Israeli racism 'on the rise'...

[Che Guava]

...according to one Israeli Civil Rights group....

Israeli anti-Arab racism 'rises'

An Israeli civil rights group has said racism against Arab citizens of Israel has risen sharply in the past year.

In a report, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel said expression of anti-Arab views had doubled, and racist incidents had increased by 26%.

Christian or Muslim Arab citizens of Israel make up 20% of the population.

But the civil rights quoted polls suggesting half of Jewish Israelis do not believe Arab citizens of Israel should have equal rights.

About the same amount said they wanted the government to encourage Arab emigration from Israel.

In another poll, almost 75% of Jewish youths said Arabs were less intelligent and less clean than Jews.

'Anti-Arab policies'

A prominent Israeli Arab politician, Mohammed Barakeh, said the poll results were the natural outcome of what he called the anti-Arab policies of successive Israeli governments.

Commenting on the findings of the report, the association's president Sami Michael warned: "We live in a democratic regime whose foundations are constantly weakening."

Official government spokesman Mark Regev responded that the Israeli government was "committed to fighting racism whenever it raises it ugly head and is committed to full equality to all Israeli citizens, irrespective of ethnicity, creed or background, as defined by our declaration of independence".

Israel's Construction and Housing Minister Zeev Boim said the rights group's report was biased and without credibility.

Occupied territories

Part of the group's annual report is dedicated to the situation in Gaza and the West Bank.

The report says: "Most of the human rights violations in the occupied territories are by-products of the establishment of settlements and outposts."

Restrictions on the movement of Palestinians designed to allow settlers "free and secure movement", have virtually split the West Bank into six separate parts, the report says.

The organisation says that the West Bank barrier "does not separate Palestinians from Israelis, but Palestinians from other Palestinians".

The report also asserts that despite its withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, Israel retains "moral and legal responsibility" for the Palestinians there because Israel controls access to the coastal territory.

link

Ok, let's save outselves a couple pages of 'discussion' and and just say that we know that a popular opinion will be "IF THE PALLIES STOPPED FIRING ROCKETS AT THEM THEY WOULDN'T BE SO RACIST!". Not that it isn't valid, I just don't think it will lead a discussion anywhere and we don't need to hear it 20 times over in slightly different ways.

And now that tha is out of the way:

(1) Are there any posters from or with connections to Israel that want to comment on the validity of the study, and whether the attitudes presented here are typical of jewish citizens?

(2) Do you think this represents a threat to Israel's democracy or civil rights in general?

(3) If, as the study suggests, that more young israeli jews have negative views of arabs than thier parents, do you think that the worst is yet to come? If peace does not come in the is generation, will the next be even less likely to seek it?

 

[warpus]

What about Arab Jews? Where do they stand and how are they viewed in Israeli society?

 

[HannibalBarka]

...
And now that tha is out of the way:
(1) Are there any posters from or with connections to Israel that want to comment on the validity of the study, and whether the attitudes presented here are typical of jewish citizens?

I'm not from Israel, but that kind of "opinion" is not surprising at all giving the continuous state of cold/hot war between Jewish Israeli and Christians-Muslims Palestinians, it's even worse because we're in a "very desperate" phase in a overall desperate situation. The same kind of poll done in the US about Japanese in WWII, in France about Germans in WWII, in Russia about Chechen today, in Serbia about Kosovans, etc would have given the same kind of figures. You just can't "love" some one you are at war with

(2) Do you think this represents a threat to Israel's democracy or civil rights in general?

Yes, sure, but the war is the "true" reason, as long as the conflict is going on, there is no way to resolve this problem.

(3) If, as the study suggests, that more young israeli jews have negative views of arabs than thier parents, do you think that the worst is yet to come? If peace does not come in the is generation, will the next be even less likely to seek it?

I think it has more to do with the fact that the conflict is in a "desperate" phase than really about generation. If a sudden hope to achievce peace become forseeable, things will become much better

 

[useless]

why is everyone complaining? it wasn't so long ago we were all treating the jews like crap we cant expect them not to hate us.

 

[Merkinball]

I wonder what the percentage of Pallies think that Israeli's deserve equal rights as them?

When are we gonna get a news story about that?

 

[zxcvbnm]

Weird, Jews have been persecuted for centuries so they certainly know what it feels like and they still have the guts to do this.

 

[Bill3000]

It's hardly surprising. Stuff like this happens where there's ethnic tensions...

 

[Che Guava]

What about Arab Jews? Where do they stand and how are they viewed in Israeli society?

I'm not sure, but it doesn't seem like there is much of a distinction made between arab jews/christians/muslims, at least from what was stated in the article.

I wonder what the percentage of Pallies think that Israeli's deserve equal rights as them?

When are we gonna get a news story about that?

As soon as I see one, I'll post it.

It's hardly surprising. Stuff like this happens where there's ethnic tensions...

Not surprising at all, but I'm more interested in what this means for the future of Israel...

 

[Little Raven]

I've read a few articles on this: Larry Derfner and company have noted this trend with some alarm. But it's worth noting that Larry Derfner represents the extreme liberal-pansy sector of the Israeli population.

Does this represent a threat to Israeli rights or democracy? Well, yes...but it much the same way that a faulty bilge pump represents a threat to a ship with a gaping hole in the side. Anyone who believes in government with the consent of the governed has to be wary of this sort of thing, but I don't think there's much anyone can do about such things unless some of the larger issues are addressed first.

 

[erez87]

As an Israeli I can say that is not true. Racism in Israel is at all high for a long while now. As a left wing Israeli, and a Jew who turned atheist, and as someone who really doesn't mind anyone I can say most young Israelis dislike Arabs, and vice versa.

Religious young men think their the forever enemy for them. (as long as there is war, but they also don't believe the war will end).

Right winged ideals are spreading like wild fires here because of desperation, problem is that too many generations are growing on racist ideals.


I'm sad to also note that that is the fact on both sides. Probably almost to the same extent. (Humans are humans after all). And if you ask me personally, I think this hatred is growing all over the world in nearly everyone, dunno why.