TEL AVIV, December 9, 2008 (WAFA)- Israeli daily, Haaretz mentioned a report issued Sunday by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) on the occasion of the 'Human Rights Week' that marks the 60^th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations in 1948. The report 'cites a gross violation of human rights, to the point that threatens Israeli democracy' the editorial said.

In is editorial on Monday, the paper described the report as a 'disturbing reminder of this country's (Israel) standing. It explained that the inequities suffered by Arab citizens in the areas of infrastructure, education and health, among others are especially striking, Stressing that the principle of equality to which Israel is committed in its Declaration of Independence is contradicted by 'such blatant discrimination'.

The Israeli High Court had recently warned that its ruling of two years ago, in which it struck down the Israeli Government's plan to delineate regions of the country as 'areas of national preference' in education, has yet to be upheld. The paper commented that, this is just one example of the complete contempt with which Israeli government ministries view the principle of equality, 'the same contempt that in one fell swoop voided the recommendations of the Or Commission that probed the events of October 2000,' at the beginning of the second Palestinian Intifada, where thirteen Palestinians, twelve of whom are citizens of Israel were killed by the Israeli Police.

The editorial stated that, the ACRI report reminds that Israel is 'the most inegalitarian country in the Western world.' This, according to Haaretz, is manifest primarily in income disparities, but also in citizens' ability to obtain services that have been privatized.

The paper added that the violations of prisoners' rights by the use of excessive force, intolerable crowding in prisons and inferior sanitary conditions are no less outrageous.

Regarding the Jewish colonizers' violence against Palestinian citizens, the paper said that, 'only a minority of the cases investigated by the police result in indictments'. The report states that in most instances, the police do not even launch an investigation, which harms the foundations of the rule of law. This reality, according to Haaretz, contravenes the State of Israel's obligations under international law, and arouses serious concern that Israel is doing nothing to stop the entrenchment of an apartheid policy in the Palestinian Territories.

Finally, the editorial mentioned that this collection of data and facts enunciated in the report is worrying, and it raises hard questions regarding the future of Israel as a democratic, egalitarian society.