Israel's Palestinian treatment criticized
Source: Agencies |
December 20, 2010, Monday
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ISRAEL systematically stifles the development of Palestinian communities in the West Bank and east Jerusalem while fostering the growth of Jewish settlements on those lands, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a report yesterday, urging the United States to slash aid to Israel because of "blatantly discriminatory" practices.
No security rationale or other legitimate reason can explain the "vast scale of differential treatment," said the 166-page report, which compared several Palestinian communities with neighboring settlements.
In one case, Israel refused to connect a West Bank village to the electricity grid and denied approval for a foreign-funded solar energy project there, while a nearby settlement enjoyed all standard services, the report said.
"Palestinians face systematic discrimination merely because of their race, ethnicity, and national origin, depriving them of electricity, water, schools, and access to roads, while nearby Jewish settlers enjoy all of these state-provided benefits," said Carroll Bogert, a spokeswoman for the group.
Israeli officials were reviewing the report and had no immediate comment.
The Palestinians want to set up a state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war.
Israel has built dozens of settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem over the past four decades to buttress its control there.
Israel annexed east Jerusalem after the 1967 war, a step not recognized internationally while the West Bank remained under military occupation.
No security rationale or other legitimate reason can explain the "vast scale of differential treatment," said the 166-page report, which compared several Palestinian communities with neighboring settlements.
In one case, Israel refused to connect a West Bank village to the electricity grid and denied approval for a foreign-funded solar energy project there, while a nearby settlement enjoyed all standard services, the report said.
"Palestinians face systematic discrimination merely because of their race, ethnicity, and national origin, depriving them of electricity, water, schools, and access to roads, while nearby Jewish settlers enjoy all of these state-provided benefits," said Carroll Bogert, a spokeswoman for the group.
Israeli officials were reviewing the report and had no immediate comment.
The Palestinians want to set up a state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war.
Israel has built dozens of settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem over the past four decades to buttress its control there.
Israel annexed east Jerusalem after the 1967 war, a step not recognized internationally while the West Bank remained under military occupation.
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