The Association for Civil
Rights in Israel (ACRI) assesses human rights in Israel
annually. It's 2012 report is "bleak."
It's true in virtually every
category assessed. Netanyahu and dominant Knesset hardliners spurn human and
civil rights. They do so for Palestinians, Israeli Arabs, and most Jews.
Neoliberal harshness is policy.
So are hardline belligerence and institutionalized racism. Poverty,
homelessness, and hunger harm growing numbers in society.
Conditions in Israel get worse,
not better. Palestinians suffer most. Horrific conditions harm them. They're
reflected in ruthless police state policies. Militarized occupation enforces
them.
In 2012 alone, 557 Palestinian
structures were lawlessly demolished. So were 172 homes. Over 1,000 Palestinians
were displaced. Their land was stolen. Israeli policies mock fundamental
freedoms. Palestinians have no rights.
Asylum seekers and African
immigrants are relentlessly persecuted. Occupation harshness silences dissent.
Affordable housing exists nowhere. Water is a precious luxury. Peaceful social
protests face harsh crackdowns.
Israel's budget includes
enormous amounts for rubber bullets, tear gas, concussion grenades, toxic
chemicals sprays, and other implements of police state repression.
Jews aren't exempt when they
resist. In solidarity with Palestinians, they're treated harshly. Equity,
justice, mercy, and fairness aren't in Israel's vocabulary.
It's a model police state. It
matches the worst of regional tyrannies. It mocks democratic governance. Israel
tolerates none.
ACRI's 2012 came down
particularly hard on housing. In Arab towns and villages, restrictive planning
policies limit residential building. Effective development is prevented.
Many Israeli Arabs have no
viable option. They're on their own to supply housing without means or ability
to overcome onerous restrictions.
Bedouin communities face
especially harsh treatment. In late summer 2011, forced Bedouin evictions began.
Thousands in Israeli-controlled Area C were affected. They were ordered to
leave. They were threatened with force if they refused.
They were displaced to a
regional garbage dump. Their homes were demolished. They had no say. Israel
wanted their land for Jewish development.
Most Bedouins were expelled
from the Negev in 1948. Some lived on Israeli declared land. Others lived on
private Palestinian land.
Twenty Bedouin communities
living in the E1 corridor now face eviction. Whether or not construction begins,
Israel wants them out.
About 2,300 people are
affected. They have no say. Israel freely violates their rights. They're removed
at the whim of ruthless authorities. They're prevented from building permanent
housing or connecting to essential infrastructure.
They're dispossessed on their
own with no rights. ACRI calls Netanyahu's Bedouin policies particularly harsh
and discouraging.
Around 160,000 Bedouins live in
Israel. Over half live in so-called unrecognized villages. Around 35 communities
are affected. They're denied schools, healthcare, running water, electricity,
paved roads, postal service, and other vital services.
Most are deeply impoverished.
They struggle daily to get by. Israel's Prawer Plan intends greater harshness.
Forced displacement will affect tens of thousands of Israeli citizens.
It's a significant blow to
justice. It facilitates state-sponsored discrimination. It spurns fundamental
rights. It summarily disenfranchises long neglected people who deserve
better.
It contradicts Goldberg
Commission findings. They called Bedouin treatment unjust and ineffective. It
recommended injustices be corrected by recognizing their communities as they
exist.
Israel refuses. Historic
injustices continue. Netanyahu wants harsher enforcement. He represents the
worst of despot authority.
From day to day, Bedouin
communities aren't sure whether police, soldiers and bulldozers will show up to
evict them forcibly.
Israeli Jews and Arabs face
public housing crisis conditions. The issue was central during summer 2011
protesters. Netanyahu promised change. He lied. He did nothing. Harsh neoliberal
policies remain.
Knesset hardliners oppose
affordable housing legislation. At the same time, they "systematically
eviscerate" what's left of public housing.
Water rights were harmed when
rates were raised sharply. Nothing in place or planned protects disadvantaged,
elderly or disabled Israelis. Arab citizens and Palestinians are entirely out of
luck.
West Bank housing and water
rights are more tenuous. Palestinians are gravely affected. Israel controls Area
C. Many Palestinians live there. Brutal persecution affects them.
Homes are demolished. Cisterns
are destroyed. Netanyahu's Levy Commission recommendations will be
followed.
His report rewrote international law. He claims
occupation "as set out in the relevant international conventions cannot be
considered applicable to the unique and sui generis historic and legal
circumstances of Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria spanning over
decades."
"Israelis have the legal right
to settle in Judea and Samaria and the establishment of settlements cannot, in
and of itself, be considered illegal."
He recommended legalizing
illegal outposts. He said zoning officials should authorize them without further
political approval. He urged no restraints on settlement construction.
Netanyahu praised his report,
saying:
"In my opinion, this report is
important because it deals with the legalization and the legitimization of the
settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria on the basis of facts, a variety of
facts and arguments that should be seriously considered."
Dominant Likudniks support
colonizing all valued parts of Judea and Samaria Israel wants. They claim
Jerusalem as Israel's exclusive capital. They want Palestinians gone. They'll
tolerate them only on isolated bantustans on worthless scrubland.
Levy is a former Israeli
Supreme Court justice. His rulings spurned justice. He's more facist than
jurist. He embarrasses legitimate juris prudence. He rejects Green Line
separation of Israel and Palestine.
So do Likudniks. Netanyahu and
Lieberman reflect the worst of their agenda. They're ideologically on the
lunatic fringe. They're world class thugs.
Under their leadership, free
expression suffered. Both sides of the Green Line are affected.
Jerusalem and Tel Aviv are
Israel's two largest cities. They enacted new regulations. They make it
extremely hard to demonstrate publicly.
West Bank diktats ban all forms
of protest. Activist leaders and supporters are persecuted. Repression continues
against the backdrop of dual legal systems. Laws affecting Palestinians violate
fundamental international laws and standards.
Israeli security forces target
them ruthlessly. Repression is official Israeli policy. It's systematically
enforced. Police state harshness is severe.
Reports from East Jerusalem reveal illegal
interrogation practices used on accused minors. Pre-dawn arrests target them.
Children young as 10 are detained. Parental and legal contacts are
denied.
ACRI discussed
statements, legislative initiatives, and policies infringing on the human rights
of asylum seekers. Most face severe repression or death if deported to their
home countries.
Propaganda
viciousness targets them. They're called criminals, disease-ridden,
demographically threatening, harmful to Israeli security, and malignant to
Israeli society.
They're
desperate human beings. They threaten no one. They deserve safe haven help.
Israel criminalizes them. Vicious mobs attack them. Security forces don't
intervene.
ACRI also
discussed privatizing judicial and police authority. Human rights are weakened
in the process. Other policies institutionalize privacy violations.
ACRI's annual
reports show Israel on a slippery slope toward full-blown tyranny. Palestinians
and Israeli Arabs suffer most. Increasingly, so are growing numbers of
Jews.
Israel isn't
fit to live in. Many fed up Jews vote with their feet and leave. Others consider
doing so. Many obtain foreign passports in preparation.
Mass exodus one
day may follow. Why would anyone accept what's intolerable? Safer environs exist
elsewhere. Even in a hazardous world they exist.
Stephen Lendman lives in
Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book is titled "Banker
Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity."
Visit his blog site at
sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished
guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network
Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All
programs are archived for easy listening.
posted by Steve Lendman @ 8:44
AM
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian 
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