Israeli group condemns Tel Aviv's 'racist' policies

An Israeli rights group, in its annual report, has unveiled Tel Aviv's poor records with regard to observing basic human rights.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) declared in its report that basic human rights in Israel are increasingly conditioned on the identity and gender of people.

According to the report, Arabs receive education, work and maybe citizenship only if they serve in the army or perform national service, Haaretz reported on Sunday.

Crackdowns on protests against Operation Cast Lead earlier this year was described in the report as "a trend of infringement on the freedom of speech of individuals and organizations, which passed criticism on the government and authorities."

The report says that during Operation Cast Lead, police "limited freedom of expression with the backing of the attorney general, dispersed many legal demonstrations and withheld permits from others for illegitimate reasons that pertain to the political content of the demonstrations."

The Israeli army launched a massive military offensive, dubbed as 'Operation Cast Lead' against the Palestinian coastal sliver of Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009. More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the three-week offensive, which inflicted $ 1.6 billion of damage to the Gazan economy.

The Israeli rights group also condemned "racist" statements by Interior Ministry workers in dealing with foreign workers and asylum-seekers.

Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai's had warned that foreign workers will "bring a multitude of diseases with them".

The report has also discussed the "racist policies in the education system," mainly toward Ethiopians.

ACRI condemned Israel's semi-private schools that refuse to admit children of families that have emigrated from Ethiopia.