Arab Israelis: Unequal Under the Law
Israel’s Declaration of Independence says: “The State of Israel will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex.”
Israel does not have a Constitution, but Basic Laws are a constitutional equivalent. In July, the Knesset adopted a new Basic Law, The Jewish Nation-State, which gives legal weight to discriminatory practices, counter to the Declaration of Independence, that have been in place since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.
The intent of many Israeli laws and processes is to make life so difficult for Arab citizens and residents that they will simply leave Israel or Jerusalem. For so many in Israel, the egalitarian guarantee in the declaration of independence rings hollow.
Jerusalem residency and housing
Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem are required to maintain a “center of life” in the city. If they leave for more than 3 years, or if they have other types of regular absence from the city, they permanently lose their residency status.
The government discriminates in budget allocation. Only 10.1 percent of the 2013 municipal budget was allocated for projects and spending in Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, though Palestinians are 37 percent of the population.
There are numerous cases in which Jews live in homes from which Palestinians were forced to flee for their lives during the ethnic cleansing of 1948. Yet, a Palestinian family can be evicted from their home in cases where Jewish settlers claim that Jews lived in the home pre-1948.
Love in the time of apartheid
Thousands of Palestinian families have had to make difficult decisions on whether to move abroad or live in constant fear of their spouse being expelled, due to a dizzying set of laws meant to discourage Israeli Arabs from marrying West Bank or Gaza residents and remaining in Israel.
Legal
Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel – has identified some 65 Israeli laws that discriminate against Palestinian citizens of Israel. The full set is documented at https://www.adalah.org/en/law/index. Some examples…
- The Israel Lands law controls land transactions in a manner which effectively prevents Arab land acquisition.
- The Anti-terror Law of 2016, which contains vague definitions of terrorism and terrorist organizations, is exploited by authorities to criminalize legitimate political action and to permit illegal methods of interrogation.
- The National Priority Areas (NPA) law allows the government to classify towns and areas as NPA without objective criteria. Effectively the state bypasses almost all Arab towns and areas, allocating most financial resources to Jewish towns.
Silencing of support groups
A 2018 law prevents Israeli veterans who served in areas such as the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza from speaking in schools. Members of Breaking the Silence have previously testified that their military service in the occupied territories was purposely intended to “demoralize Palestinians”.
