More than half of Israel’s Arab children live under the poverty line. According to a report issued by the National Council for the Child, this rate is 2.5 times higher than the percentage of Jewish children living below the poverty line.
Some 40 percent of Israel’s total youth live in poverty, of which 54.4 percent are Arab, the report reveals. Last year’s rate was 29.6 percent with 656,000 children living below average standards. In the poorest communities children are 60 percent of the population, compared to just 22 percent in wealthier ones.
A recent report prepared by the Advocacy Center for Arab Palestinian Citizens of Israel indicates a deepening of discrimination of the Arab citizens of Israel in the last two years. The Public Health Bureau has reported on the increasing infant mortality rate in the Arab community. The overall Arab infant mortality rate in the Jewish state is nine out of every 1,000 births compared to four out of every 1,000 births in the Jewish community. Figures from Israel’s National Insurance Institute show that 60 percent of Arab children will be poor in the year 2004. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
