Adalah's Newsletter Volume 34, March 2007

01/03/2007

Volume 34, March 2007

www.adalah.org

The 31st Yowm al-Ard (Land Day)

“The Unrecognized”: A short documentary film about the Arab Bedouin in the Naqab, by Adalah and 59 Ltd.

Hana Hamdan, Adalah’s Urban and Regional Planner, on “The Status of the Palestinian Minority in the Israeli Planning System”

Articles: The Democratic Constitution

An Interview on the Publication of The Democratic Constitution
Marwan Dalal, Adalah Attorney

The Democratic Constitution: The Occupation and the Binational State
As’ad Ghanem, Head of the Government and Political Philosophy Department, Haifa University

The Democratic Constitution: The Refugees and the Principle of Corrective Justice
Thabet Abu Ras, Dept. of Geography and Env. Development, Ben-Gurion University

The "Democratic Constitution": Justified Aims Overshadowed by the Bi-National Claim
Ilan Saban, Faculty of Law, Haifa University

Land, Planning and Justice

Planning Committee: Lands Cultivated by Arab Farmers Will not be Assigned for the Creation of “Kiryat Ata Forest”

Nazareth District Court Upholds Order from 1953 to Confiscate 200 Dunams of Land Belonging to Hundreds of Arab Families from Umm al-Fahem

Religious Rights

Supreme Court Issues Order Nisi against the Beer el-Sabe Municipality, Ordering it to Explain why the Big Mosque should not be Opened for Prayer and Worship

Education Rights

Adalah to Tel Aviv University: Restricting Entry into the University’s Medical School to Those over Twenty Years of Age Discriminates against Arab Students

Civil and Political Rights

Adalah to Attorney General: Israeli Security Services Interfere in Publication of Political and Legal Documents by Arab Organizations Illegally

International Advocacy

UN Committee Urges Israel to Revoke the Citizenship Law, Dismantle the Wall, Bind the JNF to Anti-Discrimination Principles, and Recognize the Unrecognized Villages

CERD's Concluding Observations on Israel, 9 March 2007

Adalah’s Newsletter is a monthly publication issued in Arabic, Hebrew and English. It highlights Adalah’s main activities, provides analysis of human rights issues, and links to new reports. Suggestions, articles and commentaries from our readers are welcome. View previous volumes

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Opening Remarks

On 13 March 2007, the media reported a special meeting at which the Director of the Shin Bet security services (GSS) warned the Prime Minister of “A dangerous radicalization of the Arabs in Israel.” The media reports indicated that the “warnings and alerts” raised by the GSS Director came in the wake of political and legal documents published by Arab organizations that addressed, among other issues, the discriminatory constitutional structure of the State of Israel. In a response sent to the editor of the Fasl al-Maqal newspaper, the GSS confirmed the reports, explaining that it is responsible “for thwarting the subversive activity of entities seeking to harm the character of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.” This interference by the GSS is not supported by any law and stands in complete contradiction to the principle of the rule of law. It also inflames racial incitement against the Arab citizens of Israel, in violation of the Penal Code. This criminal incident is not an isolated case, but the continuation of a GSS policy dating from the period of the military regime. The consistent silence of the law enforcement authorities towards criminal acts by the GSS against Arab citizens provides a green light for it to continue its actions against the legitimate political activity of the Arab population. These important documents, which disturb the GSS, testify to processes of the internal empowerment of the Arab citizenry. There is no doubt, therefore, that Arab citizens can expose the criminal activity of the GSS and oppose it through legitimate means.

Land Day

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