Arab jobs

One of the things that struck me when I went to visit Craig's internship was that he was talking about how Arabs had more difficulty getting jobs.  Now, this in and of itself, doesn't really surprise me, but I was under the impression that the Palestinian Israelis that had been here since the 40's were generally well employed and making equal wages.  When he told me the percentage of people who were out of work, I was really surprised.  What also struck me was how they enforce the discrimination.  He was telling me that when someone applies for a job, the employer always asks for proof of military service.  Obviously, since Muslim Israelis don't serve, they can't do this and it's an easy way to ask if someone is a Muslim or not.  Actually, from the Israeli point of view, this is ingenious.  Asking if someone is Muslim or not is obviously segregation based on religion.  Asking if they have served is just national interest.  Like asking a US employee if they have registered for the draft.

What also struck me was that, apparently after the war, large sections of land were zoned as government/public land despite the fact that there were already villages there.  Using this as an excuse, the government doesn't supply the communities with water or electricity in an attempt to drive them off the land.  If this would happen, they don't have many options to build new villages.  Craig's boss was already saying that it's really difficult for even Israeli Arabs to get building permits.  I understand why they don't allow the Arabs in East Jerusalem to build, but I think they are asking for trouble by not taking care of all those Arabs who are holding Israeli passports and are complete citizens.  They are a sizable enough minority that they could cause serious problems in the event of an uprising/civil rights movement.  I can see it being very bad for the economy when/if this ever happens.  This is why the peace process is so important now rather than later, to address these issues before they can have a serious effect on the country.