Israel is criticized for violating the right to equality in a new report by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

An advance version of the CERD report indicates that racial prejudice can be found in almost every facet of Israeli life (“Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination,” 9 March 2012 [PDF]).

CERD is a body of legal specialists who monitor the implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which states that any doctrine of superiority based on racial differentiation is scientifically false, morally condemnable, socially unjust and dangerous.

Basic Law flawed

According to its report, key legislation in Israel runs counter to that convention. Israel’s Basic Law (the closest thing it has to a written constitution) does not contain a commitment to equality or to prohibit racial discrimination. Neither does Israeli law contain a proper definition of racial discrimination. Read more