accused of racist attacks against blacks - African-Americans.

A leader of the Islamist movement in Israel was criticized for saying that it was "a disgrace" that a black Israeli soldier could ask for the identity document of an Arab Muslim.

Between Jewish groups

Mizrahi Jews or 'Edot Hamizrah' -communities of the east- are of different customs and tradition than those of Ashkenazi.

Some Jewish Israelis of European or German ancestry (Ashkenazi) are described as viewing themselves as superior to Sefardim, and of maintaining an elite position in Israel society, and some describe the attitudes of Ashkenazi as racist or racism. Though Mizrahi and Ashkenazi are defined separately in community-wise not by race by.

The common reference in Israel and academic sources identify discrimination aimed at Jewish groups as class-based, not race-based. For example, the differences between (Mizrahi) Sephardic Jews (N. Africans, Middle Easterners, Yemenites, etc.) are referred to as Adatiyut community-differences (resulting also in some traditional customary gaps).

Some sources claim that reports of inter-Jewish discrimination in Israel arise from propaganda published by Arab sources which ignores the normality and harmony between the communities.

Sephardi and Mizrahi (Middle Eastern)

File:Shas.JPG

Poster for Shas, a political party formed to represent the interests of religiously observant Sephardic (Middle Eastern) Jews, featuring Eli Yishai.

See also: Mizrahi Jews

Israeli society in general - and Ashkenazi Jews in particular - have been described as holding discriminatory attitudes towards Jews of Middle Eastern and North African descent, knows as Mizrahi Jews, Sephardic Jews, and Oriental Jews. A variety of Mizrahi critics of Israeli policy have cited "past ill-treatment, including the maabarot, the squalid tent cities into which Mizrahim were placed upon arrival in Israel; the humiliation of Moroccan and other Mizrahi Jews when Israeli immigration authorities shaved their heads and sprayed their bodies with the pesticide DDT; the socialist elite's enforced secularization; the destruction of traditional family structure, and the reduced status of the patriarch by years of poverty and sporadic unemployment" as examples of mistreatment. In September 1997, Israeli Labor Party leader Ehud Barak made a high-profile apology to Oriental Jews in Netivot stating:

We must admit to ourselves [that] the inner fabric of communal life was torn. Indeed, sometimes the intimate fabric of family life was torn. Much suffering was inflicted on the immigrants and that suffering was etched in their hearts, as well as in the hearts of their children and grandchildren. There was no malice on the part of those bringing the immigrants here—on the contrary, there was much goodwill—but pain was inflicted nevertheless. In acknowledgement of this suffering and pain, and out of identification with the sufferers and their descendants, I hereby ask forgiveness in my own name and in the name of the historical Labor movement.

Barak's address also said that during the 1950s, Mizrahi immigrants were "made to feel that their own traditions were inferior to those of the dominant Ashkenazi [European-origin] Israelis [Alex Weingrod's paraphrase]." Several prominent Labor party figures, including Teddy Kollek and Shimon Peres, distanced themselves from the apology while agreeing that mistakes were made during the immigration period.

The cultural differences between Mizrahi and Ashkenazi Jews impacted the degree and rate of assimilation into Israeli society, and sometimes the divide between Eastern European and Middle Eastern Jews was quite sharp. Segregation, especially in the area of housing, limited integration possibilities over the years. Intermarriage between Ashkenazim and Mizrahim is increasingly common in Israel and by the late 1990s 28% of all Israeli children had multi-ethnic parents (up from 14% in the 1950s). A 1983 research found that children of inter-ethnic marriages in Israel enjoyed improved socio-economic status.

Although social integration is constantly improving, disparities persist. A study conducted by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (ICBS), Mizrahi Jews are less likely to pursue academic studies than Ashkenazi Jews. Israeli-born Ashkenazi are up to twice more likely to study in a university than Israeli-born Mizrahim. Furthermore, the percentage of Mizrahim who seek a university education remains low compared to second-generation immigrant groups of Ashkenazi origin, such as Russians. According to a survey by the Adva Center, the average income of Ashkenazim was 36 percent higher than that of Mizrahim in 2004.

