Ramallah: The Israeli Supreme Court has dismissed a petition brought by an advocacy group opposing a law which permits Jewish communities in the areas of the country with a significant Palestinian citizen population to reject housing applicants on grounds which may lead to discrimination.
Adalah, a legal centre specializing in minority rights in Israel, was particularly referring to the Naqab desert in the south, as well as the Galilee in the north, both of which have populations of Palestinian citizens of Israel.
The 5 to 4 decision by the panel of the Supreme Court has ended a legal challenge to the “Admissions Committees Law” which permits communities to use arguments about “social suitability” and the “social and cultural fabric” of a town to refuse residency. Critics charge that the law is aimed at maintaining Jewish racial purity in those neighbourhoods by excluding the native Palestinian population from settling there.
Adalah claims the law “allows the possibility of rejecting applicants who are Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, as well as other marginalized groups, solely on the basis of their race, ethnicity, religion, or other identity.”
Palestinian citizens of Israel are those who did not flee or were expelled during the Zionist invasion that led to the creation of the Israeli regime in 1948. They were subjected to military rule for almost two decades until being recognised as “full citizens”. They however complain of being marginalised as second class citizens and face discrimination at the hands of the regime and Israeli society.
Adalah also claimed that “The court’s decision effectively legalises the principle of segregation in housing between Palestinian and Jewish citizens, and permits the practice of racism against Palestinian citizens in about 434 communities, or 43 per cent of all towns in Israel.”
In comments on the decision, Adalah Attorney Suhad Bishara, who filed the petition, added “The court’s decision seriously undermines its landmark decision in 1999 in the Ka’adan case. That case allowed an Arab family to move to the town of Katzir despite their rejection by the town’s admissions committee.”
“This latest court decision illustrates the continued deterioration of the constitutional rights and legal protection of Palestinian citizens of Israel,” the attorney said.
The Israeli regime does not have a constitution.
