Soon after winning international recognition, Israeli leaders declared the remaining Muslims and Christians will be equal citizens of the new state.
By making such an ostensibly generous gesture, Israeli politicians were trying to get rid of the racist stigma stamped on the new entity apart from increasing the numerical strength of the tiny state.
The move also betrayed the Jewish design to wipe out the last trace of Palestinian identity from the usurped Arab territories. The state had been forcing Jews in other parts of the world to flee willi-nilly to Israel. Even the Falashas, a Jewish community of African ethnic origin, were tempted to leave their secure native land for Israel.
The country has always tried to conceal the division existing in the Israelis society. Ashkenazis — the Jews of Western origin — enjoyed all the privileges while other citizens received treatments determined by the status of the community which they originally belonged to.
The Human Rights Commission, an offshoot of the United Nations, and several other human rights groups, which were deceived by the Zionist propaganda, were led to believe that Israel was a democratic oasis of social and political equality in the midst of the Middle Eastern wilderness. This prejudiced view made the human right groups totally ignore the discriminative practices prevailing in the Jewish state.
The abuse of the human rights in Israel can, basically, be divided to two types — oppression of the non-Jewish societies such as Muslims and Christians and discrimination of the lower classes within the Jewish society.
The non-Jewish citizens enjoy hardly any right at all. They are bypassed and sidestepped in all walks of life and placed outside the social and political hierarchy. They are seldom considered for housing allocations, never appointed to important jobs and were persecuted on religious grounds. Their democratic rights are only name sake. The latest in the abuse of non-Jewish citizens is the recent Knesset’s decision to freeze all parliamentary rights of its Arab members. This was because the Arab deputies did not support the armed forces’ attack on the Palestinian civilians. This is just a typical example of how Israeli democracy functions.
The non-Jewish communities hardly enjoys religious freedom. The Israeli law doesn’t allow missionary operations in the state.
The outside world got an insight into the Israel’s human rights situation in a BBC program some time ago. The Catholic and Orthodox priests, who participated in the show, revealed that the Christians received the worst treatment in Israel.
The racial discrimination is still practiced within the Jewish society. The Ashkenazis occupy all top positions in society, government and politics.
On the other hand, the Jews of Arab and Oriental origin — Sephardi — are treated as second class citizens and are seldom offered high positions. The Falashas and other weak communities were given lowest positions in society and government.
The deteriorating human rights situation in society has given rise to Jewish fundamentalism and extremism. The religious extremists seek membership in a terrorist organization, which earns for them a privileged position including the exemption from mandatory military service.
