Human Rights Violations in Israel and Palestine - by Stephen Lendman
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) publishes annual reports on the state of human rights in Israel and occupied Palestine. This article is based on its latest year end 2007 one.
ACRI is Israel's leading human and civil rights organization and the only one addressing all rights and liberties issues. It was founded in 1972, is independent and nonpartisan, and leads the struggle for these issues in Israel and the Occupied Territories through litigation, legal advocacy, education, and public outreach. ACRI also believes that civil and human rights are universal. They must be "an integral part of democratic community building and....a unifying force in Israeli public life" for everyone, especially those most marginalized, disadvantaged and currently persecuted or neglected.
ACRI evaluates the state of human rights annually, and it's latest report coincided with the December 10, 2007 International Human Rights Day. Its purpose is to cite flagrant violations; note positive trends and developments, if any; and "trace significant human rights-related processes (affecting) Israeli citizens and residents." Reports rely on various information sources: government publications, NGO reports, newspaper and other published materials, parliamentary documents and court litigation.
Human rights violations directly result from government policies, actions and inactions, and ACRI's report is gloomy. It found the Israeli government derelict for having allowed the "blanket" of rights it's supposed to ensure for Arabs and Jews to erode. As a result, rights violations grow, more people are affected, and those harmed most are on society's fringes. ACRI's report is comprehensive and documents them in areas of:
-- health;
-- workers' rights;
-- the state of Arab Israelis;
-- education in Sderot;
-- migrant worker rights;
-- citizenship and residency status;
-- human rights in occupied Palestine, highlighting neglect and discrimination in Arab East Jerusalem, Hebron, and the "unrecognized" Negev Bedouins;
-- freedom of expression;
-- the right to privacy;
-- criminal justice; and
-- the overall destabilization and erosion of democracy in the country. Israel claims to be a democracy. Its record disproves it.
I am a 72 year old, retired, progressive small businessman concerned about all the major national and world issues, committed to speak out and write about them.
