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THE WORLD —_

‘Tension of all kinds, runaway inflation mark country’

On Israel’s election eve

With Israel’s general election less than

4 Month away, this insight into condi-
tions in the country is provided by Cana-
representative to the journal, World

ist Review, Peter Boychuck, who

attended the recent 18th Congress of the

Communist Party of Israel. The material
18 abridged from an article on the Con-

-8fess and the author’s travels in the

country.
* * *

The keynote address to the Congress
Pointed out the record of the Likud
SOvernment ‘of Menachem Begin, a
f0vernment representing the interests of
reactionary element of Israeli socie-

y. 3

In 1980 inflation rose by 130%. Since
the Likud came to power four years ago
Prices have jumped by 650%. There is
Mcreased economic polarization. Arms

_ Spending gobbles up 35% of the coun-

try’s gross national product.
The regime has stepped up its
“settlements program’’ of Arab land and

_has opened up an attack on workers’

Wages.

Stressing the need to defeat Likud, the
CPI said that the only viable alternative
Is the one advanced by the Democratic
Front for Peace and Equality (DFPE) of
which the CPI is a leading force. os
__ DFPE was formed in 1977 and in the
elections to the Knesset (parliament) that
year won 80,118 votes (4.6%) compared
to 53,353 (3.4%) received by the CPI in
the previous election. The influence of
the DFPE has also increased its strength
in municipal governments, gaining

CPI general secretary Meir Wilner re-
ported that the party’s ideological unity
is high and finds its expression in the
growing influence the CPI has on the life
of the country based on its principled
Position for attaining real peace in the
Middle East, removal of Israeli forces
from occupied Arab lands, recognition of
the Palestine Liberation Organization
and the formation of an independent
Palestinian state.

_ The obvious contrast in living condi-
tions of the Jewish and Arab population
1S so striking it is hard to believe it is in
the confines of one state. Open physical
force used against the Arabs has received
Considerable publicity in the outside
world.

However, the subtle, but for all that,
No less damaging actions perpetrated by
the Zionists, under the guise of democ-
Tacy, to harass, discourage and force the

bs to leave their homeland, are less
known but for that reason need to be
made known. I can only indicate some of
them.

The villages at which I spoke con-
tained 18,000 to 23,000 people. The first
question which came to mind was: why

 4re they called villages when actually

they are big towns or small cities?
© answer: all‘ municipalities in Israel
8¢t their budgetary income from the na-
tional government. A village gets the
least per capita, a town gets more and a
City the most.
Y continuing to designate Arab
Communities as villages they get the least

'f SYPport. By law, there is an official figure

round 35-40,000 population, loosely
Mterpreted, after which a village is
automatically elevated to a higher stage.
The law has nothing to do with designat-
Ng a village as having a higher status at a
Much lower population figure, which is

€ Case with Jewish settlements.

On the other hand, I went through one

Tab municipality where the population
Was close to 40,000. But, by a stroke of

‘The obvious contrast in living standards
of the Jewish and Arab population is so
striking it’s hard to believe...’

the pen, in Jerusalem, it became two vil-
lages. The main street was the dividing
line between the villages.

In Taybeh village, where I met the
mayor, the designation of ‘‘village’’ was
not the end of the subjugation. Seventy
per cent of the workers, including wom-
en, work outside the village, 20% work in
agriculture. Demands for establishing
work enterprises in the village go un-
heeded. But the workers, whenever they

» Majority votes in many Arab villages: -»-work, andit may be far from home and»

entail long travel, have to be back home
for the night. Otherwise they can be ar-
rested.

By law there should be one social
worker per 1,000 inhabitants. Instead of
18, Taybeh had only six social workers.
They were “‘lucky’’ because some vil-
lages have only one per 12,000. The vil-
lage has 95 employees including

- teachers. The neighboring Jewish vil-

lage, mentioned earlier, with one-third

the population has twice the number of. .

employees... .
~ No one is allowed to build new homes

_without government permission. That

applies to Jews and Arabs alike. How-
ever, the Arabs never get permission. If
they build without permission the houses
are bulldozed. The law is the law. But

_ the population grows and as a result the

existing homes are extended.

Education is a crying need. Forty per
cent of the meager budget is allotted to
education. There are eight elementary
schools, two secondary, one academic
and one vocational school limited to five
trades, woefully underequipped.
Facilities for sports, health care, insofar
as they exist, are there because of contri-
butions from the meagre earnings of the
villagers.

That is the result of a budget allocation
which adds up to five Canadian cents per

day per person for a “‘village’’ of 18,000.

