Peter Beinart is wrong: Palestinian hostility to Israel is frequently anti-Semitic

[Little Tich]

42. I've got a list of 50 discriminatory laws that says otherwise.

I know I've posted this article before, and that you've never bought my arguments about it, but if there's anything factually wrong with it or the Adalah list of 50 discriminatory laws please tell me. My argument that the Israeli political system is discriminatory against non-Jews is based on information like the article and the Adalah list.

Just pick any discriminatory law you want and tell me why it's not discriminatory. If you were able to do it, it would help your argument quite a lot.

For example, isn't it even a little bit discriminatory that 93% of all land in Israel is earmarked for use and development for Jewish citizens only?


The Adalah database of 50 discriminatory laws in Israel
Source: Mondoweiss, June 14, 2015

(snip)

1. 1950 law about confiscation of Absentee Landlord Property. This law defines persons who were expelled, fled, or who left the country after November 29, 1947 as “absentee.” Property belonging to “absentees” was placed under the control of the State of Israel with the Custodian for Absentees’ Property. The Absentee Property Law was the main legal instrument used by Israel to take possession of the land belonging to the internal and external Palestinian refugees, and Muslim Waqf properties across the state. This law continues to be used to this day by quasi-governmental agencies in Israel to take over Palestinian properties in East Jerusalem, for example.

2. 1950 Law of Return. This allows every Jewish person to immigrate to Israel and this extends to the children and grandchildren of Jews, as well as their spouses, and the spouses of their children and grandchildren. The flip side of this is that the rights of Palestinians and others to enter the state and become citizens, even if they were born in the area that is now the State of Israel, are extremely restrictive. This discrimination against the non-Jewish minority has been periodically reinforced. For example, the ban on family unification law of 2003 prohibits citizens of Israel from reuniting with Palestinian spouses living in the West Bank or Gaza.

3. In 1952 the state authorized the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish Agency, and other Zionist bodies founded at the turn of the 20th century to function in Israel as quasi-governmental entities in order to further advance the goals of the Zionist movement, to the detriment of minorities.

4. The Land Acquisition Law of 1953 transferred the land of 349 Arab towns and villages—approximately 1.2 million dunams in all (~468 square miles)—to the state to be used preferentially for the Jewish majority.

5. In 1953, the Knesset bestowed governmental authorities on the Jewish National Fund (JNF or Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael) to purchase land for exclusively Jewish use. The state granted financial advantages, including tax relief to facilitate such purchases.

6. In 1960, the state passed a law which stipulates that the ownership of “Israel lands”—namely the 93% of land under the control of the state, the Jewish National Fund, and the Development Authority—cannot be transferred in any manner.

Read more: http://mondoweiss.net/2015/06/database-discriminatory-israel/

The Discriminatory Laws Database
Source: Adalah, The legal center for Arab Minority rights in Israel

In March 2013, Adalah launched the Discriminatory Laws Database, an online resource that collects more than 50 Israeli laws enacted since 1948 that directly or indirectly discriminate against Palestinian citizens of Israel in all areas of life, including their rights to political participation, access to land, education, state budget resources, and criminal procedures. Some of the laws also violate the rights of Palestinians living in the 1967 OPT and Palestinian refugees.

Read more: http://www.adalah.org/en/content/view/7771