Review of the Arab Press in Israel
Review of the Arab Press in Israel
No. 19 / Tuesday 13 - Monday 19, February 2001
Arab Association for Human Rights website: http://www.arabhra.org/
address: PO Box 215 - 16101 Nazareth – Israel phone: 04-6561923 mailto:unia@arabhra.org
Preventing Arab workers from using their mother tongue
Long reports and testimonies were published during this
week documenting the discrimination against Arab workers in
a restaurant company called "Yehuda Afazi". The company has
restaurants in Haifa, Hertzelia, Holon, Tel-Aviv, Kfar Saba
and Natanya.
"The Voice of worker Association" in
Nazareth had published a full coverage of testimonies of
Arab workers in this restaurant after "Black October"
clashes.
Fasl Al-Maqal published the first part of the
Association's report about the Arab workers' suffering. The
workers claim that the request of "not speaking Arabic
during work came up after the Black October clashes, when
they became a target (see Weekly Press Review-No.6).
Ibrahim Mahajna from Umm Al-Fahm town says in his
testimony: "After I was injured by Jewish mobs in Tel-Aviv
and after calming the situation, I tried to come back to
work, but the boss refused saying that he does not want any
Arab workers in Tel Aviv and do not w ant to hear the Arabic
Language".
Mahajna said as well that their Arabic names
were switched to Hebrew names in order not to be recognized
as Arabs by the restaurant customers, for example: worker
with family name such as Jabarin was switched to "Gabi" and
this was a condition in order to not be fired".
Assad
Ailie, another worker from Umm Al-Fahm reported "he was
working in this company for about 4 years. After the October
clashes new instructions were given due to work's
conditions. The most important and insulting one refers to
preventing us speaking Arabic between us or with Arab
costumers."
A serious discussion developed between the
worker and his boss as Ailie says: "I refused speaking in
Hebrew with my friends and declared that we are Arabs, we
will remain Arabs and we will die as Arabs. The next day I
was fired". (Ayyam Al-Arab, Friday 16).
Al-Sinnara
(Friday 16) resembles the Arab workers' situation in this
company to the Apartheid government.
Faruq Mahajna from
Umm Al-Fahm was a witness to this discrimination.
Farug
attended the restaurant as a costumer. The waiter was Arabic
from Umm Al-Fahm, which he recognized. "We start speaking in
Arabic when the shift responsible came to the waiter and ask
him to speak in Hebrew."
The managing-director of the
company, Mr. Tsfvika Wolf refuses all those testimonies
claiming that "they never prevented their Arab workers from
speaking their mother tongue, but they just asked them to
speak with low tone". This reaction was received in "The
Voice of worker Association" in February 11.
Moreover
two Arabic partners in this company, Jamel Mahajna and Adnan
Mahajna, called Al-Sinnara and Sawt Al-Haqq Wal-Hurriya
reacting to the workers: "We have 220 Arabic workers which
is about 80% of our workers in the company. We love and
respect them. We do prevent screaming and shouting but we
never prevent them speaking in Arabic."
"Switching
Arabic names to Hebrew names is a slander." Jamel claims.
The District Court permits Arabic Advertisings
The
District Court in Haifa permits the Arab students in the
"West Galilee College" to advertise in Arabic.
"The
College prevented the Arab students from publishing in
Arabic unless translating the whole text to Hebrew". Sawt
Al-Haqq Wal-Hurriya (Friday 16.)
The students appeal to
"The Association for the Right of the Citizen".
Mr.
Yosseff Jabarin, the Advocate of this association appealed
to the District Court on 1999. (Al-Sinnara, February 13).
Judge Yitzhak Shveli in his decision on Monday to permit
Arabic advertising with a translation of the title only,
wrote in his decision: "the right of speaking and expression
must be taken as a primary right of human being; moreover,
publishing an advertising in Arabic or using the Arabic
language can not be used as an excuse or allegation to
prevent the use of Arabic Language". (Al-Ittihad, February
13). The Lack in Arab Special Education System
In our
"Weekly Press Review", No.11 we referred to the lacking in
the system.
We referred as well to Advocate Awni Banna's
petition to the Ministry of Education on behalf of the
Association for the Right of the Citizen.
Al-Sinnara and
Al-Ittihad in there Tuesday editions reported about the
Supreme Court decision by Judge Yakov Terkel to transform
the petition to a form of three judges in the couple of
weeks.
Al-Ittihad Friday's edition published a full
coverage of the topic. Banna expressed his bitterness: "in
spite the fact that 5 months passed since our petition to
the Ministry of Education, and in spite the recommendation
of opening new classrooms, nothing has been done yet".
