|
28 January 2008
Asma Jahangir, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief of the
United Nations Human Rights Council, made the following statement on 27
January in Jerusalem at the end of her visit to Israel and the Occupied
Palestinian Territory (20-27 January 2008):
"Ladies and gentlemen,
I wish to thank the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority for
inviting me to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). I have
had the privilege of spending the past eight days here, visiting Jerusalem,
Tel Aviv, Daliyat al Carmel, Haifa, Nazareth, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Hebron,
Nablus and Qalqilya. During my visit I talked with Government officials
responsible for matters of religion or belief and I also met with
representatives of religious organizations, non-governmental organizations
and individuals.
The visit has been both fascinating and disturbing for me. This is a land
blessed with a rich diversity and important holy sites of many religions.
Yet, this very diversity, which should have been a blessing, tragically has
polarized people on the lines of religion. Indeed, the conflict has an adverse
impact on the right of individuals and communities to worship freely and to
attend religious services at their respective holy places.
I have noticed that people of all religions have the will and aspiration to
live side by side in peace. There are outstanding examples where despite
conflict and religious polarization people have been able to extend respect
and tolerance to each other's religions and beliefs. There have been
encouraging instances of inter-faith and intra-faith dialogue on various levels.
At the same time I have also met individuals who bear resentments against
other religions and their adherents.
A major issue of concern for my mandate is the restricted access to holy
places. Muslims and Christians are impeded from worshipping at some of their
most holy places in the world due to an elaborate system of permits, visas,
checkpoints and the Barrier. While the Israeli Government informed me that
these restrictions are necessary for security reasons, I would like to
emphasize that any measure taken to combat terrorism must comply with the
States' obligations under international law, including freedom of religion or
belief. These intrusive restrictions strike me as disproportionate to their
aim as well as discriminatory and arbitrary in their implementation. My
concern also extends to problems of access to holy places revered by Jews.
In addition, I was more than surprised to learn about the subtle differences
with regard to indicating religious affiliation on official ID cards. While
Israeli citizens' ID cards no longer state the holder's ethnicity, those of
Palestinians residents of the oPt do disclose their religion. In my opinion,
to indicate the religious affiliation on official ID cards carries a serious
risk of abuse, which has to be weighed against the possible reasons for
disclosing the holder's religion.
During my talks with members of religious minorities in Israel, my
interlocutors have by and large acknowledged that there is no religious
persecution by the State. Within the Israeli democracy, I would like to
emphasize the important role that the Supreme Court has played in the past
and can play for safeguarding freedom of religion or belief.
However, strands within the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths have
experienced different forms of discrimination. There are concerns that the
State gives preferential treatment to the Orthodox Jewish majority in Israel
to the detriment not only of other religious or belief communities but also
of other strands of Judaism. For example, conversion to Judaism within Israel
is only recognised if performed by the Orthodox Rabbinate. Another concern is
the urgent need to preserve and protect Christian and Muslim holy sites; many
of those have been made inaccessible or neglected since decades, while Jewish
places have appropriately been designated as holy sites and hence protected.
Further concerns have been raised with regard to unfair allocation of
subsidies at the expense of religious minorities and strands. I have also
received reports that the religious rights of detainees are not fully
respected. I will be dealing with these issues in more depth in my report to
the Human Rights Council.
Personal status questions in both Israel and the oPt show the delicate
relationship between State and religion. Even though the various religious
courts for historical reasons have the jurisdiction for issues such as
marriage and divorce this does not absolve the authorities from their
responsibility to ensure equal treatment and the implementation of human rights
for all individuals. I find it difficult to understand that under domestic
law persons can be deemed to be "unmarriagable"; in this regard I
was informed that more than 200.000 Israeli citizens and residents with no
official religious designation are barred from marrying in Israel. I wish to
emphasize that freedom of religion or belief also includes the right not to
believe.
This brings me to the contentious question of conversion, which – socially
speaking – is considered a taboo and is restricted by religious laws. In
Israel, offering or receiving inducements for conversion is also prohibited
by the domestic law. Hence, some small communities in Israel have refrained
from proselytising. In the oPt, the few conversions which have taken place,
particularly when involving interfaith relationships, have been followed by
serious tensions and in some cases violence.
Women seem to be in a particularly vulnerable situation and bear the brunt of
religious zeal. I was informed about cases of honour killings carried out
with impunity in the oPt in the name of religion. Reportedly some women in
Gaza have recently felt coerced to cover their heads not out of religious
conviction but out of fear.
Further apprehensions concerning the situation in the oPt have been expressed
by minority communities, including some small Christian groups, who fear a
rising level of religious intolerance. In October 2007, a Christian librarian
in Gaza city was threatened and subsequently kidnapped and killed. The
question whether he was engaging in missionary activities or not is entirely
irrelevant. This was a hideous crime and also a violation of his right to
manifest his religion or belief. I welcome that the representatives of the
Palestinian Authority who I met expressed concern and had taken note of these
incidents.
I am encouraged by the engagement of Israeli and Palestinian civil society
organisations and I trust that the many challenges which I have alluded to
will be appropriately addressed in the democratic fora. I sincerely thank
everybody who I met, also for their courage and sincerity in sharing their
experiences and concerns in this violent environment.
In my report I will recommend that all parties to a possible peace agreement
bind themselves legally to protect the rights of religious minorities.
Particular attention should be paid to include guarantees for equality and
non-discrimination based on religion as well as for the preservation and
peaceful access to holy sites.
A major challenge, which needs to be addressed immediately, if we are to
avoid deterioration, is to effectively prohibit and sanction incitement to
religious hatred. Article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights clearly states that any advocacy of national, racial or
religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or
violence shall be prohibited by law. However, impunity for incitement is a
concern. Any violence committed in the name of religion, whether violent acts
by zealous settlers or even worse in the form of suicide bombings by militant
Islamists, should be denounced, investigated and sanctioned. Furthermore, it
is particularly worrying when children are being incited to express hatred
toward those with a different religious affiliation.
Today is a sobering day. We solemnly mark the International Day of
Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. I join the United
Nations Secretary-General in saying: "We remember those whose rights
were brutally desecrated at Auschwitz and elsewhere, and in genocides and
atrocities since. We vow to apply the lessons of the Holocaust to our lives
and to those of succeeding generations."
|
