Israel

Israel

Situation of Arab citizens in Israel

1. Arab Israelis currently make up one fifth of the total population of 7,5 million people in Israel. About 80 percent within this group are Sunni Muslims, nine percent Christians, and nine percent Druze. In its 1948 declaration of independence the state of Israel committed itself to grant all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race and gender, social and political equality [as well as] freedom of religion and conscience. Arab Israelis do have an Israeli passport, and they can send their own parties in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. However, economically and socially they are still significantly worse off than their Jewish fellow citizens. They earn only 70 percent of the average wage. The unemployment rate among Arab Israelis is two and a half times higher than among Jewish Israelis. More than 50 percent of them live below the poverty line – three times as many as Jewish Israelis. There are state-funded Arabic schools, however, according to an OECD study in 2010 the state on average invests in Jewish students a third more than in Arab Israelis. The overall economic and social situation of Arab citizens has improved since the formation of the state of Israel. However, the government so far has failed to invest as much in educational and job opportunities for Arab Israelis as for its Jewish citizens.

Situation of Arab Bedouin in the Negev desert

2. Through the continuous settlement of Jewish settlers since the beginning of the 20th Century and through the establishment of borders between Israel, Jordan and Egypt the Arab Bedouin in the Negev desert were radically restricted in their movements. They were forced to turn away from the pure camel breeding to small animal husbandry and agriculture. They became of semi-nomads; out of 95 tribes settled in the desert just 19 remained, about 130,000 people. While about half of the Bedouin population lives in the seven government-planned townships, the rest is based in 46 mostly „illegal“ settlements. Because according to a resolution of 1965 every building must have a building permit, the traditional property rights of the Bedouins are not recognized. Governmental efforts to forcibly resettle them were thus legitimized. Because the Bedouin villages collide with settlement plans of the Israeli Government, the habitants of the unrecognized towns live in constant fear of demolition of their homes. The Israeli government wants to use the areas for military installations, agricultural projects as well as Jewish settlements. A number of cases must be seen as a discrimination against the Arab Bedouin of Israel. For example, in the village of Al-Arakib on 16 January 2011 buildings were demolished for the ninth time by the Israel Land Administration (ILA). During protests against the demolition of their homes by the ILA, which was accompanied by police, several were arrested and five people were injured.

3. Despite the legal obligation of the state to provide housing alternatives for the people, displaced people are often left homeless. Moreover, the conditions in settlements are inhumane: The water and electricity supply is inadequate almost everywhere, there is exceptionally high poverty, unemployment and juvenile delinquency. One example is the Bedouin village of Wadi Na’am that lies close to a military training area, an oil storage facility, a hazardous waste incinerator as well as next to a power station. It is surrounded by pylons. Consequently, serious health problems occur in the population: skin cancer, asthma, eye infections and miscarriages. Added to this is an inadequate medical care. Instead of seeking a just settlement to accept the settlements and to take measures for the improvement of living standards, the Israeli government insists on the seven government-planned townships as the only alternative offered for Bedouins.

4. This „integration policy“ violates the human rights of the Bedouins for three reasons: First, the current government-planned townships are not capable of additional settlements from Bedouin „unrecognized“ villages on the basis that the lack of living space and infrastructure does not allow this. Secondly, life in the government-planned townships does not do justice to the traditional Bedouin way of life. Third, the coercive means to give up traditional family property means a cultural uprooting. Although Israel’s government recognizes that it is impossible to accommodate the entire Bedouin population in government-planned townships, it offers no alternative solutions. To settle Jewish settlers seems to be the predominating interest. For this reason supports the Society for Threatened Peoples demands to the Israeli government to end the destruction of Bedouin settlements and to grant Bedouin ownership rights and basic human rights. The Bedouin settlements should be legalized und their infrastructure should be improved.

Marriage of Non-Jewish citizens

5. On January 11, 2012 the Israeli Supreme Court ruled with respect to an emergency decree introduced in 2002, which was converted in 2003 into law. The law prohibits the influx (and thus obtaining a residence permit) of spouses from the Palestinian territories to their Israeli partners. In 2002/2003 the bill was justified by the containment of the terrorist threat. Terrorists had attempted in the way of marriage to Israel to reach in order to perpetrate attacks.

6. Of the total of 11 judges, 6 were for the maintenance of the law, which was extended several times since 2003 by the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. The law prohibits men until the age of 35 and women until the age of 25 years to join their spouses who live in Israel. Furthermore, it prohibits people from the West Bank, Gaza Strip and citizens from Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Iran to get a residence permit for the State of Israel. Both unrestricted as well as temporary stays are not permitted. This affects thousands of couples who live separately from each other in Israel and the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The law makes many Arab Israelis feel like they are second-class citizens. It should be withdrawn.

Occupation of the West Bank

7. Since 2009 the number of Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank has increased by 50,000 people. Israel’s settlement policy in the occupied West Bank has continued to undermine the chances for a lasting two-state solution. The Israeli government should stop approving new settlements on the West Bank, return the now over 342,000 Jewish settlers from the West Bank to Israel and together with the Palestinian Authority and establish a viable Palestinian State along the borders before the 1967 Six-Day-War.