TORONTO — Core democratic values in Israel are under attack, charges the executive director of Israel’s oldest and largest human rights organization.
Hagai El-Ad [Sheldon Kirshner photo]
They are being undermined by the diminishing standing of the Supreme Court, the growing acceptance of ultra-nationalist positions and the increasing number of verbal attacks on human rights groups, said Hagai El-Ad of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI).
Brought here last week by the New Israel Fund of Canada, he made these comments in an interview prior to delivering a speech at Holy Blossom Temple.
El-Ad, who has headed ACRI since 2008, said the Israeli government has not abided by eight Supreme Court rulings in the past five years.
These cases touch on a wide variety of issues ranging from the route of the security barrier in the West Bank and the rights of migrant workers in Israel to the fortification of Jewish schools near the Gaza Strip and the building of 245 classrooms in east Jerusalem.
Recently, the president of the Supreme Court, Dorit Beinisch, rebuked the government, declaring that its rulings were not “mere recommendations,” but had to be executed “with the necessary speed and efficiency.”
El-Ad is also concerned that comments made by prominent Israeli politician Avigdor Lieberman on Israeli Arabs have gained mainstream acceptance.
Before his appointment as foreign minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, Lieberman, head of the right-wing Yisrael Beitenu party, called for Israeli Arabs to sign a loyalty oath.
Slamming Lieberman’s suggestion, El-Ad said that every Israeli citizen, including Arabs, are entitled to full equality and human rights.
Saying that verbal attacks on human rights organizations have escalated to a point where they now occur on a weekly basis, he cited a case in which a high-ranking official in the ministry of interior unleashed disparaging remarks regarding the position they have taken on migrant workers’ rights.
El-Ad ascribed the erosion of democratic values in Israel to Israel’s prolonged occupation of the West Bank.
Claiming that the human rights of Palestinians have been denied by Israel for more than 40 years, he accused the Israeli government of blocking their access to justice and sufficient water supplies and impeding their rights of movement.
“The occupation has a poisonous effect on Israeli democracy,” he asserted.
To El-Ad, the most “troubling” aspect of Israel’s occupation is the unequal two-tier road system forcing Jews and Arabs use different roads. Israel adopted the system in 2000 in the face of Palestinian terrorism.
Nearly two years ago, ACRI submitted a petition to the Supreme Court in which it lashed out against “the discriminatory prohibition on Palestinian movement” on Route 443. Until 2000, when the second Palestinian uprising broke out, Route 443 was a main thoroughfare for 160,000 Palestinians.
ACRI believes that the ban on Palestinian traffic severely violates basic human rights and represents “blatant and systematic discrimination” on the basis of national origin and is in breach of international humanitarian law.
Last year, the Supreme Court issued an interim decision without making any reference to ACRI’s arguments.
El-Ad acknowledged that Israeli civilians living in the West Bank are entitled to security, but that the denial of human rights to Palestinians threatens democracy in Israel.
Racism is a problem in Israeli society, but Israel is not a racist state, he said. As he put it, “Israel’s core values are values that ACRI embraces.”
Nonetheless, racism affects the lives of Israeli Arabs and Ethiopian Jews, among others, El-Ad pointed out.
He cited a few examples.
Schools in Israel have been loath to accept Ethiopian students. Jewish builders have refused to sell homes to Israeli Arabs. Jewish social clubs have barred entry to Arabs.
El-Ad urged Israel to convene an independent panel to investigate allegations that the Israeli armed forces committed war crimes during its invasion of the Gaza Strip last January.
“It would be the right thing to do and is in Israel’s best interests.”
Israel has a right to defend itself against “a cruel enemy” such as Hamas, but it must be careful not to violate the legal and moral strictures of warfare.
“Israelis expect their army to conduct itself according to to the rules of war.”
He called on Jews in the Diaspora to support ACRI’s activities and thus help Israelis build a progressive and enlightened society.
ACRI tries to promote human rights by judicial and educational means, through parliamentary intercessions and by engaging the public.
