On 25-26 December 2001, four academics, three Jewish Israelis and one Palestinian citizen of Israel, testified before the Official Commission of Inquiry (“the Commission”). The Commission members had invited these four individuals to testify on the status of the Palestinian citizens of Israel in relation to the events of October 2000.

Shalom Dichter, Co-Director, Sikkuy: The Association for the Advancement of Equal Opportunities

Mr. Dichter testified before the Commission on the discrimination against the Palestinian citizens of Israel in a variety of areas. According to Mr. Dichter, the State discriminates against Palestinian citizens in regards to land acquisition by Palestinians for development in Arab towns and industrial purposes. Mr. Dichter further testified that the status of Palestinian employees in governmental companies and the percentage of Palestinian schools relative to their Jewish counterparts reveal statewide discrimination. Mr. Dichter summarized his testimony before the Commission by arguing that state discrimination deprives Palestinian citizens of “material and symbolic” resources.

Dr. As’ad Ghanem, Co-Director, Sikkuy: The Association for the Advancement of Equal Opportunities

Dr. Ghanem testified regarding the problematic structure of the Israeli state, which in his opinion is the source of the discrimination against the Palestinian minority in Israel. Dr. Ghanem also remarked that while researchers from Israel and abroad tend to characterize Israel as a liberal democracy, it is more accurate to describe Israel as an ethnic democratic state in which a single ethnic group exhausts the State’s resources solely for its own interests. (Correction: Dr. Ghanem used the term “ethnocracy” to describe the State of Israel, not “ethnic democratic state”. – 20 January 2002)

Dr. Eli Reches, Director, Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, Tel Aviv University

Dr. Reches, who served as a consultant for the Ministerial Committee for Arab Affairs under Prime Minister Ehud Barak, testified regarding the status of the Palestinian citizens of Israel. In his testimony, Dr. Reches mentioned that since April 2000, he had warned that the policies of the government towards the Palestinian minority do not meet even the barest minimum of their needs; however, in contrast to Dr. Ghanem, Mr. Reches supported the ethnic nature of the state in which the Jewish population enjoys greater rights. In his testimony, Dr. Reches expressed a longing for the leadership of Palestinians in Israel during the 1960s, which he described as “practical and moderate.” (Note: From 1948-1966, Palestinians in Israel lived under military administration imposed by the state of Israel.) Dr. Reches also recommended the creation of an informal “social treaty” between Jews and Arabs in which certain issues are barred from discussion.

Professor Raphael Israeli, Institute of Asian and African Studies, Hebrew University

Professor Israeli testified that Palestinians in Israel cannot gain equality without fulfilling the same duties applied to Jews in Israel, in particular the military service requirement. He added that Israel must adopt a citizenship test so that the rights of citizenship will be given to those who pass, and this test revolves around the individual’s willingness to serve Zionist ideology.

Adalah had previously requested that the Commission also invite Dr. Ahmad Saadi from the Department of Politics and Government at Ben Gurion University in the Negev (BGU), and Dr. Oren Yiftachel from the Department of Geography and Environmental Development at BGU to testify in a letter submitted on 27 November 2001. The letter included expert opinions from Dr. Saadi and Dr. Yiftachel.

The submission from Dr. Saadi, entitled  “Social Conceptions, Citizenship Rights and Protests: The Road to the October Events”, included a historical background of Palestinians in Israel, a critique of the study of Palestinians in Israel by Israeli academics, and an analysis of the motivation of protestors and the public perception of protests. The submission from Dr. Yiftachel, entitled “The Question of Land and the Development of Relations Between the Arab Minority and the State of Israel”, addressed Israel’s land policies from 1948 to the present, including the confiscation of Arab lands for Jewish use and the lack of any state planning for Palestinian communities in comparison to planning for Jewish communities.

Adalah repeated the request to hear the testimonies of Dr. Saadi and Dr. Yiftachel in a second letter submitted to the Commission on 31 December 2001; however, to date, the Commission has not responded to the request.