Goldstone and Israeli Apartheid
Section in Goldstone Report affirms the analysis of Israel as a regime
that combines occupation, colonialism and apartheid
re: Goldstone Report, A/HRC/12/48, 25 September 2009
paras 198 - 2009, pp 52 - 58, subtitle B: Overview of Israel's pattern of policies and conduct relevant to the OPT, and links between the situation in Gaza and West Bank
in particular:
para 206: Despite prohibitions under international humanitarian law (IHL), Israel has applied its domestic laws throughout the OPT since 1967. ( ...) The application of Israeli domestic laws has resulted in institutionalized discrimination against Palestinians in the OPT to the benefit of Jewish settlers, both Israeli citizens and others. Exclusive benefits reserved for Jews derive from the two-tiered civil status under Israel's domestic legal regime based on a "Jewish nationality," which entitles "persons of Jewish race or descendency"* to superior rights and privileges, particularly in land use, housing, development, immigration and access to natural resources, as affirmed in key legislation.** Administrative procedures qualify indigenous inhabitants of the OPT as "alien persons" and, thus, prohibited from building on, or renting, large portions of land designated by the Government of Israel as "State Land."***
* (footnote 56): Jewish National Fund, Memorandum of Association, art. 3 (c)
** (footnote 57): For those with "Jewish nationality" (as distinct from Israeli citizenship), special immigration rights and privileges are provided in the Basic Law: Law of Return (1950), as well as development and access to resources under the Basic Law:"Israel Lands" (1960).
*** (footnote 58): An alien person is defined as one who falls outside the following categories:
(a) an Israeli citizen;
(b) a person who has immigrated (to Israel) under the Basic Law: Law of Return;
(c) someone who is entitled to the status of immigrant under the Law of Return, i.e. a Jew by descent or religion;
(d) a company controlled by (a), (b) or (c).
para 207: The two-tiered cviil status under Israeli law, favouring "Jewish nationals (le'om yehudi) over persons holding Israeli citizenship (ezrahut), has been a subject of concern under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, particularly those forms of discrimination carried out through Israel's parastatal agencies (World Zionist Organization/Jewish Agency; Jewish National Fund and their affiliates), which dominate land use, housing and development.* The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights also has recognized that Israel's application of a "Jewish nationality" distinct from Israeli citizenship institutionalizes discrimination that disadvantages all Palestinians, in particular, refugees.**
* (footnote 59): In 1998, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights observed "with grave concern that the Status Law of 1952 authorizes the World Zionist Organization/Jewish Agency and its subsidiaries, including the Jewish National Fund, to control most of the land in Israel, since these institutions are chartered to benefit Jews exclusively. [...] large-scale and systematic confiscation of Palestinian land and property by the State and transfer of that property to these agencies constitutes an institutionalized form of discrimination because these agencies by definition would deny the use of these properties to non-Jews. Thus, these practices constitute a breach of Israel's obligations under the Covenant." (E/C.12/1/Add. 27, para.11).
** (footnote 60): In its 2003 review, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights also observed with particular concern that "the status of 'Jewish nationality,' which is a ground for exclusive preferential treatment for persons of Jewish nationality under the Israeli Law of Return, granting them automatic citizenship and financial government benefits, thus resulting in practice in discriminatory treatment against non-Jews, in particular Palestinian refugees." (E/C.12/1/Add. 90, para 18).