Escalating
anti-Arab prejudice among Israeli Jews is a problem for the state of
Israel and its Jewish citizens, Science, Culture, and Sports Minister
Ghaleb Majadle said Sunday.
East Jerusalem Arabs near the Old City's Damascus gate. [file]
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski
Majadle
spoke to Army Radio a day after a study was released by the Association
for Civil Rights in Israel, showing that anti-Arab sentiment was
reaching new heights. According to the figures, 50 percent of Israel's
Jewish population believes that Arab Israelis do not deserve equal rights.
Following the report's release, the issue of racism against
Israeli Arabs was a hot topic Sunday morning. Majadle, Israel's first
Arab Israeli minister, expressed great concern at the study.
"The problem is not a problem of Arabs in Israel. Israel's Arab
population cannot continue to live like this, but also the Jewish
population cannot continue to live with these statistics, which are
extremely severe," Majadle said.
Construction and Housing Minister Ze'ev Boim criticized the
report. "The tendency is totally pro-Arab and pro-Palestinian. The
claim is that since they are the minority, everything is the fault of
the majority, the Jewish majority. Civil rights need to be equal for
everyone. We must ask: what is happening on the other side, what is the
minority's behavior toward the majority? Can Jews go and live in Arab
buildings or Arab neighborhoods for example? The report does not relate
to the sentiments of Arab Israelis about Jewish Israelis," he told reporters while on his way to Sunday morning's cabinet meeting.
The ACRI surveys also revealed that seventy-five percent of
Jewish Israelis polled said they would not live in a building with Arab
neighbors and more than 50% of Israeli Jews refused to live with Arabs
or allow them into their houses.
Most
of the respondents said they supported separating Jews and Arabs in
entertainment centers and are in favor of the Arabs leaving Israel.
According to another survey, two-thirds of Israeli youth believe Arabs
are unintelligent, uneducated, uncultured, unclean and violent.
Moreover, 2007 saw an overall rise of 100% in the number of expressions of anti-Arab sentiment by Jewish Israelis, the report said.
National Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told
reporters that he would raise the racism issue at the cabinet meeting
but emphasized that racism was not only prevalent against Arabs but
also against other minorities like Druse and Ethiopians, mentioning in
particular last week's report about the segregation of four Ethiopian
pupils in a Petah Tikva school. "It crosses all lines," said Ben
Eliezer, adding, "I hope it will be dealt with seriously this time."
Pensioners Minister Rafi Eitan said that the issue of the Arab
minority necessitates "great consideration and great efforts on our
part to deal with it and bring about the situation where they feel
equal among us in every way."
Environmental Protection Minister Gideon Ezra said that Israel
must pay special attention to all acts of discrimination but emphasized
that "it needs to be rectified from all sides not just one."
