One of my intentions on this trip was to understand better the conditions of Palestinians with Israeli citizenship within the State of Israel. Unknown to me before last year was the scope of discrimination experienced by the nearly 1.5 million Arabs living there.
Here are a couple facts gleaned from Mossawa, the Israeli Arab Human Rights Organization, and from the Follow-up Committee on Arab Education:
- Over 32 pieces of discriminatory legislation were passed by the Israeli Knesset during 2012 including new restrictions as to where Arabs are prohibited to live.
- Over 6,000 classrooms short in Arab-only schools in separate system for Jews and Arabs
- 25% achievement gap between Arab and Jewish students
- 23 % gap in end-of-schooling testing results which determines future vocational and educational paths.
I participated in the 6th Annual Jaffa Convention on Arab and Jewish Relationships where members of the Israeli Knesset, ministers of the present government and Arab leaders had conversations about the future of Arab relationships within the State. I visited both the headquarters of Mossawa in Haifa, and the center for the Follow-up Committee Project on Arab Education in Nazareth and met with staff of the Palestinian Media project in the ancient port city of Acca.
I also lived for several days with the Halloun family in the village of Isofia near Haifa, a Palestinian Christian family with Israeli citizenship, and visited the town of Ibillin where two friends are teaching in the Mar Elias H.S . While in Ibillin I had a private meeting along with some Canadian Mennonites visiting the school, with Archbishop Elias Chacour, author of “Blood Brothers” and a nominee for several years for the Nobel Prize for Peace. All of these experiences led to some new understandings of the plight of Arab citizens in Israel.
- The Israeli government has some deep and serious problems inside its own state which violate the human rights of nearly 20% of it’s people.
- Through projects like the “Follow-up Committee” which serves as a professional body addressing the educational and pedagogical issues pertinent to the Palestinian Arab community in Israel by pressing the Ministry of Education
and local Arab Councils, there are efforts for pushing for reforms.
- Israeli Arab citizens have a number “02” stamped on their passports, along with “Arab” for Nationality, while Jewish passports have “01” and “Israeli” on theirs according Archbishop Chacour. *
I find this story relatively untold in our country. Just as I said during my first trip to Israel/Palestine and witnessing the occupation first hand in 2006, “I never knew”, so is the case inside Israel.
Sources:
mossawa.org
Jaffa Convention: The Citizens accord Forum between Jews and Arabs in Israel. jaffaconvention.org.il, Home page
I’Lam Media Center for Arab Palestinians in Israel. www.ilam-center.org
BP: 1/1/13
* Archbishop Elias Chacour
No comments:
Post a Comment