Gun Control and Discrimination in Israel
The Follow-Up Committee for Arab Education notes that the Israeli government spends an average of $192 per year on each Arab student compared to $1,100 per Jewish student. The drop-out rate for Arab citizens of Israel is twice as high as that of their Jewish counterparts (12 percent versus 6 percent). The same group also notes that there is a 5,000-classroom shortage in the Arab sector. In Palestine in Israeli School Books: Ideology and Propaganda in Education, Nurit Peled-Elhanan, a professor of language and education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, describes the depiction of Arabs in Israeli schoolbooks as racist. She states that their only representation is as "refugees, primitive farmers and terrorists," claiming that in "hundreds and hundreds" of books, not one photograph depicted an Arab as a "normal person." [Source]
The Mossawa Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens in Israel reported a tenfold increase in racist incidents against Arabs in 2008. Jerusalem reported the highest number of racist incidents against Arabs. The report blamed Israeli leaders for the violence, saying: "These attacks are not the hand of fate, but a direct result of incitement against the Arab citizens of this country by religious, public, and elected officials." The Bedouin claim they face systemic discrimination and have submitted a counter-report to the United Nations that disputes the Israeli government's official state report. They claim they are not treated as equal citizens in Israel and that Bedouin towns are not provided the same level of services or land that Jewish towns of the same size are, and that they are not given fair access to water. The city of Beersheba refused to recognize a Bedouin holy site, despite a High Court recommendation. [Source]
A senior Catholic spokesman, Fr Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Custodian of the Holy Land, has claimed that a lack of police action, and an educational culture in which Jewish pupils are encouraged to act with "contempt" towards Christians, has resulted in life becoming increasingly "intolerable" for many Christians. In 2012, pro-settler extremists attacked a Trappist monastery in the town of Latroun, covering walls with anti-Christian graffiti denouncing Christ as a "monkey" and daubing the 11th century Monastery of the Cross with offensive slogans such as "Death to Christians." According to an article in the Telegraph, Christian leaders feel the most important issue that Israel has failed to address is the practice of some ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools, which teach children that it is a religious obligation to abuse anyone in Holy Orders they encounter in public, "including Ultra-Orthodox Jewish children as young as eight spitting at members of the clergy on a daily basis." Incidents of spitting on Christian clergymen in Jerusalem have been common since the 1990s. Ruling on the case of a Greek Orthodox priest who had struck a yeshiva student who spat near him in 2011, a Jerusalem magistrate wrote, "Day after day, clergymen endure spitting by members of those fringe groups — a phenomenon intended to treat other religions with contempt. ... The authorities are not able to eradicate this phenomenon, and they don't catch the spitters, even though this phenomenon has been going on for years." [Source]
The Jewish National Fund is a private organization established in 1901 to buy and develop land in Israel for Jewish settlement; land purchases were funded by donations from world Jewry exclusively for that purpose. Discrimination has been claimed regarding ownership and leasing of land in Israel, because approximately 13% of Israel's land, owned by the Jewish National Fund, is restricted to Jewish ownership and tenancy, and Arabs are prevented from buying or leasing that land. In the early 2000s, several community settlements in the Negev and the Galilee were accused of barring Arab applicants from moving in. In 2010, the Knesset passed legislation that allowed admissions committees to function in smaller communities in the Galilee and the Negev, while explicitly forbidding committees to bar applicants based on the basis of race, religion, sex, ethnicity, disability, personal status, age, parenthood, sexual orientation, country of origin, political views or political affiliation. Critics, however, say the law gives the privately-run admissions committees a wide latitude over public lands and believe it will worsen discrimination against the Arab minority. [Source]
Some critics have described the Law of Return, which allows all Jews and persons of some Jewish descent to immigrate to Israel, as racist, as Palestinian refugees are not eligible for citizenship. Palestinians and advocates for Palestinian refugee rights criticize the Law of Return, which they compare to the Palestinian claim to a right of return. These critics consider the Law, as contrasted against the denial of the right of Palestinian refugees to return, as offensive and as institutionalized ethnic discrimination. In 2010 the Israeli cabinet proposed an amendment to the Citizenship Act requiring all future non-Jews applying for Israeli citizenship to swear loyalty to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. The proposal met harsh criticism, including accusations of racism; subsequently, it was amended to make the loyalty oath universal to both Jewish and non-Jewish naturalized citizens. Even in this new form, the bill did not pass due to lack of majority support in the Israeli parliament. [Source]