Some claim that the education system discriminates against Jewish minorities from North Africa and the Middle East, and one source suggests that "ethnic prejudice against Mizrahi Jews is a relatively general phenomenon, not limited to the schooling process".

There was a case in 2010, when a Haredi school system, where Sephardi and Mizrahi students were sometimes excluded or segregated. In 2010, the Israeli supreme court sent a strong message against discrimination in a case involving the Slonim Hassidic sect of the Ashkenazi, ruling that segregation between Ashkenazi and Sephardi students in a school is illegal.* They argue that they seek "to maintain an equal level of religiosity, not from racism." Responding to the charges by secularists, the Haredim invited Sephardi girls to school, and added in a statement: “All along, we said it's not about race, but the High Court went out against our rabbis, and therefore we went to prison." It is also about the hotly secular Liba curriculum which Israeli government tries to dictate upon Haredim.

According to Barry Rubin, professor at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), as of 2010, Intermarriage rates between Jews whose ancestors came from Europe and those who came from the Middle East are approaching half, blurring the division between Ashkenazi and Mizrahi jews. He claims that "there is far far more racism in Europe or in the Arabic-speaking world than in Israel" and that "Israelis are far less interested than other countries about people’s ancestral travels".

Yemenite children

See also: Yemenite Jews

In 1950s, 1,033 children of Yemenite immigrant families disappeared. In most instances, the parents claim that they were told their children were ill and required hospitalization. Upon later visiting the hospital, it is claimed that the parents were told that their children had died though no bodies were presented or graves which have later proven to be empty in many cases were shown to the parents. Those who believe the theory contend that the Israeli government as well as other organizations in Israel kidnapped the children and gave them for adoption. Secular Israeli Jews of European descent were accused of collaborating in the disappearance of babies of Yemeni Jews and anti religious motives and Anti-religious coercion were alleged , some have added that some racist motives were alleged. In 1950s, the Israeli government as well as other organizations in Israel were accused of kidnapping of between 2,400 and 10,000 children from their recently arrived Yemeni families. In most instances, the parents claim that they were told their children were ill and required hospitalization. Upon later visiting the hospital, it is claimed that the parents were told that their children had died though no bodies were presented or graves which have later proven to be empty in many cases were shown to the parents. Some went further to accuse the Israeli authorities of conspiring to kidnap the Yemeni children due to "racist" motives.

In 2001 a seven-year public inquiry commission concluded that the accusations that Yemenite children were kidnapped are not true. The commission has unequivocally rejected claims of a plot to take children away from Yemenite immigrants. The report determined that documentation exists for 972 of the 1,033 missing children. Five additional missing babies were found to be alive. The commission was unable to discover what happened in another 56 cases. With regard to these unresolved 56 cases, the commission deemed it "possible" that the children were handed over for adoption following decisions made by individual local social workers, but not as part of an official policy.

Bene Israel (Indian)

In 1962, authorities in Israel have been accused by articles in the Indian press of racism in relation to Jews of Indian ancestry (called Bene Israel). In the case that caused the controversy, the Chief Rabbi of Israel ruled that before registering a marriage between Indian Jews and Jews not belonging to that community, the registering rabbi should investigate the lineage of the Indian applicant for possible non-Jewish descent, and in case of doubt, require the applicant to perform conversion or immersion. The alleged discrimination may actually be related to the fact that some religious authorities believe that the Bene Israel are not fully Jewish because of inter-marriage during their long separation.

In 1964 the government of Israel led by Levi Eshkol declared that it regards Bene Israel of India as Jews without exception, who are equal to other Jews in respect of all matters.

Beta Israel (Ethiopian)

Ethiopian Israeli soldier

Main article: Ethiopian Jews

Nearly all of the Ethiopian Beta Israel community, a community of Black Jews, resides in Israel. The Israeli government has mounted rescue operations, most notably during Operation Moses (1984) and Operation Solomon (1991), for their migration when civil war and famine threatened populations within Ethiopia. Today 81,000 Israelis were born in Ethiopia, while 38,500 or 32% of the community are native born Israelis.

