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Report: widening gaps between Jews and Arabs
“Last year gaps between Arabs and Jews in Israel widened in most fields, with the Jewish population in Israel in 2008 living longer and better”—this was the basic conclusion of the annual equality report issued by Sikkuy, an association working for civic equality between Jews and Arabs in Israel.
The equality index reveals that the Arab population receives only 70% of the resources it deserves based on their proportion in the general population. The biggest gap was in the field of social welfare, with Arabs receiving only 49% of their due. According to the report, the discriminatory distribution of resources means that 50% of Arabs and 66% of Arab children live below the poverty line (not taking account of supplementary aid and taxes), compared to 32% of Jewish children.
Another serious result is seen in the difference in average life span. Jewish men live 3.5 years longer than Arab men on average while Jewish women live 4 years longer than Arab women on average. There are also differences in the infant mortality rate between Arabs and Jews, with a rate of 8.4 infant deaths for every 1,000 among Arabs and only 3.6 among Jews.
The report, which examines housing, education, social welfare, and employment, found that education was the only field where gaps were slightly reduced last year, mostly due to the decline of the Jewish educational system. Nevertheless, 8% of Arab students drop out of high school, compared to 4% of Jewish students, and Arab high-school students receive only 81% of the instruction hours received by their Jewish peers.
“The grave findings of the report should disturb the sleep of the Prime Minister and all ministers because the gaps between the Jewish and Arab population are due to discriminatory government policies,” said attorney Ali Haidar, the co-director of Sikkuy. “Thus, the government should take the initiative to draft programs to close the gaps.”
Shuli Dichter, the co-director of Sikkuy, added, “One cannot doubt that Arab mayors want to provide state resources to the Arab population. The question is: is Jerusalem ready to spend on this program, which will not be easy to implement.” The equality index was prepared by a team of noted experts, including Prof. Mohammed Hajj Yehya, Prof. Yossi Yahav, Prof. David Nahmias, Prof. Rassem Khemeisi, and Yasser Awad.
Reader responses to the article
Just like in Arab countries. If it weren’t for Israel, 90% of Arabs would be living under the poverty line—Anonymous.
Arabs receive national insurance benefits that we all pay for—An oppressed worker.
They should stop having kids—Linkush.
They don’t deserve anything—Tony.
July 9, 2008
By: Nir Yahav
Written By: AD2
Date Posted: 9/3/2008
Number of Views: 11
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