The whole report can be found in english at: http://www.acri.org.il/english-acri/engine/story.asp?id=125
Bryan
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- The State of Human Rights in Israel 2003
by : Naama Yashuvi of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel
July 2002-June 2003. Translated by: Kim Weiss
INTRODUCTION
Israel`s Declaration of Independence promises that the State of Israel will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice, and peace; it will uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens irrespective of religion, race, or sex; that it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; that it will safeguard the holy places of all religions; and that it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
As the Declaration of Independence reaches its fifty-fifth year, we still have no freedom, no justice and no peace, no equality of social and political rights, no freedom of religion or conscience, and most certainly no loyalty to the principles laid out in the Charter of the United Nations.
The purpose of this document is to warn of the trends and actions in the last year that point to a worrying and dangerous atmosphere in the country. The government`s actions call into question the very basis of democratic principles, the social fabric, and the foundation of human rights in Israel.
Although this government cannot be held solely responsible for the decline, is clearly guilty of perpetuating and even exacerbating the situation through acts such as denying legitimate rights to the Arab minority, devaluing the courts status as a guardian of democracy, favoring the welfare of the few over the many, and delivering an almost fatal blow to vital social services such as health, housing, education, and social welfare. Government actions have also led to the lack of gainful employment, and the right of workers to fight for their working and retirement conditions, and the delegitimization of political rivals at the cost of the fundamental democratic principles of freedom of speech and equality before the law. And in the territories, a complete decimation of human rights has taken place, as well as unprecedented injury to innocent civilians.
[...]
UNDERMINING THE FOUNDATIONS OF DEMOCRACY
The formal perception of democracy relates solely to the decision making process of the state. According to this formal definition, there is nothing wrong with a legislator passing a law with a majority that negates a minority`s human rights. The conceptualization of the essence of democracy, however, also relates to the nature of the decision being made and views the protection of the human rights of citizens as a pillar of democracy.
The defense against infringements of human rights, and the limitation of the majority`s power to legislate laws that will infringe human rights, are usually enshrined within a constitution or charter of rights that prevents even a majority from detracting from fundamental human rights. The court is responsible in this case for monitoring the actions of the legislative authority to ensure that the latter is not using its power or exploiting a parliamentary majority without justification. The role of the court in dealing with intrinsic fundamental rights takes on a new urgency in the absence of a constitution.
RETRACTION OF SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES
The Israel Institute of Democracy carried out a Democracy Survey designed to clarify the Israeli public’s relationship to the concept of democracy. The results were published in May 2003 and concluded that Israel is in formal terms a democracy that has yet to define its democratic identity. However, the survey pinpointed an increasing decline in support for democratic norms over the last few years among the Israeli public on all levels. The decline manifests itself in a lack of general support for the democratic system, including the support of specific democratic values, and for the equality and the rights of the Arab minority.
The survey noted the lowest level of support in the last twenty years for democracy as the best form of government: only 77% of Jews agreed with this statement. Of the 32 countries that have data available, Israel together with Poland were registered as having the lowest level of support among its citizens, Jews and Arabs alike, for the desirability of democracy.
More than half the Jews polled (53%) stated that they are opposed to equal rights for Arabs; 77% believe that a Jewish majority is required for all critical decisions of national importance; less than a third (31%) support the idea of the Arab parties joining the government coalition, and a majority of 57% support the emigration of Arabs.
On all the issues the survey results indicate a dramatic retraction of support for democratic norms. If in the past, we were to ask what Israel’s position is in the world regarding the protection of human rights, the answer would have been somewhere in the middle – a good position – however the current survey shows otherwise, and according to all the data, Israel is firmly positioned in the bottom half of the list. Israel’s record of ensuring human rights is low, there is extensive economic and political discrimination against the Arab minority, freedom of the press is on the verge of being reduced to a nominal right at best, there is a great deal less religious freedom than in other democracies, and economic and social inequality is among the highest of the countries sampled and is showing signs of further deterioration.
Israel is unlike other democracies, and has to deal with complex challenges unparalleled in other democracies. The country is embroiled in an external conflict and suffers, at the same time, from deep internal divisions. But it is because of this that the onus is upon us to be especially vigilant and not allow ourselves to justify blatant human rights violations as an unavoidable by-product of the ongoing emergency security situation and the present economic crisis. The Israel Democracy Institute survey provides us with a clear indication that the Israel public is influenced by the emergency security situation. In the past year a number of legislative proposals have been presented that would have been conceived as lunacy in the past, but today are given increasing legitimacy. The following are the most blatant examples of this phenomenon:
SETTLEMENTS FOR JEWS ONLY
[...]
THE DISQUALIFICATION OF POLITICAL LISTS
[...]
REVOCATION OF CITIZENSHIP [...]
LIMITING FREEDOM OF SPEECH [...]