Monday, May 28, 2012

Zionism is always racism

"Yet for the four years he applied to all five of Israel's medical schools, Hijazi was repeatedly rejected. Officials told him he kept failing the pre-admission personality interview, but the 25-year-old Arab Israeli suspects another reason: He believes that recent changes in the enrollment process are designed to discourage non-Jewish applicants.  "And it works," said Hijazi, 25, who is now pursuing a medical degree in Poland.  High enrollment in medical schools has long been a rare success story for Israel's 1.6 million Arab Israelis, who complain of discrimination by the government in many spheres of their lives.  Nationwide, an estimated 19% of medical school students are Arab, according to a 2009 parliamentary study. The ratio is in line with Israel's Arab population, which is about 20%, and is impressive considering Arabs account for just 9% of the total number of university students and about 6% of government employees.  Arab activists say the rising number of Arabs in medical schools over the last two decades has alarmed Israeli officials and led to an effort to restrict enrollment."