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- A. Passed Land Laws which expropriate for a variety of reasons land from Palestinians to become state lands, calling them 'Israel Lands' (more details & quotes);
- B. Passed other Laws which forbid the sale or transfer of 'Israel Lands' to anyone except other Israeli government agencies or the Jewish National Fund(more details & quotes);
- C. Discriminatory law and unfair representation on the governing boards of a myriad of land management and land development agencies managing more than 95% of the rural land of the State of Israel. These agencies and the Israeli government then practices discrimination in land leasing to Arabs, and against the rural Arab areas in the providing of a wide range of basic services (especially to ancestral Bedouin communities in the Negev), and participation in many financial development, educational and security programs, so that those areas are now the most impoverished areas in the State of Israel (more details & quotes).
- D. But discrimination has been changing and lessening in some areas of land management, but vigilance is still needed as it continues in other areas. For example, the Israel Lands Council seems to not practice discrimination in land leasing so much in urban areas, and in year 2000, the Supreme Court actually made such discrimination illegal. Thus for example you find compliance with non-discrimination in discount government leasing programs across rural Northern Israel, and in random examples of rural leasing for agricultural purposes to Arabs throughout the country (Kretzmer 1990). But many problems still exist. An important example is that supporters of Israel list rural land leasing for agricultural purposes to Bedouins in the Negev as an example of non-discrimination toward Arabs, but this is actually part of a much greater picture where the government is trying to force against their will Bedouins to leave their ancient ancestral villages and resettle in desert areas many of which are more inhospital to human life and less agriculturally productive. As part of this effort, the government has zoned out of existence more than 40 of these ancient Bedouin villages and thus have cut off basic services such as electricity and sewage maintenance while the residents still live in them. This has become so serious that the UN has had to intervene on the villagers behalf. And there are other examples (more details & quotes).
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| International Human Rights Law concerning this form of discrimination. |
Here is what some of the international laws say about this particular kind of discrimination - unequal access and participation in government:
- 1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (10 December 1948)
- Article 13.
- (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State.
- Article 17.
- (1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
- (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
- Article 25.
- (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age, or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
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- 2. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (21 December 1965)
- Article 5. In compliance with the fundamental obligations laid down in article 2 of this Convention, States Parties undertake to prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law, notably in the enjoyment of the following rights:
- (d) Other civil rights, in particular:
- (i) The right to freedom of movement and residence within the border of the State;
- (v) The right to own property alone as well as in association with others;
- (e) Economic, social and cultural rights, in particular:
- (iii) The right to housing;
- (iv) The right to public health, medical care, social security and social services;
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- 3. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (16 December 1966)
- Article 12.
- 1. Everyone lawfully within the territory of a State shall, within that territory, have the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his residence.
- 2. Everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own.
- 3. The above-mentioned rights shall not be subject to any restrictions except those which are provided by law, are necessary to protect national security, public order (ordre public), public health or morals or the rights and freedoms of others, and are consistent with the other rights recognized in the present Covenant.
- 4. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country.
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- 4. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (16 December 1966)
* NOT APPLICABLE TO THIS COVENANT * |
- 5. International Covenant on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (18 July 1976)
- Article II.
- b. Deliberate imposition on a racial group or groups of living conditions calculated to cause its or their physical destruction in whole or in part;
- d. Any measures, including legislative measures, designed to divide the population along racial lines by the creation of separate reserves and ghettos for the members of a racial group or groups, the prohibition of mixed marriages among members of various racial groups, the expropriation of landed property belonging to a racial group or groups or to members thereof;
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