Another law which is very ‘‘demo-
cratic’’ is family allowances. The

minimum is the same for Jews and Arabs

alike. It is augmented according to the
services rendered for Israel. If either pa-
rent served in the armed forces there is a
bigger allowance. Of course only Jews
served in the armed forces.

If a member of the family, no matter
how distant, was a ‘‘settler’’ it entitles
one to a higher family allowance. Of
course the only ‘“‘settlers’’ were the
Jews. The Arabs and their ancestors
lived there for centuries so they do not

qualify.

Changing of rules of the game to favor
the bully or the conqueror is not limited
to the lower echelons.

The Democratic Front for Peace,and
Equality, of which the Communist Party
of Israel is a part, has representation in
all government committees with’ the
exception of defence and finance. At one
time, to qualify for those committees a
party had to have at least three members
of Knesset. When the CPI elected three
members, the qualifying number for

_ membership on the two committees was

raised to four. When the DFPE elected
five members the qualifying number was
raised to six. And, everything is done
according to “‘democratically adopted”
decisions.

In the past year, for the first time since
Israel was formed, the number of Jews
emigrating from the country was greater
than the number immigrating to it. The
reason is out in the open. There is ten-
sion in every area and every sector of the
population in Israel.

There is a. specific physical ailment
among the Israeli population which is
growing rapidly, exceeding all other ail-

ments, and it is caused directly by ten-
sions of all kinds — constant danger of
war, runaway inflation and a most uncer-
tain future.

The euphoria of the promised land, of
the reunion of the 12 tribes of Judea, is
inevitably giving way to the inexorable
laws. of capitalist development. Class
distinctions are growing. Proletariani-
zation at one pole and concentration of
wealth, of capital, at the other is the reali-
ty. The reserve army of unemployed is
growing.

It is not so much a home-coming from
all over the world as it is an importation
of foreign habits and customs including
the most undesirable features.

Finding reflection in the life of Israel
are elements of Anglo-Saxon chau-
vinism, of U.S. racism, of the Indian
reservation system in Canada, of apart-
heid in South Africa, of the race superior-
ity ideology of Naziism. This compen-
dium of Zionism is not a foundation for
building a viable Israel, even if it is but-
tressed by a coating of democratic
trappings.

Ree
ay

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ran ¢
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- currency.

and the money to pay for them:

World News

Materials found at Czech border =
PRAGUE (CTK) — Czechoslovak border authorities detained two
French citizens April 27 after the van they were driving was found to have
secret panels containing anti-state materials and large sums of western

Found also, the Czechoslovak news agency CTK reports, were instruc-
tions to persons inside the country ‘‘for subversive activity against social and
State order . . . also special technical means”’ for carrying out these activities

CTK also points out that ‘‘an important channel was uncoverd through

Ke

which hostile activity against socialist order . .. was directed, organized and
financed.”’ It says these actions violate not only Czechoslovak laws but are

_ ‘‘contrary to the principles of the Final Act of the Helsinki Conference on
_ Security. and Cooperation in Europe as well as generally-accepted inter-

. National law and principles.”

.The agency says Czechoslovak nationals involved in this affair have been

| charged under relevant laws, that others have been questioned and that the

investigation is continuing.

It also reports the two French nationals were not charged, but expelled
from Czechoslovakia ‘‘in an effort to contribute to a positive forming of
interstate relations.”’

_Avenue Bobby Sands replaces Churchill
TEHRAN — Former Avenue Churchill in Iran's capital which passes
directly by the British embassy has been re-named Avenue Bobby Sands ‘‘in
honor of the heroic martyr freedom fighter of the Irish Republican Army.”

PLO representative gunned down

BRUSSELS (WAFA) — Dr. Naim Khader, 42, Palestine Liberation
Organization representative in Belgium, was gunned down June 1 on a
Brussels street while on his way to work. Five shots were fired in what the
PLO charges is the latest in a long list of killings of PLO personnel by Israeli
Intelligence services in Europe.

Dutch vote a blow against missiles

THE HAGUE — The defeat, May 26, of the coalition of premier van Agt
which favored stationing 48 U.S. nuclear missiles in Holland is seen as a
serious blow the Washington’s hopes for itsywest European rockets pro-
gram. The parliamentary election result culminated mass anti-missile
marches in the country. The van Agt defeat is also expected to bolster
anti-nuclear forces in Belgium, Norway, Denmark and the Federal Republic
of Germany, all of which are being pressed to accept the U.S. rockets.

France backs South Africa embargo
UNITED NATIONS — France last week announced support for
economic sanctions against apartheid South Africa. Earlier, the new French
government said it would back UN plans for Namibian independence and
denounced South Africa’s illegal occupation of the country.

J

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JUNE 12, 1981—Page 9