The Mossawa Center, Haifa. Thursday 11th of September 2014.Mossawa has published its updated report on the Legal Status of Arab Citizens in Israel. The report includes all discriminatory laws, proposed legislation and policies implemented by the Israeli government. It paints the picture of a worsening situation for the Arab community in Israel. Since the 2009 elections over 35 discriminatory bills have been proposed in the Knesset more than any other Knesset, and the election in 2013 of the 19th Knesset has not shown any chance in legislative trends.

According to the report Arab citizens in Israel are discriminated against in almost all aspects of life from education and employment to land allocation. The report points to the lack of a constitution as well as the paradoxical definition of Israel as both a Jewish and Democratic state, as key factors in the continuing discrimination against Arab citizens. There has been growing discrimination, racism and out right violence against the Arab community leading up to and during the war on Gaza.

In response to these events and the long time discrimination shown in our report, the Mossawa Center will be holding its annual Legal Status Conference on September 12th in Nazareth on this very topic. The conference will bring together experts, politicians, journalists and academics from across the country to discuss the serious issues facing the Arab community and how best to counter racism and discrimination in the Israeli government and in the country.

The Mossawa report will be distributed at the conference as well as widely to the international community.

For the full report click here