IndyMedia Center - news: "The State of Human Rights in Israel 2 0 0 3 | by : Naama Yashuvi | July 2002-June 2003. Translated by: Kim Weiss

Israel`s Declaration of Independence promises that the State of Israel will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice, and peace; it will uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens irrespective of religion, race, or sex; that it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; that it will safeguard the holy places of all religions; and that it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

As the Declaration of Independence reaches its fifty-fifth year, we still have no freedom, no justice and no peace, no equality of social and political rights, no freedom of religion or conscience, and most certainly no loyalty to the principles laid out in the Charter of the United Nations.

The purpose of this document is to warn of the trends and actions in the last year that point to a worrying and dangerous atmosphere in the country. The government`s actions call into question the very basis of democratic principles, the social fabric, and the foundation of human rights in Israel.
...
Sections address

SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFIT’S
THE RIGHT TO SHELTER
THE RIGHT OF ACCESS TO HEALTH SERVICES
UNDERMINING THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS
INFRINGEMENT OF WORKERS’ RIGHT TO ORGANIZE AND STRIKE
SETTLEMENTS FOR JEWS ONLY
THE DISQUALIFICATION OF POLITICAL LISTS
REVOCATION OF CITIZENSHIP
LIMITING FREEDOM OF SPEECH
THE NON-IMPLEMENTATION OF GOVERNMENT PLANS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ARAB SECTOR
CITIZENSHIP AND NATURALIZATION
HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
--CHECKPOINTS – ABUSE, INTIMIDATION, AND PREVENTING MEDICAL TREATEMENT
--DELIBERATE IMTIMIDATION AND CRUEL TREATMENT
--CURFEW
--HARMING INNOCENT CIVILIANS DURING TARGETED ASSASINATIONS
--HUMAN SHIELDS
- posted by Editor @ 9:09 PM

Secular schools not informed of extra funding available for Jewish studies, official contends: "| By Anshel Pfeffer | November 11, 2003

The Education Ministry has not done enough to inform regular state schools that this year, for the first time, they are eligible to share in a NIS 216 million budget for extra hours of Jewish studies, a senior ministry official charged on Sunday.

"The ministry isn't interested in this [money] reaching the state [i.e. secular] school system," the official said. The accusation was echoed by the Association for Pluralistic Judaism, which charged that Deputy Education Minister Zvi Hendel (National Union) is trying to ensure that most of the money goes to the state religious system.
...
Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein ... in October 2002 ... declared it illegal for the Education Ministry ... to be making such funds available to religious schools but not secular ones.
- posted by Editor @ 6:11 AM

Lebanon Voice Chat news read: "UN expert condemns demolition of Palestinians’ homes

A UN human rights expert condemned on Thursday an “escalation of violations against the Palestinian people,” and called on the international community “to act decisively to protect Palestinians by taking urgent steps to remove the impunity that Israel enjoys.”

The Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing for the UN High Commission on Human Rights, Miloon Kothari, said human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories had “deteriorated significantly over the past three years, in spite of the international community’s condemnation of Israel’s illegal collective punishment against the Palestinian people.”

He added that Israeli forces demolished about 100 building complexes housing over 1,000 people in the Yibna camp in the southern Gaza town of Rafah between Oct. 10 and 12.

“Israeli authorities reportedly justified the demolitions of houses in the Yibna Camp as part of an operation to unveil three tunnels allegedly used by Palestinian armed groups to smuggle weapons from Egypt into the Gaza Strip,” Kothari said. “However, this cannot justify actions against innocent civilians.” "
- posted by Editor @ 9:51 AM