U.S. State Department: Israel is not a tolerant society

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"Israel dismally fails the requirements of a tolerant pluralistic society, according to a new report from the U.S. State Department.

Despite boasting religious freedom and protection of all holy sites, Israel falls short in tolerance toward minorities, equal treatment of ethnic groups, openness toward various streams within society, and respect for holy and other sites.

The comprehensive report, written by the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, says Israel discriminates against groups including Muslims, Jehova's Witnesses, Reform Jews, Christians, women and Bedouin.

The report says that the 1967 law on the protection of holy places refers to all religious groups in the country, including in Jerusalem, but "the government implements regulations only for Jewish sites. Non-Jewish holy sites do not enjoy legal protection under it because the government does not recognize them as official holy sites."

At the end of 2008, for example, all of the 137 officially recognized holy sites were Jewish. Moreover, Israel issued regulations for the identification, preservation and guarding of Jewish sites only. Many Christian and Muslim sites are said to be neglected, inaccessible or at risk of exploitation by real estate entrepreneurs and local authorities.

The report makes it clear that practices that have become routine in Israel are considered unacceptable in enlightened countries and should be corrected."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1126286.html

[ensho]

1. agree and the foundation is religious insanity

nt

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Well, who knew? Maybe the State Department could take a gander at the USA. Bet they'd reach the same

conclusion.

[T Wolf]

4. Because WE are wrong makes it OK for Israel to also be so, or worse? nt

[sinkingfeeling]

7. I am saying looking at Isreal is like looking in the mirror. Both countries

discriminate.

[Ken Burch]

13. True. And those who support Palestinian self-determination

are also the ones who speak out against discrimination here, so the double standard you're implying doesn't exist where it really matters.

You're way out of line in implying that Americans have no standing to criticize Israel. If we subsudize the place, and if we provide(as we do) the weapons(and I count the D-9 Cats that destroy Palestinian homes, like those of the innocent Bedouins that Ezra Nawi was peacefully protecting, as weapons too)that are used to oppress Palestinians, we damn well DO have a right to say "Not In Our Name, Not With Our Tax Dollars".

[atreides1]

5. I don't need the State Department

To tell me something that is pretty evident, when all you have to do is look!

[azurnoir]

8. the State Department doesn't have to

we have a department set for the purpose of combating discrimination, perhaps what should be done is a massive resetting of that departments original goal, word has it that the former president reset its task to protecting Christian rights in the US because they were supposedly so very endangered

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[driver8]

6. File this under, "No shit, Sherlock."

How long did it take these geniuses to figure this out??

[juno jones]

9. The extreme right and religious fanatics there also

seem to be pretty shitty toward women as well.

[Vegasaurus]

10. How are those human and civil rights going in the Arab countries lately?

Is that why Arabs much prefer life in Israel, imperfect as it is?

[Ken Burch]

14. What things are like in Arab countries is besides the point

And none of the things the State Department condemns are necessary to preserve Israel's survival.

The days of "Ein Breira" are gone, Veggers. Israel can survive now without compromising its humanity. Indeed, becoming MORE humane is the best way for the place to survive.

[Violet_Crumble]

17. Thank dog Veggie's arrived to try to change the subject to those Ayrabs!!

Yep, pop up and rant a bit about Ayrabs and that justifies Israel dismally failing (a very far cry from the grudging 'imperfect' you managed to come up with) when it comes to having a tolerant society. Yet again you so effortlessly manage to come up with something reeking of bigotry against Israeli Arabs. Has it ever occured to you that Israeli Arabs prefer life in Israel because that's where they were born and it's their country? Why is it that if someone's Arab, you have some bizarre notion that they're not real Israelis like Jewish Israelis are?

[IndianaGreen]

11. It is called apartheid!

But to be fair, Israel is still head and shoulders over such bastions of tolerance as Saudi Arabia.

[LeftishBrit]

12. There are organizations working to improve this

E.g. the New Israel Fund

www.newisraelfund.org

"The report makes it clear that practices that have become routine in Israel are considered unacceptable in enlightened countries and should be corrected."

Very true - but the same goes for many other countries. Not that it's any excuse for Israel's actions, but the USA (and UK, etc.) need to look in the mirror ourselves.

[UndertheOcean]

15. So true. n/t

[azurnoir]

16. The double lives of Jewish converts in Israel

Ilana has been living a double life in Israel. Though her first visit was as a Catholic, she ultimately decided to convert to Judaism, and following her conversion in Italy in 2006, she moved to Israel. Incredibly, despite the fact that the (Orthodox) Chief Rabbinate certifies her conversion, the civil organs of the State of Israel continue to deny her basic rights as a citizen.
Scandalously, Ilana lives without medical insurance, is unable to work, and has been waiting for more than two years for her case for citizenship to make it to the Supreme Court. In every other Jewish community in the world, Ilana is Jewish. Not here. This is because the Interior Ministry has taken it upon itself to review conversions that were performed worldwide in terms of its own bureaucratic criteria.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1257455202942&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull