Orr Commission slams anti-Arab prejudice

[He219]

http://a1112.g.akamai.net/7/1112/492/03312000/news.lycos.com/news/ot_getImage.asp?op=img&id=410884

The three-member Supreme Court commission — Justice Theodore Orr, Judge Hashem Khatib and Shimon Shamir — was unanimous (http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-womide023438218sep02,0,1122239.story?coll=ny-worldnews-headlines) in their recommendations.


The report said that the state had failed to "budget resources on an equal basis to the (Arab) sector (and) ... did not do enough to promote equality in the Arab sector and did not act to uproot the phenomenon of discrimination."


UM AL-FAHM, Israel, Sept 2 (AFP) - Arab Israelis in this northern town feel they have been increasingly ostracized by the Jewish state in the three years since deadly pro-Palestinian riots which a new report has blamed on institutional prejudice, they said Tuesday.

"Hatred towards us, the Arab minority, has always been there but since the intifada started the Jewish citizens of Israel stopped distinguishing between us and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip," said the chief accountant at Um al-Fahm's municipality.

"We do feel for the Palestinians because we originate from the same people but we're Israeli citizens whose rights are not being respected," Tawfiq Karaman added.

More information:
JTA News (http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?strwebhead=Riot+report+brings+no+closure&intcategoryid=5)
Newsday.com (http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-womide023438218sep02,0,1122239.story?coll=ny-worldnews-headlines)
ProLog (http://www.prolog.net/webnews/wed/bk/Qmideast-israel-arabs.RPWN_DS1.html)
Yahoo (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/030901/323/e7b30.html)
Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/09/02/wmid02.xml)

[ArmoredDov_D9]

Here is the story of what happened there in a brief:
At October 2000, after a wave of Palestinian violence sparkled the middle east, the Israeli Arabs (Arabs who holds Israeli citizenship) opened violent riots in order to support the Palestinian riots in the disputed territories. The Arabs set in fire banks, post-offices and forests. They blocked major roads (such as Wadi Arra) and stoned innocent drivers who passed by.
The Israeli Police wasn't prepred for the riots. They were sent to open the road blockades and stop the riots without proper equipment nor training. They soon were force to shot rubber-bullets on Arab rioters who threatened to kill the cops (Arab Knesset member Dahamsha was queted calling the protesters to "break the arms and legs of the cops". But cops didn't kept safe distants and the rubber-bullets killed Arab rioters. In other places the police deployed snipers who shot live rounds at Molotov cocktails throwers and slingshoot-armed rioters. Meanwhile, Aran rioter killed an innocent Jew who drove near an Arab village.
After few days of riots and harsh police response the riots sat down and stopped.
The death toll was 12 Israeli Arab, 1 Palestinian from Gaza and 1 Israeli Jewish citizen.

Months after the events, when Prime Minister Ehud Barak faced elections (due to his impotentcy in the face of Palestinian terror) he decided on funding the commission in order to gain the Arab votes. The absurd is that the commission investigators forced the interigation of the cops involved in the shooting incidents by the Department of Justice MAHASH (Cop Investigation Department, a separte body from the Police) to put on hold. The current Police Chief (who came after the October riots) Aharonishki has made independet invastigation and fixed the flaws in the Police work.

Israeli Arab do suffer from law budgets. Some of the reasons are corrupted mayors, their habit of not paying taxes and city taxes and the Arab Knesset members - bounch of fascists who done nothing except to seed hatred. They supported Palestinian terror, called the Arabs to act violently against Jews and empowered the flames of hatred. That's why Arab Knesset members are out of the coalition and the goverment and can't affect the budget (for example: SHAS - the Safradian religious party, who was left out of the government, didn't got it special budget for its private schools (who were finnacned by the state when SHAS was member of the government).

[ArmoredDov_D9]

p.s. The photo in your picture was taken from a protest of about 50-100 extreme-left activists who demonstrated against the target-killing of terrorists. The leader of this radical group called "Gush-Shalom" is Uri Avneri - a personal friend and a supporter of Yasser Arafat.
The photo is not related at all to Orr commission.

[He219]

ArmoredDov_D9:

Your interpretations of the events of September 2000 are right on target, as the links indicated.

More importantly, the fingings by the Supreme Court members of the Orr Commission Report are also an endictment to the inherent inequalies and prejudices faced by Arab-Israelis living amongst Jews. Previously I was told that Israeli-Arabs live in total equality with respect to their Jewish brethren.

This is the caption for the picture:


An Israeli soldier, left, watches as Israeli left-wing activists demonstrate against the Israeli policy of targeted killing in the Palestinian territories in front of the Israeli Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv Wednesday Sept. 3, 2003. (AP Photo/Eitan Hess-Ashkenazi)

The relation is that there must be a compromise for peace. Arab-Israelis must live without bias within the Israeli State. They should not condone violence either, as the Commission states. Concordantly, the Arabs of the Occupied Territories should be treated equally as humans, without fear of Irsraeli reprisals steadily killing innocent civilians in response to the terrorist element. This only fuels the cycle of violence and erodes support for compromise and peace. Fundamentally the question is whether the Jew sees the Arab as an equal in order to promote a just and lasting partnership in peace. The violence and killing of innocent civilians on either side is wrong. To continue only legitimizes terror itself.

Have a great day!

p-)