Despite its Official Status, Use of the Arabic Language in the Courts and before State Authorities Remains very Limited
The use of the Arabic language by court and state bodies and in official fora remains very limited, despite its official status. The official status of Arabic in Israel, alongside Hebrew, was established by Article 82 of the Palestine Order-in-Council – 1922, which was subsequently adopted into Israeli law and remains valid today; English was dropped as an official language but Arabic remained.
In practice, however, Arabic speakers in Israel have little opportunities to enjoy and use their language after completing their primary and secondary schooling outside the private sphere and within their own community. As a result of government policy, the status of Arabic is vastly inferior to that of Hebrew in terms of the resources dedicated to its use and the opportunities granted to Arabic speakers to enjoy and use their language in official and public fora. The minimal use of Arabic in the public sphere and by public institutions contradicts its official status. Adalah has recently sent a series of letters demanding the use of Arabic by the courts and before various state authorities. Adalah Attorney Sawsan Zaher prepared and submitted these requests.
- Over 200 major principle decisions issued by the Supreme Court have been translated to English, and have been published on the court's website along with the original Hebrew decisions. Although the majority of these decisions are relevant to Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinians in the OPT, none of them has been translated to Arabic. On 20 April 2010 Adalah sent a letter to the Director of Courts and the Ministry of Justice asking that major decisions with significance for Arabic speakers be translated and published in Arabic on the Supreme Court's website. Adalah argued that the lack of Arabic translations of these important decisions impedes access to the legal system and justice for Arabic speakers. The Director of Courts responded on 16 May that for budgetary reasons the translation of court decisions to Arabic was “complicated,” but was under consideration.
The Letter | Director of Courts response
- Several Arab Bedouin citizens of Israel have contacted Adalah to report that the Population Administration of the Interior Ministry does not accept documents from the Shar'ia (Islamic) courts in Arabic, which they have obtained in their personal status cases. Rather the ministry has obliged individuals to provide notarized translations of the documents in Hebrew, which incurs significant expenses. This policy contradicts a regulation issued by the Attorney General in 2000 which stipulates that official documents should be accepted in their original language, specifically in the case of Arabic. Adalah sent a letter to the Interior Ministry on 20 June 2010 demanding that it accept original documents in Arabic. The letter argued that Interior Ministry's demand ignores a Supreme Court decision delivered in 2002, which strengthened the official status of the Arab language (H.C. 4112/99, Adalah, et. al. v. The Municipalities of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, et. al.).
- The application forms for subsidized governmental benefits that are paid to persons who suffer from psychiatric disorders are available only in Hebrew and are not translated into Arabic. As a result, many Arab individuals who are eligible for these benefits do not apply for them due to their inaccessibility. On 7 April 2010, Adalah wrote to the Ministry of Health to demand that the forms be made available in Arabic. No response has yet been received.
- Adalah has also demanded that the regulations of the Education Ministry that govern the rights and obligations of pupils, parents and teachers should be translated and made available in Arabic, in a letter sent on 29 April 2010. The letter was sent on behalf of the chairperson of the Arab National Parent's Committee, Mr. Mo'ein Armush, who stated that some parents were unable to read Hebrew and therefore were unable to access this information. On 27 May 2010 the MOE replied that the ministry will conduct a pilot scheme of translating regulations relevant to the parents in matters such as students' trips, security, and violence prevention in schools.
