January 2005
ARAB HRA
Arab Association for Human Rights (HRA)
PO Box 215 Nazareth 16101 IsraelTel: 04-6561923 Fax: 04-6564934
Email: unia@arabhra.org
Website:
www.arabhra.orgWeekly Review of the Arabic Press in Israel
No. 193 / 22 29 October 2004
Also available at:
http://www.arabhra.org/wrap/wraphome.htm
Content:
Arab Economic Situation Worst in the Country
Discrimination against the Arab Community in the development budget
Attempt to close the files of those killed during the October 2000 Events
House Arrest for Political Activist
Lack of Arabic Signs in new Airport Terminal.
Arab Economic Situation Worst in the Country
According to a supplement in the 29 October 2004 edition of al-Ittihad, the National Insurance Institute revealed a report which it has prepared dealing, in particular, with the average of general wages in the country for the year 2002.
The report revealed the critical situation of the Arab community. It was revealed that there are serious differences between the economic situation of the Arab community and the Jewish community, not just in terms of wages, but also in terms of the amount of time Arabs spend employed, and in the types of employment they are able to procure. These differences result in the Arab community being exploited in terms of pay and working conditions, with no guarantees for the future.
Referring to the country as a whole, the report noted that 32% of paid work is carried out for minimum wage, however when looking at the Arab towns and villages this number rises to 55.9%. This points to the difficult conditions for the Arab community in terms of the types of employment which are available, the lack of industrial development and the absence of government investment in the Arab communities.
Discrimination against the Arab Community in the Development Budget
The 29 October 2004 issue al-Ittihad reported that the Ministry of Industry and Trade sent a letter to the Mossawa Center to notify them that it intends to allocate only five million shekels for the industrial development of the Arab regions. This letter came during negotiations in the Supreme Court as part of a petition that was submitted to force the ministry to transfer the sum that was allocated for the industrial development of the regions since 2002. However the ministry did not transfer the money and has noted that it will only transfer five million shekels in 2004, out of an original twenty million.
Attempt to close the files of those killed during the October 2000 Events
Sawt al-Haqq wal-hurriya reported that the investigative unit of the police acknowledged in a letter to the court that there have been difficulties in identifying the killer of Aseel Asle and that these difficulties will persist even if they exhume the corpses because the police claim that some of the weapons have been lost.The father of the shaheed Aseel, Mr. Hassan Asle, said, "The investigative unit of the police acts in a political way, not a professional, legal way. They know that Aseel is the key for all cases of those killed during the October 2000 events, and because of this they want to close the file." He added, "We blame the Or Commission which ignored the first article of the letter of appointment [of the Commission of Inquiry for the October 2000 events] in the investigation of the killing of the thirteen young men in the October 2000 events. Instead it returned the file to the internal investigative unit of the police [in the Ministry of Justice]."
The director of the investigative unit of the police Hertzel Shabero addressed Mr. Asle five months earlier and demanded that he agree to exhume his sons corpse as well as the corpses of the others in order to complete the investigation, but Mr. Asle refused the demand completely. He considered the order an excuse to evade responsibility, as well as a violation of the sanctity of the dead and wasnt convinced that exhuming the corpses was the only way to arrive at the truth.
The court will make a decision on the case on 9 November 2004.
House Arrest for Political Activist
The 26 October 2004 issue of al-Ittihad reported that the Karmiel police stopped the car of Jameel Soufouri who is a member of the political committee of the movement Ibnaa al-Balad and searched his car. They found issues of the magazine al-Jil al-Jadid. Souffouri was taken to the police station and interrogated for possessing "inflammatory propaganda." Souffouri explained to the investigators that the magazine is published by an organization with the same name, and that the organization is legally registered and that it has permission to publish the magazine. Despite this, the police officer insisted on confiscating the magazines and placing Souffouri under house arrest for a period of five days, claiming that the police were going to conduct a legal investigation of the magazine and its contents.
Ibnaa al-Balad condemned the detention of Souffouri and viewed it as an extension of political pressure against the movement. They demanded a return of the magazines and the closing of the case.
Lack of Arabic Signs in new Airport Terminal.
Hadith al-Nas reported that MK Ahmed Tibi presented a petition to the Supreme Court against the Port and Airport authorities and the Attorney General because of the lack of Arabic language signs in the new terminal of Ben-Gurion Airport.
The airport authority used only Hebrew and English thereby ignoring over a million Arab citizens who speak Arabic, this notwithstanding the fact that Arabic is considered one of Israels official languages.
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