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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: CalculatedRisk who wrote (73366)	7/17/2006 3:33:20 AM
From: SiouxPal	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 361041

Israel has been committed to the equality of its citizens from minority communities since its Declaration of Independence put forth the following affirmation: “The State of Israel…will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions…” The Declaration also seeks the active participation of its minority citizens, by calling upon the Arab inhabitants of Israel to “participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions.” Hence, while dedicated to providing a national homeland for the Jewish people, Israel is just as committed to its other adopted goal, to serve as a progressive democracy with full equality for all its citizens. As such, Israeli Arabs and individuals from the other minority communities are Israeli citizens with full civil and political rights. No other state in the Middle East grants such freedoms to its minority citizens. Arab citizens of Israel are represented in every sector of Israeli life, including the Knesset (Israel’s parliament), the judicial system and university student bodies. Arabic, like Hebrew, is an official language of Israel. In the political arena, Arab citizens of Israel have equal voting rights; in fact, Israel is one of the few places in the Middle East where Arab women may vote. There are currently nine Arab MKs (members of Knesset) in the 120-seat Knesset, as well as two Druze MKs. Majalli Whbee, one of the two Druze MKs, has served as Deputy Minister in the Ministry in the Prime Minister’s Office and currently holds the position of Deputy Minister of Education, Culture and Sport. In fact, nearly 40 Israeli Arab and Druze citizens (29 Israeli Arabs and nine Druze) have served as MKs throughout the course of Israel’s short history. Additionally, Israeli Arabs and Druze have held assignments as deputy ministers in the government, in high-level ministry positions and in the foreign service. In the judicial realm, Deputy President of the Nazareth District Court Abdel Rahman Zuabi was selected in March 1999 as the first Arab to sit on the Supreme Court for a 9-month appointment. This was followed by the selection of Salim Jubran in May 2004 as the first Arab to hold a permanent appointment as a Supreme Court Justice. Since the founding of the State, the status of Israeli Arab women has been significantly improved by legislation stipulating equal rights for women, as well as prohibiting polygamy and child marriage. The sole legal distinction between the Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel is not one of rights, but rather of civic duty. Since Israel’s establishment, Arab citizens have been exempted from compulsory service in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). This exemption was made out of consideration for the familial, religious and cultural affiliations of Arab citizens of Israel with the Palestinians and the rest of the Arab world, given the ongoing conflict. This notwithstanding, members of the Druze and Bedouin communities do serve in the IDF, and other Arabs have volunteered for military duty. Compulsory military service is applied to the Druze and Circassian communities at their own request. Closing the gap – advancements and challenges In the years since the founding of the State of Israel, the Israeli Arab sector has made great strides in almost every area of development. For example, the average number of years of schooling of Israeli Arabs rose dramatically over a 35-year period (1961-1996) from 1.2 to 10.4 years. Infant death rates per thousand live births decreased significantly during that same 35-year period. In the Muslim population, the rate dropped from 46.4 per thousand births to 10.0; among Christians the decrease was from 42.1 to 6.7; among the Druze it dropped from 50.4 to 8.9 deaths. These advances are particularly striking when comparing Arab citizens of Israel to their brethren living in neighbouring countries. However, it is also clear that much work must still be done to close the gap between Arab and Jewish Israelis. bicom.org.uk