The absorption of the Ethiopians into Israeli society marks a unique attempt to incorporate a nonwhite group as equal citizens with full rights as part of a Western predominantly white country. As such it represents an ambitious attempt to deny the significance of race Israeli authorities, aware of the situation of most African diaspora communities in other Western countries, hosted programs to avoid setting in patterns of discrimination. Nevertheless racism was commonly cited as explanation for policies and programs who failed to meet expectations. Racism was alleged regarding delays in admitting black Ethiopian Jews to Israel under the Law of return. The delays in in admitting Ethiopians may be attributed to religious motivations rather than racism, since there was debate whether or not Falasha Jews' (Beta Israel) were Jewish.

Racism was also alleged in 2009, in a case where school children of Ethiopian ancestry were denied admission into three semi-private religious schools in the town of Petah Tikva. An Israeli government official criticised the Petah Tikva Municipality and the semi-private Haredi schools, saying "This concerns not only the three schools that have, for a long time, been deceiving the entire educational system. For years, racism has developed here undeterred". Shas spiritual leader Ovadia Yosef threatened to fire any school principal from Shas's school system who refused to receive Ethiopian students. The Israeli Education Ministry decided to pull the funding from the Lamerhav, Da'at Mevinim and Darkei Noam schools, the three semi-private institutions that refused to accept the students. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke out against the rejection of Ethiopian children, calling it "a moral terror attack."

In 2010, Israel was accused of sterilization policy aimed towards Ethiopian Jews by feminist movement. Israel denied this claim. They stated that the Israeli government deliberately gives to female Ethiopian Jews contraceptive drugs to make them infertile, thereby, according to Racheli Mangoli who runs a youth center in her neighborhood, of forty-five Ethiopian families that live there only one Ethiopian baby has been born in the neighborhood. After some investigation made by Racheli Mongoli, she discovered that many Ethiopian women likely to avoid getting pregnant after they've immigrated to Israel. One of Israeli woman that had been using this contraceptive told she wasn't informed about its side effects and have been suffering pain over the period of using it. And like many Ethiopians in Israel she "was afraid she will be deported if questions authorities". Dr Factor one of doctors who's prescribing contraceptives to his patients explained this contraceptive and its side effects, by his words it's known for delaying fertility after a woman "come off it" but "in some cases" it can also "cause permanent infertility". As for side effects he said it might last for some years after you had stopped using it. Feminist activist Hedva Eyal had also tried to attract attention to this problem, and noted that Ethiopian Israelis who were given these drugs weren't warned about potential risks of these drugs. The health ministry admitted it issues the drug, but backed the claim they use it to reduce "the number of black babies in the country". Jewish agencies involved in immigration, said that Ethiopian women were offered different types of contraceptives and that "all of them participated voluntarily in family planning". Dr. Yee-fat Bitton, a member of the Israeli Anti-Discrimination Legal Center “Tmura” said:

The statistics are, that 60 percent of the women receiving this contraceptive, this controversial one, are Ethiopian Jews

And also added, that upon 2010 year, Ethiopians made up only 1 percent of population and "the gap here is just impossible to reconcile in any logical manner that would somehow resist the claims of racism". Professor Zvi Bentwich, an immunologist and human rights activist from Tel-Aviv, rejected the claim and said there's no ground "to suspect a certain negative official policy towards Ethiopian Jews". But when he was asked about official attitudes, official policy, official medical policy, he was "reluctant" to admit that there's "a policy of racism on that part".

Barry Rubin, editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal, said that while there have been some incidents in reaction to the arrival of Jews from Ethiopia, these have been few and universally rejected.

The ADL affirms that it's Not Racism. "Whatever Israel's mistakes towards its Ethiopian Jewish community, the cause is not racism. Support for the African immigrants, as measured by public." It explains that "what causes the distress is bureaucratic ineptitude and a cultural gap between a traditional community and a modern, technologically-advanced, highly-competitive nation."