The article review the system needs, which is missing in
the Arab Education system such as:
1. Specialist
teachers.
2. Special schools with special needs
3.
Lack of special therapy. Autopsy files on Martyrs of "Black
October" Clashes
Another petition by "Adalah" - Legal
center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel- and "The
Physician Association for Human Rights" reflected the Arabic
press in this week.
Sawt Al-Haqq Wal-Hurriya,
Al-Ittihad, Al-Sinnara, and Kull Al-Arab (Friday 16),
exclaimed that families of Mohammad Jabarin (Umm
Al-Fahm), Ahmad Jabarin (Umm Al-Fahm), Rami Gharra (Jatt),
and Mesleh Abu-Jarad (Der El-Balah),appealed to the Supreme
Court in order to get the autopsy files from "Abu-Kabir"
-the Criminal Forensic Institute-, which were privileged by
the police.
Hassan Jabarin, a lawyer from Adalah
stressed Morocco on the importance of this files both to
families and to the Investigation Committee. "Refusing to
supply families with this files offend their dignity and the
Martyrs ‘ dignity as well", Jabarin claimed in his petition.
The investigation Committee starts today the testimony
hearing. Al-Ittihad, in its Monday edition disapproves of
the fact that "the committee did not declare the beginning
of its work even to the martyrs' parents".
"This make it
even harder to the martyrs' advocators to get ready". Arab
reactions to the Azur bus attack.
Many Arab and Hebrew
newspapers this week, chose the bus attack as their main
topic. However just few Arab columns did react actually to
the attack, even if it was mentioned as a topic. Kull
Al-Arab's front page presents the two sides of the story:
The Azur (a town south to Tel-Aviv) bus attack and a dead
teenager from Gaza. The headline: "Victims here and victims
here, but no solution without an end of the occupation".
The journalist Kaywan relates this attack to "the
murdering of Massoad Aiad, a Palestinian officer who was
murdered at the same day in Gaza by IDF's helicopter".
Panorama relates to the same topic from the same point of
view; the attack, background, and reactions. Sharon, the
elected prime minister claims that "terrorist attacks do not
separate between Tel-Aviv, Holon or Hedera, but its main
goal is to strike Israeli wherever they exist". On the
other hand and from a different point of view, Ayyam-Al-Arab
editorial, Mr. Walid Yassen says, "the bus attack strike our
feelings the same as the murder of the Palestinian Officer
Massoad Aiad, and of Mohamed Al-Durra whose murdered was
photographed last October".
Yassen says as well: "that
he can't bare discrimination between Arabic blood and Jewish
blood, or tears of a Jewish mother or of an Arabic woman,
cause this will brings both sides to more hate, specially if
those words were President Moshe Katsav's words.
Discriminations in Law Application
Hussin Abu-Hussin in
his report in Al-Ittihad Friday edition refers to Israeli
law application especially against Israeli Arab Minority and
Palestinians.
Abu-Hussin stresses his point of view by
giving different examples : "Mr. Mawtner, a researcher and
lecturer in Haifa University concluded through his research
work that chances of conviction an Arabic citizen by Israeli
court are higher than a Jewish citizen; moreover, the
punishment of Arabic citizen will be much cruel than of
Jewish citizen".
Hussin refers as well to other aspects
such as law of Return, social discriminations such as
attending public places or flying with Israeli flight
company, where you are treated as a bomb that might explode
any minute"
(Al-Ittihad- February 16). The Ribat
Conference of Refuges Rights
The conference, which was
held in Ribat-Morocco between 10-14 February 2001, discussed
the Palestinian refuges' issue.
A delegation of Arab
organizations participate in this conference.
The
conferees explained the importance of keeping the
Palestinians inside Israel as a main part of the refuges'
problem". (Al-Ittihad - February 16).
Advocate Khalid
Zuabi, chairperson of Arab Association for Human Rights
comment on the conference saying: "our participation was
very important in order to strengthen our relations with
Human Rights organizations in the Arab world". A Meeting
with an Investigation Committee - The United Nations.
A
delegation of different institutions and human rights
organizations took a part in this meeting.
The main
discussion issues: overuse of force by police, occupation
and its effects, property destruction and abusive arrests.
Mohammed Zeidan- director of Arab Association for Human
Rights stated in an interview in Al-Ittihad: "the committee
work was limited in occupied territories since 1967, but due
to the fact and the resemblance of "treatment" of October
clashes, we decided to brought this issue to the committee,
in order to be discussed". (Al-Ittihad, February 16).
See also IndyMedia, Israel website: http://www.indymedia.org.il/imc/israel/webcast/index.php3
ENDS