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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1126286.html
U.S. State Department: Israel is not a tolerant society
By Akiva Eldar
Tags: State Department, Israel News
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.
Among other examples, the report notes that more than
300,000 immigrants who are not considered Jewish under
rabbinical law are not allowed to marry and divorce in
Israel or be buried in Jewish cemeteries. |
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