Adalah demands fair representation of Palestinian citizens of Israel in Israeli planning and building institutions
On 21 February 2022, Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel sent a letter to the new Attorney General (AG) Gali Baharav-Miara and the Minister of the Interior Ayelet Shaked requesting that they act to ensure fair, adequate representation of Palestinian citizens of Israel in all planning and building institutions.
Adalah’s letter follows a report published on 18 January 2022 by the Israeli Knesset Research and Information Center entitled, “Adequate Representation of the Arab Population in Planning and Building Institutions”, which contains troubling data indicating a significant under-representation of Palestinian citizens of Israel in the national and local planning committees and in the professional bodies working alongside them.
According to the report, as of February 2021, there were only 14 Palestinian Arab workers and experts out of the 400 workers (3.5%) in the national and regional planning institutions, while Palestinian citizens of Israel number about 21% of Israel’s population. See the table below for data concerning the percentage of Arab workers in specific planning institutions.
In the letter, Adalah’s Legal Director, Attorney Suhad Bishara highlighted the importance of adequate representation, both in terms of promotion of Arab citizens’ input in decision making and in addressing the unique needs of Arab towns and villages. Adalah stressed that representation in planning and building authorities is even more crucial in light of Israel’s longstanding discriminatory policies in the field of land and planning, which brought about severe land shortages and development difficulties in Arab localities. Adalah argued that inadequate representation violates Israeli law and legal principles, which requires adequate representation in bodies related to the planning administration at the national and district levels. Thus, Adalah demanded the prompt issuance of a plan aimed at guaranteeing adequate representation and that every new appointment would adhere to the legal duty.
Adalah’s Legal Director, Attorney Suhad Bishara added:
“Without the representation of Palestinian citizens of Israel in Planning and Building institutions, the rights and needs of the community are not taken into consideration. The severe under-representation of Palestinian citizens joins the many measures aimed at oppressing rather than furthering the development of Arab localities.”
