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Last update - 20:25 09/03/2007
UN: Israel must stop discrimination against Arabs, Palestinians
By Reuters

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said Israel's security measures to ward off suicide bombings and other attacks must be re-calibrated to avoid discrimination against Arab Israelis or Palestinians living in Israeli-occupied lands such as the West Bank.

The committee specified that Israel should ease roadblocks and other restrictions on Palestinians and put a stop to settler violence and hate speech.

Its 18 independent experts, who examined the records of 13 countries at a four-week meeting in Geneva, also said Israel should cease building a barrier in and around the West Bank and ensure its various checkpoints and road closures do not reinforce segregation.

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In its conclusions, the committee also voiced concern at an unequal distribution of water resources, a disproportionate targeting of Palestinians in house demolitions and the "denial of the right of many Palestinians" to return to their land.

Differing applications of criminal law between Jews and Arabs had caused "harsher punishments for Palestinians for the same offence", said the committee, whose recommendations are not legally binding.

A high number of complaints by Arab Israelis against police officers are not properly investigated and many Arabs suffer discriminatory work practices and high unemployment, it said.

Excavations beneath and around the Al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's holiest site in Jerusalem, should also be undertaken in a way that will "in no way endanger the mosque and impede access to it", it added.

Israel argues that the UN committee's remit, to ensure compliance with a 1965 international treaty against racial discrimination which the Jewish state has ratified, does not apply to the Palestinian territories it has occupied since 1967. The committee rejects that position.

