Israel’s human rights problems are largely due to the “tensions” between Israeli authorities and the Arab residents of the areas taken in the 1967 Six-Day War, according to the State Department’s annual reports on human rights throughout the world.
This assessment in the Department’s 10th annual “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices” released last Thursday is essentially the same as has been made in the past. The 1,140-page report, which is mandated by Congress, covers human rights conditions in all countries that are members of the United Nations.
“The complex human rights situation in the occupied territories is largely the result of the fact that since the 1967 war and in the absence of a peace settlement, the territories remain under military administration and there is friction between occupation authorities and the Palestinian population which opposes Israeli control,” the 1985 report said.
SYMPTOMS OF FRICTION
“Among the symptoms of friction are active resistance to the occupation, including episodes of violence, sometimes encouraged by outside extremist groups. Friction also arises from security measures taken by Israel to counteract terrorist acts and threats of terrorism, and to counter other kinds of activities which the Israeli authorities assert endanger security.”
The report adds that “another cause of friction is the introduction of civilian settlers, although settlement activity has slowed.”
In addition, the report noted that “frictions are exacerbated by some Israeli political elements who advocate annexation or permanent Israeli control of the territories as well as by the refusal of the principal Palestinian organizations to recognize the State of Israel.”
The report also pointed to “a marked increase in violent acts in 1985” against both Jews and Arabs in the West Bank. “One or another faction of the PLO as well as a variety of PLO dissident groups claimed responsibility for nearly all acts of violence against the IDF or Israeli civilians,” the report said. But it adds that most of the violence “appears, however, to have been spontaneous and local.”
Israel itself is praised as a parliamentary democracy “characterized by its openness and by its wide-ranging and lively public debate of all issues.”
SITUATION IN SYRIA AND IRAQ
The report also contains information on the condition of Jews in other countries.
On Syria’s 3,000-4,000 Jews, the report said they are free to practice their religion, and their general situation “has improved in recent years, despite continuing uncertainty over the community’s future” and they enjoy “a relatively good standard of living, access to higher education, and entrance into the professions.”
But “Jews are subject to restrictions on foreign travel, however, and unlike other Syrian communal groups, the passports and identity cards of Jewish citizens contain a notation that the holder is Jewish,” the report adds.
In Iraq, where the Jewish community now numbers only about 400, the report finds “there is no evidence of recent persecution.” In 1985 a Western journalist visited the last known synagogue in Baghdad and confirmed that it is still functioning.
CONDITIONS IN LEBANON AND MOROCCO
The report noted that “Lebanon’s tiny Jewish minority has been intimidated by kidnappings during 1985 and very few Jews remain in their traditional neighborhoods in west Beirut.”
In Morocco, the some 10,000 Jews operate schools and institutions as well as 20 major synagogues, and have the support of the King. Unlike the situation in other Arab countries, Moroccan Jews are allowed to maintain close ties to Jews elsewhere, including Israel.
JEWS IN TUNISIA, YEMEN REPUBLIC AND ETHIOPIA
Jews also worship freely in Tunisia, although synagogues and Jewish-owned shops have been attacked during period of tension, according to the report. But it notes that after the Israeli raid on PLO headquarters in Tunis, “the government took extraordinary measures to protect the Jewish community.”
In the Yemen Arab Republic, the report finds that the tiny Jewish community lives peacefully, practices their religion freely and suffers no unusual economic hardships.
“They maintain only very limited contact with Jews abroad,” the report adds. “Communications between Yemeni Jews and their coreligionists and relatives in Israel are strictly prohibited.”
The report said that in Iran, Jews are permitted to practice their religion, but unlike other groups Jews are subject to travel restrictions.
In Ethiopia, the government continues to prevent emigration and to restrict Hebrew instruction, according to the report. But the report said that claims of genocidal or brutal action against Ethiopian Jews is unfounded. (See related story, P. I.)
SOVIET UNION CRITICIZED
The report repeats the criticism of the Soviet Union cited in another recent State Department report of official anti-Semitism, crackdowns against Hebrew teachers and continued low emigration.
At a briefing Thursday Richard Schifter, Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, was asked if he believed the release of Anatoly Shcharansky may mean a change in the Soviet attitude. He said he had “high hopes” that emigration may be allowed to increase.
The report found conditions better for Jews in other Eastern bloc countries. In Rumania, the government continues to support a widespread and active Jewish community organization. The same is true in Czechoslovakia.
In Argentina, the report found that the 250,000- member Jewish community practices its religion freely, although anti-Semitic incidents do occur occasionally. The government has condemned religious prejudice and there is legislation pending that would provide penalties for racial, religious and other forms of discrimination.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
