[Fwd: Discrimination in Israel]

[Paul Flewers <paul.flewers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

List members may be interested by this posting I received from Moshe
Machover <moshe.machover@xxxxxxxxx>.

Paul F


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Date: Sun, 5 Dec 1999 11:52:08 +0000
From: "Moshe' Machover" <moshe.machover@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Discrimination in Israel


The following was downloaded from

http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/

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Sunday, December 5, 1999



Report finds heavy discrimination in schools, jobs, courts

By Moshe Reinfeld


Discrimination in employment, education and the justice system are
prevailing and accepted norms in Israel, says a new report from the
Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI).

The document, published in honor of Civil Rights Week in Israel, was given
to Knesset members to view in preparation for discussions slated to take
place in the plenum and various committees.

The report claims that discrimination against certain groups of people is
seen in pay discrepancies and in their level of representation in senior
positions.  Such sectors of society also suffer from low educational
achievement.  The discrimination in the legal arena is seen in the manner
in which different groups of detainees, prisoners and suspects are treated.

Nationality [ie ethnicity --MM] is the chief basis for discrimination,
according to the ACRI report.  Only 5 percent of civil servants are Arabs
and only 70 Arabs are in the four top wage brackets.  Since the
establishment of the state, not a single Arab has been appointed as
director-general of a government ministry.  Few Arabs are employed in
government companies or academic institutions.  Discrimination is also seen
in the courts with harsher punishments handed out to juvenile Arab
offenders than to Jewish youths.

Disabled people are consistently discriminated against, according to the
report's findings.  Seventy-two percent of blind people are unemployed, as
are around 70 percent of the severly handicapped and 20 percent of deaf
people.  ACRI says that the government does not encourage business to take
on disabled workers.  Salaries paid to handicapped workers are practically
exploitative since the sector is not covered by minimum wage legislation.

Discrimination against women continues with more women unemployed, earning
less and unrepresented in management.  Women are frequently fired while on
pregnancy leave: In the last year, the Labor Ministry received about a
thousand requests to fire pregnant workers, 55 percent of which were
accepted.

© copyright 1999 Ha'aretz. All Rights Reserved





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