Racism towards Arabs at home and Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line is deeply rooted in the Israeli psyche, government and Knesset legislation, according to data from the Israeli Ministry of Justice's Government Anti-Racism Coordination Unit on complaints related to racism and discrimination in Israel for 2022.

The most prominent racist legislation enacted by the Knesset were: extending the ban on Palestinian family reunification, extending the Emergency Law, the Nakba Law, restricting freedom of expression, the Law on the Financing of Associations, the Planning and Building Law (Kamenetz), the Law on Admission Committees for Jewish Communities, the Nation-State Law, and the Jewish State Law.

Data on complaints of discrimination and racism in 2022 shows that the government unit in the Ministry of Justice opened 415 cases of complaints about racism, showing that 48 Palestinian Arab citizens who were granted Israeli citizenship topped the list of complaints and reports related to racist incidents.

According to data from the State Anti-Racism Coordination Unit, 32% of complaints came from Arab citizens and 18% from Israelis brought from the former Soviet Union.

The data revealed that 17% of complaints of racism came from Jews of Ethiopian origin, 5% from ultra-Orthodox Jews, 5% from Jews of Mizrahi origin, and 15% from social and various groups not listed by name.

Demonstration in um al-Fahm city against the policy of police shooting 48 Palestinians (Al Jazeera)

The breakdown of complaints by subject matter shows that 19% of complaints relate to discrimination in the provision of public services, 12% to discrimination at work, 11% to racial expression in the public sphere, and 9% to stereotypical racist propaganda in public places.

It also shows that 6% of complaints were about racist expressions in the civil service, 7% about the police and law enforcement authorities, 6% about racism in the education system, and 3% about the issue of racially motivated crimes, while 17% of the complaints do not fall within the scope of the work of the government unit to coordinate combating racism.

Discrimination and racism

Lawyer Amy Belmore, who supervised the report and previously served as director general of Israel's Ministry of Justice, suggested that the rise in complaints of discrimination and racism from Arab citizens was due to the military campaign "Guardian of the Walls."

In her analysis of the data in the report, she explained that the May Gift of Dignity led to fear among Jews and hostility towards Arabs, and that the rise in complaints of discrimination and racism may be due to election campaigns that witnessed incitement against Arabs.

Despite the growing manifestations of discrimination and racism and their legalization through dozens of laws, lawyer Belmore refused to acknowledge through her analysis of the data that Israel is a racist state, saying, "I think we are not a racist state, but we are in crisis. I don't think what's happening in the country is racism, it's polarization."

Racial discrimination in Israel stems from perceptions among Jews of being above others (Al Jazeera)

Convictions and concepts

Commenting on the statements and analyses issued by the governmental unit to coordinate the fight against racism, lawyer Khaled Zabarqa, head of the Popular Committee in Lod, said that "Israel's view of Arabs is a racist view rooted in the Israeli psyche and mentality, due to the deep-rooted conviction of the Jewish community that the Jewish element is superior to the Arab element."

Al-Zabarqa explained – in a statement to Al Jazeera Net – that racism is rooted in all walks of life and is rooted in dozens of laws that were enacted specifically for discrimination and racism towards Arabs, which reflects the permanent feeling in Israel of the superiority of Jews over Arabs, and this is one of the most important concepts of the Jewish state that wants to be imposed by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu on the ground.

He pointed out that racial discrimination is practiced and systematic and stems from the convictions of Jews to view themselves as higher and above others, and this is what the Israeli establishment has enshrined through the legislation of dozens of racist laws in various aspects of life, and perhaps the most important law that was legislated to enshrine the principle of the Jewishness of the state is the Basic Law "The Jewishness of the State of Israel" in 2018.

Zabarqa: Racism is rooted in all walks of life and rooted in dozens of laws (Al Jazeera)

Meta and inferiority

Zabarqa believes that these laws paved the way for the consolidation of supremacist Judaism in the face of Arab inferiority, saying that "they are not satisfied that the Jew is superior to the Arab, but they want to force the Arab to feel and accept inferiority before the Jew. On this basis, the features and manifestations of racism are constantly on the rise, popularly, publicly and officially."

The head of the Popular Committee in Lod pointed out that this racism, which is rooted in the Israeli mentality, the reins of government and the various institutions, aims to ensure a Jewish majority in historic Palestine, to be stronger and influential in front of a scattered, fragmented, marginal and scattered Palestinian Arab minority living on the margins of society.

Zabarqa cited the spread of violence and crime in Palestinian society, pointing out that this is one of the mechanisms of discrimination and racism to dismantle the Palestinian Arab society at home, in exchange for the consecration of Jewish symbols, the Judaization of public space, and the obliteration of national, national, and religious symbols of Arabs and Palestinians.

Culture and approach

Sameh Iraqi, head of the Freedom Movement against Racism and Occupation, agrees with this proposition, stressing that the current Israeli government is heading towards an unprecedented escalation towards Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line, and turning discrimination and racism into a common culture against 48 Palestinians in particular.

Iraqi explained – in a statement to Al Jazeera Net – that discrimination and racism is another face of the occupation, so that the manifestations of racism have become prevalent in various aspects of life and reflect an existential battle for the Palestinian people and an identity conflict for the Palestinians of 48 inside the Green Line.

He pointed out that the most prominent areas and stations of discrimination and racism, whether from Israeli society, the government and Israeli institutions, relate to the issue of land and housing, the escalation of the pace of demolition of Arabs, silencing the call to prayer, confiscating land, obliterating Arab identity and symbols and imposing another false identity.

Hiba Alkarama and Huwara

An Iraqi believes that the most dangerous thing in the series of racial discrimination is the implementation of terrorist attacks by settler gangs on Palestinians everywhere, recalling what happened in Huwara, and the settlers' terrorism of 48 Palestinians during the Gift of Dignity, by perpetuating the inferiority of the Palestinian, which confirms the dominant occupation mentality among large segments of Israeli society.

He explained that the relationship between the various institutions of Israelis and Palestinians inside Israel has been in a state of escalating tension since the second intifada in 2000, and that it took a dangerous turn following the Gift of Dignity in May 2021, when settler gangs continued to attack 48 Palestinians, prosecuting residents of coastal cities and narrowing public space for them in order to push them to forced migration.