Or Commission
Encyclopedia
The Or Commission was a panel of inquiry appointed by the Israeli government to investigate the events of October 2000
at the beginning of the Second Intifada in which 12 Arab citizens of Israel
and one Palestinian
were killed by Israeli police amidst several demonstrations. (One Israeli Jew was killed by a stone thrown from a bridge onto her vehicle near one such demonstration; however, it is not clear that the incident was linked.) The commission released its findings on "the clashes between security forces and Israeli civilians" on September 2, 2003. The chief investigator was Theodore Or, a judge at an Israeli High Court.
. The commission recommended that he be removed from his post, and he would later become foreign minister. Also, three Arab figures (two Arab members Knesset
and the head of the northern branch of the Islamic movement in Israel) were found to be partially responsible by incitment that preceded the riots.
Arab advocacy organizations such as Adalah, the Arab Association for Human Rights, and Mossawa argued that the report exonerated Jewish Israeli political figures who played a central role in mishandling the crisis around October 2000, and gave slap-on-the-wrist treatment to those who fired the shots, while severely censuring Arab political figures for incendiary speech. Some commentators believed this amounted to virtual circumvention of due process
for Arab citizens.
At the same time, the Or Commission's statements were perhaps the first public official acknowledgment of discrimination faced by the Arab citizenry of Israel; Adalah and Mossawa commended the Or Commission for this admission. One year after the release of the commission report, Theodore Or publicly attacked the government
for failing to implement its recommendations.
James Taranto
of The Wall Street Journal
wrote:
October 2000 events
The October 2000 events were a series of protests in Arab villages in northern Israel in October 2000 that turned violent, escalating into clashes between Israeli Arabs and the Israel Police and ending in the deaths of demonstrators.The Or Commission was established to investigate the police...
at the beginning of the Second Intifada in which 12 Arab citizens of Israel
Arab citizens of Israel
Arab citizens of Israel refers to citizens of Israel who are not Jewish, and whose cultural and linguistic heritage or ethnic identity is Arab....
and one Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
were killed by Israeli police amidst several demonstrations. (One Israeli Jew was killed by a stone thrown from a bridge onto her vehicle near one such demonstration; however, it is not clear that the incident was linked.) The commission released its findings on "the clashes between security forces and Israeli civilians" on September 2, 2003. The chief investigator was Theodore Or, a judge at an Israeli High Court.
Police responsibility
The governmental body of inquiry criticised the Israeli police for being unprepared for the riots and using excessive force to disperse the protesting and rioting citizens. Eight policemen were reprimanded by the commission, most of them after they had retired from the police force. Two police officers were released from the force due to the conclusions.Official responsibility
As the Commission's mandate was one of inquiry, no action was taken against most of those warned by it, but rather recommendations were made. Most Jewish politicians were determined to be largely not responsible, with the exception being the Internal Security Ministry, Prof. Shlomo Ben-AmiShlomo Ben-Ami
Prof. Shlomo Ben-Ami is a former Israeli diplomat, politician and historian.-Biography:Ben-Ami was born in Tangiers, Morocco, and immigrated to Israel in 1955....
. The commission recommended that he be removed from his post, and he would later become foreign minister. Also, three Arab figures (two Arab members Knesset
Knesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
and the head of the northern branch of the Islamic movement in Israel) were found to be partially responsible by incitment that preceded the riots.
Background to the demonstrations
The Or Commission found that Arab citizens suffer discrimination in Israel and leveled criticism at the government for failing to give fair and equal attention to the needs of Arab citizens of Israel. The commission found that frustration with discrimination led to the outpourings of frustration in October 2000.Reception
The commission's report was highly controversial on all sides, both gravely disappointing the families of the victims and angering those who blamed Arab citizens for the unrest of October 2000.Arab advocacy organizations such as Adalah, the Arab Association for Human Rights, and Mossawa argued that the report exonerated Jewish Israeli political figures who played a central role in mishandling the crisis around October 2000, and gave slap-on-the-wrist treatment to those who fired the shots, while severely censuring Arab political figures for incendiary speech. Some commentators believed this amounted to virtual circumvention of due process
Due process
Due process is the legal code that the state must venerate all of the legal rights that are owed to a person under the principle. Due process balances the power of the state law of the land and thus protects individual persons from it...
for Arab citizens.
At the same time, the Or Commission's statements were perhaps the first public official acknowledgment of discrimination faced by the Arab citizenry of Israel; Adalah and Mossawa commended the Or Commission for this admission. One year after the release of the commission report, Theodore Or publicly attacked the government
Politics of Israel
The Israeli system of government is based on parliamentary democracy. The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of government and leader of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in the Knesset. The Judiciary is independent of the executive...
for failing to implement its recommendations.
James Taranto
James Taranto
James Taranto is an American columnist for The Wall Street Journal, editor of its online editorial page OpinionJournal.com and a member of the newspaper's editorial board. He is best known for his daily online column Best of the Web Today...
of The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
wrote:
Yet even acknowledging that Israeli democracy is flawed, its political system is still vastly superior to those of its adversaries. Israeli Arabs enjoy more political and civil liberties than citizens of just about any Arab country; and the only Arab lands that come anywhere close to being democracies are Lebanon, Iraq and the disputed Palestinian territories--the last two only because of American intervention. That the Israeli government criticizes its own treatment of Arabs is a testament to its democracy; can anyone imagine, say, the Saudi regime offering similar criticisms of its treatment of Shiites, non-Muslims or women? American democracy, too, is not without its flaws. During World War II, for instance, black Americans were still disfranchised, and innocent Japanese-Americans were rounded up and put in camps. It does not follow that America was no better than Nazi Germany.
External links
- Ha'aretz in-depth report
- Official summary of the Or Commission report
- Full Or Report Bad link 2011-04-29