Rights group: Gov't undermining foundations of democracy

[tinnypriv]

Rights group: Gov't undermining foundations of democracy
Ha'aretz, July 22 2003

The Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) harshly criticized Israeli domestic policies, accusing the government in a report released Tuesday of being party to a wider effort to undermine the foundations of democracy and social cohesion in Israel.

...

The report says social rights have been so badly damaged this year that there is a real danger of the entire welfare state collapsing. The report details repeated harm to the weakest communities in society, noting that National Insurance payments, unemployment benefits, old-age pensions, supplementary income payments, and rent aid have all been cut.

In a large section devoted to IDF soldiers and the intifada, the report harshly criticized Israeli troops for "malicious," cruel and sadistic behavior against Palestinians over the past year and, complained about military policy that it said bans inquiries into most deaths of Palestinians. The report by decries "unprecedented harm to innocent people, Palestinians and Israelis," during the third year of violence.

The report is also highly critical of attempts to legislate a law bypassing the High Court that would allow the Israel Lands Authority and the Jewish Agency to allocate state lands to communities exclusively "Jews only." This initiative has for now been frozen but ACRI says the government's support for it was worrying.

...

The group charges that most of the civil rights violations by Israeli soldiers "arise not from any operational necessity, but from hardheartedness of soldiers, who receive from above the message of utter disregard for the dignity, freedom and lives of innocent Palestinians."

In a written response, the military categorically rejected the claim. "The opposite is true," the statement said.

...

Hundreds of Palestinians were killed during the year, the report notes, but only a handful of inquiries were opened, all concerning settlers suspected of violence. ACRI complains that the military prosecutor follows a policy of refusing to investigate "deaths that occurred during warfare," a term that covers most of the fatal incidents.

...

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/320787.html

[Resistance]

1. obviously this will be ignored

Democracy, human rights, and a well-functioning social order have never been part of the immediate goals of Zionism -- Ethnic cleansing as the will of Gawd has been top priority.

[Violet_Crumble]

2. I like the last bit....

"The military said that harm to civilians is an
unfortunate but inevitable part of the fight
against terrorism."

Yep, just trot out that line that what gets done to civilians, whether it be in Afghanistan, Iraq, or the Occupied Territories, is part of a fight against terrorism and it'll reel them all in every time. I kind of think that the stupidity of fighting terrorism with conventional warfare would cause the sort of hardheartedness that the article talked about...

Violet...