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Itzhak Levanon, told the committee last month it was crucial to understand the pressing security threats faced by his country.
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  1.   UN to ISRAEL: ISRAEL TO UN 20:47  |  Mitch 09/03/07
  2.   Israel must stop discrimination 20:54  |  christa 09/03/07
  3.   Our behaviour in the occuied territories 20:54  |  Esther 09/03/07
  4.   Bravo Mitch 21:12  |  David Yulee Levy 09/03/07
  5.   Good thing the UN doesn`t have a nuclear bomb 21:20  |  Chick Corea 09/03/07
  6.   right. when all arab states and pals stop also. till then bug off 21:31  |  ralph 09/03/07
  7.   Two wrong don`t make it right 21:34  |  Rami 09/03/07
  8.   SHUT UP U.N.!! THESE LUNATICS DON`T GIVE A DAMN TO YOUR WORDS 21:37  |  JACKAL 09/03/07
  9.   Colonization of the land of Israel 21:39  |  Peter 09/03/07
  10.   How Dare Israel ... 21:39  |  Survivor`s Child 09/03/07
  11.   UN to Palestine 21:45  |  Evan Butzlaff 09/03/07
  12.   Rami, How ? 21:51  |  Aby 09/03/07
  13.   to Ramy #7 21:52  |  Sammy 09/03/07
  14.   Rami, so true but.. 21:57  |  Benlolo 09/03/07
  15.   And UN should stop supporting Hezballah!!! 22:14  |  dzone 09/03/07
  16.   To all Arabs and their supporters!!! 22:21  |  Igor D. 09/03/07
  17.   next they`ll demand non-discriminatory random searches 22:31  |  natan 09/03/07
  18.   Another Meaningless Demand from the UN 22:33  |  Elizabeth 09/03/07
  19.   UN hypocrites 22:35  |  Nicolas 09/03/07
  20.   Hamas = Fatah = Jihad = Hizbolla = etc = Amalek 22:47  |  Uzi 09/03/07
  21.   Israelis Behaving like Nazis 22:55  |  Fred Farkelsteinman 09/03/07
  22.   When the UN censures 22:59  |  Yonatan 09/03/07
  23.   So let`s get this straight... 23:01  |  Butch ben Yok 09/03/07
  24.   Israel will stop discriminating when Arabs stop killing Jews 23:05  |  BradL 09/03/07
  25.   Monthly UN Investigation 23:06  |  J of Hollywood 09/03/07
  26.   Rami # 7 23:07  |  Lynn 09/03/07
  27.   christa near Monaco 23:13  |  Lynn 09/03/07
  28.   World: Stop discriminating against Israel and Jews 23:23  |  David 09/03/07
  29.   Rami # 7- I agree 23:24  |  ChanahS 09/03/07
  30.   Israel should just... 23:30  |  Maureen Ann 09/03/07
  31.   Maureen Ann,Europe discriminates against people like you 23:52  |  Absolute Sweden 09/03/07
  32.   C`mon, we`re not as bad as South Africa... 23:55  |  Jonathan 09/03/07
  33.   Positive dialogue between Rami 7 and Chanah S 00:01  |  Noam 10/03/07
  34.   to lynn & Channah 00:03  |  Rami 10/03/07
  35.   Jews Mocking the Same Organization that gave them birth 00:10  |  kooskoos 10/03/07
  36.   #1 Mitch 00:21  |  Gambit 10/03/07
  37.   UN should ask Islam to reinstate the sin of murder 00:27  |  Aaron 10/03/07
  38.   Christa -= Eurotrash 00:32  |  Ben Marx 10/03/07
  39.   Apartheid State 00:35  |  Abe 10/03/07
  40.   #35 - you`re not serious! the UN is not the same organization 00:54  |  redmike 10/03/07
  41.   UN should shut their "pie-hole" up....fair is not a word they kno 01:32  |  The Equalizer 10/03/07
  42.   #40 Hey Redmike; you didn`t say UN was a joke 01:47  |  ballistic 10/03/07
  43.   #38 "Eurotrash" - Shameful Namecalling 02:02  |  chet 10/03/07
  44.   UN calling for Israel`s destruction 02:33  |  Peace Seeker 10/03/07
  45.   human wrongs 02:40  |  Peter 10/03/07
  46.   Ben Marx re: christa.......I couldn`t have said it better myself! 02:45  |  the truth 10/03/07
  47.   Ballistic #40 02:50  |  the truth 10/03/07
  48.   To Mitch 02:55  |  Karol 10/03/07
  49.   UN, the same organization 03:44  |  Dixie T 10/03/07
  50.   Esther,go to Tali Fahima and she`d teach you 03:46  |  Absolute Sweden 10/03/07
  51.   On A serious & more moderate note 04:02  |  Brad 10/03/07
  52.   Benlolo: Don`t Assume 04:10  |  Brad 10/03/07
  53.   Kooskoos 04:16  |  Brad 10/03/07
  54.   Karol 04:18  |  Brad 10/03/07
  55.   Jeez Israel how many more times 05:02  |  Racon-tour 10/03/07
  56.   UN: We need more dead Israelis to make us HAPPY 05:36  |  Dr Dave 10/03/07
  57.   The Jews are despised 06:18  |  lydia 10/03/07
  58.   Security of Istraelis is the Highest Priority. FENCE is necessity 06:27  |  Vittorio 10/03/07
  59.   to esther #3 06:58  |  simon 10/03/07
  60.   Yes, Rami, but you missed the point 07:03  |  Slibovitz 10/03/07
  61.   #35 07:11  |  simon 10/03/07
  62.   To Apartheid Deniers, Read Carter`s Book 08:02  |  Timothy 10/03/07
  63.   Ben Marx- Evades the Issue 08:03  |  Bill 10/03/07
  64.   a FULL RESPONSE to lydia from Brisbane (why Jews are despised) #1 08:08  |  the truth 10/03/07
  65.   Lydia 08:11  |  Brad 10/03/07
  66.   lydia (why the Jews are despised) part #2 08:19  |  the truth 10/03/07
  67.   lydia (why the Jews are despised) part # 3 (final) 08:23  |  the truth 10/03/07
  68.   #32 jonathan and South Africa 08:38  |  Christophilos 10/03/07
  69.   #3, esther 08:46  |  VIPER 10/03/07
  70.   #18, ELIZABETH 08:52  |  VIPER 10/03/07
  71.   #23, BUTCH BEN YOK 08:54  |  VIPER 10/03/07
  72.   No58 - they need to learn to live in peace 09:05  |  Palestinian Brit 10/03/07
  73.   #64, and you have ? 09:06  |  VIPER 10/03/07
  74.   No 50 - listen to the screaming in Hebron 09:10  |  Palestinian Brit 10/03/07
  75.   #65 BRAD, in reply 09:10  |  VIPER 10/03/07
  76.   #72 - Walls don`t bring peace 09:34  |  Slibovitz 10/03/07
  77.   Once again UN... 09:51  |  Marcelo 10/03/07
  78.   Does the U.N. 09:54  |  Claudio Golzman 10/03/07
  79.   UN =over 160 nations 09:54  |  Lena 10/03/07
  80.   For Simon #3 #35 10:13  |  Esther 10/03/07
  81.   Cause and Effect...reply to VIPER`s reply 10:30  |  the truth 10/03/07
  82.   #65 & #66 10:47  |  lydia 10/03/07