Gov't school plan struck down as 'racially based'

[Englander]

By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent

Seven High Court justices Monday unanimously struck down as "racially based" and discriminatory a government plan to make additional investments in the education system in "areas of national preference."

The government plan defines approximately 500 Jewish communities as "areas of national preference," while only four small Arab villages are defined as such.

The petition was submitted by the Israeli Arab Monitoring Committee and Adalah, a non-governmental, non-partisan legal center.

The ruling stated that the government plan gives "preferential treatment based on nationality and race."

The High Court's ruling opens the door for challenges against every government plan that defines "areas of national preference," as the ruling states, "All government plans will be checked for equality between the various sectors."

Link;
Haaretz

[Scurrilous]

1. More court news:

Court rejects Mofaz petition for hearing on 'human shield' ban

<snip>

"Supreme Court Justice Eliezer Rivlin denied a request Monday by Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz to hold another hearing over the use of 'human shields' by Israel Defense Forces soldiers in the Palestinian territories.

Mofaz petitioned judges to reconsider an earlier High Court ban of the practice, in which the army makes use of Palestinian civilians for military purposes as a deterrent for wanted gunmen hiding in a home.

"The reality is indeed likely to complicate the establishment of all-encompassing rules that would be suitable for all possible scenarios, but on one issue the lines are clear and sharp - the protection of the dignity of man no matter who ," Justice Rivlin wrote.

"It is the duty of the army ... to protect the life of the local resident, and to protect his dignity," the judge wrote. "Placing this resident, who is caught in the middle of a battlefield, before a choice - whether or not to acquiesce to the army's request to pass a warning to a wanted gunman - is placing him before an impossible choice. The choice itself is immoral and harms the dignity of man."

Last October, the High Court ruled that the practice of using 'human shields' contravenes international law and is thus illegal."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/687964.html