Four years after the riots of October 2000, and a full year after the publication of the Orr Committee report, discrimination and inequality still cast a deep shadow over Arab-Jewish relations in Israel, and over the future stability of Israeli society, states the annual report of Sikkuy - Association for the Advancement of Civic Equality in Israel, published today.
The rate of participation in the labor force among Arabs was 39%, compared with 57% among Jews. Most of the gap is the result of the 17.1% rate of participation by Arab women, compared with 54% among Jewish women.
Even when education levels are equal, a gap between Jews and Arabs in employment in academic professions still exists. 20% of employed Arabs work in the liberal, management, and academic professions, compared with 38% of Jews.
The proportion of poor Arab families is three times the proportion among Jews. 45% of Arab families are classified as poor, even after transfer payments and direct taxes are taken in to account, compared with 15% of Jewish families. Transfer payments and direct taxes raise approximately half of the Jewish poor above the poverty line, but only 20% of Arab poor.
The average disposable income of an Arab family, including direct taxes and allowances, amounts to 67.8% of the average disposable income of an Arab family. The report also reveals gaps in other areas, such as health and education. Inventories, varieties of medical services, and access to specialist doctors at clinics in Arab communities are far inferior to their counterparts in Jewish communities in the sample.
The report attributes discrimination to a failure to implement fifteen diverse development plans over the past 50 years. The report states that what is now needed is not a new development plan, or a focus on any particular segment of the Arab population, but a significant change that will avoid a need for additional plans in the future.
”What is needed is not just help for minorities, but equality between Jews and Arabs. An equality authority should be established,” the report says. The proposed authority will deal with narrowing the gaps between Jews and Arabs according to the recommendations of the Orr Committee, and prepare a ten-year plan for closing gaps.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on September 27, 2004