[Marxism] Israeli âhuman rights reformsâ help maintain discrimination

[Dbachmozart@xxxxxxx]

PAJU (Palestinian and Jewish  Unity) #385 June 27,  2008 
ISRAEL: 60 YEARS OF RACISM 
Israeli âhuman rights reformsâ  help maintain discrimination 
Israelâs discrimination against its Arab population  has existed since the 
founding of the state. It has created poverty among  Israeli Arabs that is 
three 
times greater than that in the countryâs Jewish  population.  
This discrimination is actively promoted by Israelâs  "national institutions" 
- the Jewish Agency and Jewish National Fund. Nor is  this surprising, for 
the basic principle of these organizations is to take care  of Jews and Jews 
only. 
Human rights activists were therefore delighted when  the World Zionist 
Congress decided to include Israeli Arabs in the Jewish  Agencyâs development 
plan. 
The WZC went so far as to state that "reducing gaps,  coexistence and 
dialogue are important Zionist goals".  
How progressive! In reality, however, this decision,  like so many others, 
only strengthened discrimination by hiding it behind empty  words of 
âreformâ.  
And there have been many such Israeli âreformsâ. Some  deal only with 
marginal aspects of existing discrimination. Others propose  changes that are 
never 
implemented. Either way, the discrimination continues as  before. 
A classic example of this was the Israeli High  Courtâs ruling in the Kada'an 
case. This decision seemed to promise equality for  all Israelis by giving 
non-Jewish families the right to move into Jewish-only  communities.  
The ruling looked like a victory of democracy over  racism. Many imagined it 
would bring about an end to the national institutions'  racist policy of 
selling or renting land only to Jews.  
The discrimination, however, did not stop. The  national institutions simply 
transferred the right to discriminate against  non-Jews to the leaders of the 
Jewish-only communities. Non-Jewish applicants  continued to be refused.  
Whenever there is a threat to Zionist discrimination  there is a good deal of 
heated debate in Israel. In the end, however, the  discrimination continues 
in terms of the economy, planning, education and more.  Most Israelis see 
nothing really wrong with this. It is, after all, "a basic  principle of 
Zionism." 
Discrimination is a basic principle of  Zionism. Think about that the next 
time you  hear Israel described as "a modern, western style country" and "the 
only  democracy in the Middle East!  
Adapted from "A ridiculous war against  the gaps" by Israeli journalist Meron 
Benvenist, first published in Israelâs  leading newspaper Haâaretz on June 
29, 2006. _http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=732551_ 
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=732551) 
Distributed by PAJU (Palestinian and Jewish  Unity) 
_WWW.PAJUMONTREAL.ORG_ (http://www.pajumontreal.org/) 




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