Control of Palestinian movement has been a feature of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territory since its inception in 1967. However, over the last 14 years the draconian system of movement controls used by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory has become increasingly institutionalized and restrictive. The permit system put in place in the early 1990s — which requires that all Palestinians obtain military issued permits to move between the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem or to travel abroad — is now complemented by a permanent system of roadblocks, gates, checkpoints, the Wall, and other obstacles to movement in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza blockade. Taken together, all of these factors contribute to forced displacement, severely limit Palestinian access to basic resources including land and water and basic services including health care and education, and perpetuate a system of segregation and legal and structural inequality between Palestinians and Israelis. Understanding how Palestinian’s freedom of movement is restricted is important to understanding the severe impact of Israel’s occupation on average Palestinians. [Source]
If one looks at the streets of Israel, it sometimes appears to be a country awash in guns, with soldiers, police and settlers carrying Uzis. Paradoxically, Israel has incredibly strict gun control laws. Try to buy a handgun, and you'll face perhaps a three-month waiting period, police, medical and psychological checks, and hard-to-win approval from the Interior Ministry. Prospective gun owners must also pass a gun competence test. A record of substance abuse or domestic violence means automatic disqualification. However, there are some exceptions to the tough controls. For example, Jewish settlers living close to Arab towns, claiming the need for self-defense, face less stringent restrictions. Palestinians, not surprisingly, complain about the settlers' guns. Because nearly every adult — male or female — serves in the armed forces at one time or another, most Israelis have been trained to use guns. In Israel, it is the security services — the police and the army — who are charged with public defense and who carry the vast majority of guns. [1999 Source]
Without coming right out and saying so, Israeli authorities have instituted a policy of making it as difficult as possible to request permission to possess a gun. "There is no right to own firearms in Israel," Amit said, a 25-year veteran of the Israeli army. "It is a privilege we sometimes allow." An official "policy of reduction," has been in place since 1999. It is now almost impossible for any civilian to keep more than a single gun at home — a gun, not a rifle. The sale of assault weapons to civilians is prohibited. In fact, the desire to collect firearms on its own is enough to raise a red flag for the licensing authorities. In Israel, 2.5 percent of the population — 150,000 people out of a national population of 7 million — possesses a gun. There are less than 2,500 registered hunters in the country. The reason so few Israelis own guns is because the government makes it so difficult. Almost half of all petitioners requesting gun ownership are turned down. "People have to fulfill certain criteria for us to consider them." If a request is deemed acceptable, the applicant would then have been presented — by mail — with a series of disclosure forms, granting the licensing board full access to all physical and mental health records, criminal history, and any intelligence gathered by any government agency. If no troubling questions were raised, at that point the applicant might be invited in for a personal interview with the licensing board. The Interior Ministry marks all licensed guns so that any bullet they fire can be traced through the national registry. Licenses have to be renewed every three years, pending practice training sessions in authorized, supervised groups. Even weapons acquired through inheritance are severely restricted. [2012 Source]
In September 2010, and then again in November 2014 and October 2015, Israel eased its gun control laws for Jewish settlers, but not the Palestinians, who are not allowed to carry guns in public. The changes for Jewish settlers: (1) Gun licenses can be issued without police authorization based solely on the professional opinion of Firearms Division personnel; (2) Jerusalem and 41 other cities, towns and local councils were added to the list of “high risk” or “high priority” areas where residents can receive a permit easier; and (3) Local authorities in “high priority” areas can give approval to carry weapons [see stories below].
Israel eases gun laws in bid to cope with Palestinian 'lone wolf' attacks
October 14, 2015
Jerusalem Post - Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan on Wednesday approved a number of measures to ease the requirements for firearm permits, as Israel copes with a wave of “lone wolf” terrorism.
