The Israel Land Authority has decided to fine the construction company \u201cBe\u2019Emunah\u201d 323,000 NIS due to a discriminatory advertisement. This is the first time a construction company has been fined in Israel in accordance with the prohibition on discriminatory marketing of residential units, in Israel Land Authority tenders.<\/p>\n
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In December 2015, The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) submitted a petition to the Administrative Court in Jerusalem, calling to compel the Israel Land Authority (ILA) to penalize the \u201cBe\u2019Emunhah\u201d company due to its discriminatory marketing of apartments in Carmei Gat solely to the national-religious public. The petition was submitted shortly after \u201cBe\u2019Emunah\u201d distributed an offensive advertisement clip, presenting the housing development as intended for religious Ashkenazi Jews only, and mocking Israelis of Mizrahi origins.<\/p>\n
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The ILA held a hearing and its tender committee ruled that \u201cBe\u2019Emunah\u201d did not intend to discriminate, nor did it discriminate in practice <\/i>in its housing development against the Mizrahi population. However, they found that the advertisement contained discriminatory characteristics, giving rise to the concern that it would affect the nature of the prospective buyers with an interest in purchasing homes in the development.<\/p>\n
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Discriminatory marketing of residential units has been prohibited in ILA tenders since 2010, following ACRI\u2019s advocacy in this area. This is the first time that a construction company has been penalized for discrimination since the prohibition came into force.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe advertisement shocked the country and we are pleased that it was quickly removed from the Internet, but many Israelis of Mizrahi origins were deeply offended by the ad.\u00a0 The tender committee\u2019s decision sends a clear message: Discriminatory advertisements are forbidden, even if no discrimination takes place in practice,\u201d explained Attorney Gil Gan-Mor, Director of ACRI\u2019s Social and Economic Rights Unit.<\/p>\n
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The Attorney General\u2019s Office is currently deliberating whether marketing apartments solely to the national-religious public constitutes unlawful discrimination. The ILA maintains that the court ought to nullify ACRI\u2019s petition calling to penalize Be\u2019Emunah for marketing apartments only to religious Jews.\u00a0 In response, Attorney Gan-Mor stated: \u201cThe Association for Civil Rights in Israel will continue to combat unlawful discrimination and discriminatory marketing of homes, and will fight for the right of all Israelis \u2013 Jews or Arabs, secular, religious, ultra-Orthodox \u2013 to freely choose their place of residence.\u201d<\/p>\n
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For more information:<\/p>\n
“A first in Israel: Construction firm fined for racist ad” <\/a>By: Lee Yaron, Haaretz, 8 March 2016<\/p>\n ACRI petition to compel Israel Land Authority to penalize Be’Emunah<\/a><\/p>\n Please click here<\/a> to access the petition (in Hebrew).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Israel Land Authority has decided to fine the construction company \u201cBe\u2019Emunah\u201d 323,000 NIS due to a discriminatory advertisement. This … Read more