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Is it possible to distort a reality of increasing integration of Arabs in Israel into a tale of growing "engineered", "institutionalized" segregation in one paragraph? Of course! Read thread #4 of my deep dive into @btselem's disinformation and you'll see how it's done, and why.
Here's the main claim: a 2011 Israeli law allows "hundreds" of Jewish communities to reject Arab applicants on grounds of "cultural incompatibility", which "effectively prevents Palestinian residents from living in communities designated for Jews". In one word: SEGREGATION! /2
This law is central to Btselem's larger narrative about "apartheid Israel" institutionalizing through legislation "Jewish supremacy", building "Jewish-only communities, while relegating Palestinians to small enclaves", and their incessant comparisons to SA and Jim Crow laws. /3
I've already exposed in threads 1-2 the manipulations behind this false narrative when applied to the West Bank, East Jerusalem and planning policies in Israel. But could it be that this "admission committees law" is really what Btselem says it is? I'll bring facts, you judge. /4
First, it's not "hundreds". The official list of communities where the law applies (available on @acrionline's website) includes 114, or 13% of all the Jewish rural settlements in sovereign Israel, with a total population in 2019 of 85,700, 1.3% of Israel's Jewish population./5
A third of those communities are kibbutzim which, due to their unique ideological and communal model, have always been very selective in accepting new members, way before 2011. In most places, the law didn't invent the practice but rather set limitations and regulations on it. /6
But still, can we say that Arabs are "effectively prevented" from living among that 1.3% of Israeli Jews? According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), 30% of the communities on the list had at least one Arab resident in 2019. Up to 6% of the population in some of them. /7
Frankly, that's anecdotal. The important point Btselem ignores is that the law explicitly bans rejecting candidates on the basis of race, religion, nationality, origin, gender and more. It also set up an appeals committee to review complaints for discrimination on such grounds./8
How do we know that this committee isn't just a rubber stamp? Because official info obtained by @shakoof showed that most of the appeals against decisions by admission committees during 2014-2018 were accepted, so candidates rejected on illegal grounds had to be admitted. /9
Btselem also argues that the fact "only 10%" of Israel's Arab citizens live in predominantly Jewish cities and settlements proves they are, in practice, not really free to move there if they want to. That's obviously a far fetched speculation, not backed by any evidence./10
What evidence does show is that in the past decade the share of Arab citizens living in predominantly Jewish cities grew by 50% (6.6% to 10%). This well-known trend gets ultra-conservatives in both societies anxious, and looks like Btselem also wishes it away by ignoring it. /11
Perhaps one of the factors driving that trend is a series of landmark Supreme Court rulings which consolidated a clear legal stance against discrimination of Arabs in real-estate and housing, ensuring remedies to those affected by it and punishment of its perpetrators./12
To wrap up, there are three undeniable facts:
1. Discrimination against Arabs is illegal in Israel, also on housing issues.
2. The protection by the state's institutions against discrimination has strengthened in recent decades & is more effective today than it ever was. /13
1. Discrimination against Arabs is illegal in Israel, also on housing issues.
2. The protection by the state's institutions against discrimination has strengthened in recent decades & is more effective today than it ever was. /13
3. The demographic trends on the ground show increasing integration of Arab citizens in predominantly Jewish cities and towns.
No, not all is perfect. More work needed on tackling prejudices and discrimination against many groups in Israel. But Jim Crow? You gotta be kidding./14
No, not all is perfect. More work needed on tackling prejudices and discrimination against many groups in Israel. But Jim Crow? You gotta be kidding./14
Why does Btselem insist that Israel is increasingly institutionalizing and implementing segregation when the opposite is clearly true? Because this claim is a crucial pillar in their legal argument that, in recent years, "the bar for labeling Israel as apartheid has been met"./15
That's why on every issue, as I keep showing, Btselem carefully conceals any fact which points to improvement, and instead engineers, with cergical selectiveness of words and figures, an imaginary deterioration that doesn't exist in the real world. This is disinformation. /end