“In recent weeks many citizens have helped the Israel Police subdue terrorists who carried out attacks,” he said.
“Citizens with firearms training are a multiplying force for the police in their fight against terrorism and therefore I will take measures to ease the restrictions at this time.”
The measures are to allow local authorities in “high priority” areas to give approval to carry weapons in certain instances, as opposed to previously when only the firearms licensing branch of the Public Security Ministry could do so.
The ministry on Wednesday used the example of allowing the Jerusalem Municipality to give permits to school teachers in the ultra-Orthodox sector, which it referred to as one of the most vulnerable communities.
The regulations plan to make officers with the rank of lieutenant or higher and non-commissioned officers with the rank of staff-sergeant or higher eligible for firearms permits. Previously an officer had to have the rank of captain or above. The regulations remove the requirement that the applicant serve in the rank for at least two years before applying.
The ministry said that people who have served in certain special units in the IDF and security services will be eligible, though they did not specify which ones. In addition, people who have passed the Shin Bet’s (Israel Security Agency) security guards course and those who have completed the Airports Authority security guard course can be eligible for a permit. They also said people who had graduated security guard courses approved and led by the Israel Police could be eligible.
The ministry said they want to take steps to increase the readiness of permit holders, saying that Erdan had instructed ministry officials to find ways to encourage permit holders to train at a shooting range at least once a year, instead of only every three years as current regulations require.
This isn’t the first time terrorism lead to changes in firearms policy in Israel. Last November, following a series of terrorist attacks, new regulations were put into effect.
This included adding Jerusalem and 41 other cities, towns and local councils, to the list of “high risk” or “high priority” areas where residents can receive a permit easier [see story below].
The regulations stipulated that security firms can let guards take their firearms home at the end of their shifts and allowed for people to receive military grade firearms on a case by case basis, among other changes.
In Israel firearms licenses are typically only given if one can prove they have reason to carry a gun – for instance if they work in security or law enforcement or live in a dangerous area like the West Bank. They must also be over 21 years old, a resident of Israel for over three years, and pass a mental and physical exam, a shooting test and background checks by the Public Security Ministry. They are then allowed to order a gun through a gun store with approval of the ministry and given a one-time supply of 50 bullets to take home.
Israel eases gun control rules after Jerusalem terror attack
Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch approved the guidelines during a meeting he held on Wednesday night with officials from the Israel Police and his ministry’s branch that approves firearm permits.
The decision comes after a series of terrorist attacks in the capital and elsewhere, and the minister’s promise earlier this week that he would order an examination into whether firearm restrictions could be loosened, as a way of providing security in the face of the threat.
The guidelines will add Jerusalem and 41 other cities, towns and local councils, to the list of areas considered “high-risk” or “high-priority,” such as including West Bank settlements, where residency can make it easier to receive a permit if one meets other criteria.
In addition, security firms can now let guards take their firearms home at the end of their shifts.
Soldiers who served in certain elite combat units; any reserve officer of any rank; and firearms shooting instructors will be able to get permits.
People with older state-issued firearms can swap them for newer guns, and the police security branch commander can authorize on a case by case basis the carrying of military grade firearms.
Aharonovitch said, “The decision to ease the restriction stems from recent events and the need to strengthen the sense of security among the general population and due to the recent terrorist attacks that have struck us.
Issuing permits will be done responsibly and with scrutiny and discretion, and in keeping with the approved criteria.”
As opposed to the United States where gun ownership is a right, in Israel it is a privilege given to people who meet certain requirements.
The licenses have only been issued to those who work in security or law enforcement, or who live in settlements or other places where the state has an interest in them being armed.
As of earlier this week, criteria included that the applicant be over 21, an Israeli resident for more than three years, have passed a mental and physical health exam, background checks by the Public Security Ministry and shooting exams and courses at a licensed gun range. If given a permit, the holder is allowed to order a single firearm with a one-time supply of 50 bullets from a licensed dealer. He is required to retake the licensing exam and undergo testing at a gun range every three years. He also has to prove he has a safe at home to store the gun.
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