Opposing views

Dr. Tashbih Sayyed, a Shi'ite Pakistani-American scholar, journalist, and author, denied that Muslim Arab citizen of Israel do not have equal rights, and said that Arabs are protected by Israel's democratic principles, and afforded all the rights and privileges of Israeli citizenship. He noted that Israel is one of the few countries in the Middle East where Arab women can vote. In contrast to the non-Israeli Arab world, Arab women in Israel enjoy the same status as men. Muslim women have the right to vote and to be elected to public office. Muslim women, according to Sayyed, are in fact are more liberated in Israel than in any Muslim country. Israeli law prohibits polygamy, child marriage, and female sexual mutilation.

While groups are not separated by official policy, Israel has a number of different sectors within the society are somewhat segregated and maintain their strong cultural, religious, ideological, and/or ethnic identity. The Israeli Foreign Ministry maintains that in spite of the existing social cleavages and economic disparities, the political systems and the courts represent strict legal and civic equality. The Israeli Foreign Ministry describes the country as "Not a meltingpot society, but rather more of a mosaic made up of different population groups coexisting in the framework of a democratic state"

The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), a pro-Israel media monitoring and research organization, argues that since they are not required to serve in military, yet still have all the rights accorded Jews in Israel, Arabs in Israel are at an advantage. As evidence they cite various cases in which Israeli courts have found in favor of Arab citizens.

Equal democracy for all

Israel is an open and equal democracy for all. Within Israel, Jews are a majority, but the Arab minority are full citizens who enjoy equal rights. Arabs are represented in the (Israeli parliament) Knesset, and in public life. The Knesset is representing Arab nationalist, communist and Islamic parties. an Arab Justice was appointed to the Supreme Court Even staunch critic of Israel Jimmy Carter said:

"I recognize that Israel is a wonderful democracy with freedom of speech and equality of treatment under the law between Arab Israelis and Jewish Israelis."

Open democratic society

Unlike most countries in the Middle East, Israel is an open and free press society, information is readily accesible. Uncesnosred.

Self criticism

In contrast to other Middle Eastern countries and neighbouring societies, Israel has an unusual high level of self criticism, motivated mainly by the high Jewish self criticism. "Democratic Israel has set an example of transparency." Pundits comment that the wide Jewish Self-Criticism and dissent in Israeli society, should not be mistakenly interpreted as evidence that the Israeli cause lacks moral foundation whatsoever. But it is rather the absence of any significant self-criticism in any part of the Arab world that should be cause for suspicion and doubt. Explaining that "When dissent is suppressed, when tribal values take precedence over concern about what is morally right - that, not self-criticism, is evidence of a cause that lacks moral foundation."

Efforts against racism and discrimination

Israel has a law that prohibits incitment to racism.

According to the State Department, "Israel has one of the broadest anti-discrimination laws of any country. "The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, marital status, or sexual orientation. The law also prohibits discrimination by both government and nongovernment entities on the basis of race, religion, political beliefs, and age."

Israel is a signatory of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination treaty since 1966, and has ratified the treaty in 1979. The treaty forbids any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, 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.

The Anti Defamation League states: "There is no Israeli ideology, policy or plan to segregate, persecute or mistreat its Israeli Arab citizens, nor Palestinian Arabs," it goes on in saying that Israel is a democracy which encourages vibrant debate, which has a flourishing free press and which shares with other liberal democracies a core value: the equality of all its citizens before the law.

Affirmative Action

In response to inequality between the Jewish and Arab populations, the Israeli government established a committee to consider, among other issues, policies of affirmative action for housing Arab citizens. According to Israel advocacy group, Stand With Us, the city of Jerusalem gives Arab residents free professional advice to assist with the housing permit process and structural regulations, advice which is not available to Jewish residents on the same terms.

See also

• Racism in Palestine (Arab Palestinian regime, groups, population)
• Human rights in Israel
• Israel and the apartheid analogy
• Neo-Nazism in Israel

External links

• Racism in Israel Blog (Hebrew)
• U.S. State Dept report [12]