Does the State Department Adhere to US Law in the Disputed Territories? (Guest post) ~ EoZ

Monday, July 3, 2023

Does the State Department Adhere to US Law in the Disputed Territories? (Guest post)

(Guest post from an anonymous author)

The US State Department has restored full funding to UNWRA schools since the Biden administration took office. Now they are eliminating research funding to Israeli schools in Judea and Samaria. US State Department Matt Miller has confirmed the new policy in a recent press briefing. He explained that it is consistent with long-standing policies, despite the significant change in policy.

Does this policy violate current US civil rights laws?

Two specific statutes are relevant: Title VI and Title VII of The Civil Rights Act of 1964. Both statutes prohibit discrimination based on, among other things, national origin. Title VI applies to any recipient of federal funding, and Title VII applies to any US employer (typically those larger than 15 employees).

The US government is not only the largest employer in America, but also in the entire world. The US government employs many sub-contractors, which includes federal grant recipients. As an employer, the US government is beholden to the same civil rights laws as anyone else.

Title VII should apply to the territories, based upon a straightforward reading of the text. The definition of terms section clearly states that the law applies to commerce between a State and any place outside the state.

"The term 'commerce' means trade, traffic, commerce, transportation, transmission, or communication among the several States; or between a State and any place outside thereof; ..."

Therefore, if the US disburses funds to foreign researchers, they in effect become sub-contractors of the US government, regardless of their physical location.

According to the US Office of Civil Rights (OCR), Title VI applies to all federal educational grant recipients. The OCR expects all recipients to conform to applicable civil rights laws regarding discrimination, or they risk losing further federal funding.

For example, if Ariel University received a US grant funding research, in order to continue receiving funding, Ariel University could not engage in discriminatory practices against its Palestinian Arab students. No one argues against such civil rights laws. They are based upon widely held principles and should be embraced.

No one claims Ariel University violates any such laws. It has a large contingent of Arab students who are treated equally with everyone else.

The State Department has claimed that the disputed territories should be kept separate from Israel until the final status is determined through mutually agreed upon negotiations between the interested parties. They claim that establishing "facts on the ground" in disputed territories creates tensions, exacerbates violence, prejudices negotiations, deprives Palestinian Arabs of their land, and is an "obstacle to peace." We have heard such arguments for years, without having a real opportunity to properly address them. In the latest policy shift, the State Department implies that promoting Israeli educational institutions in disputed territories is somehow bad for Palestinian Arabs living there. The many Arab students of Ariel University would disagree with that claim.

If the recipient of federal educational grants is prohibited from specific forms of discrimination, the granter of such funding should also be held to the same standards. Therefore, OCR should emphasize adherence to Title VII just as much as it does Title VI.

Now consider the Palestinian recipients of US federal funding. UNWRA has 96 schools, 2 of which are in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem.

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield visited an UNRWA girls school in Ramallah in 2021.

Today, I met with educators and students at Jalazone @UNRWA Girls School in Ramallah. I was inspired by their stories and dreams for the future, and I spoke to UNRWA officials about how to make their work stronger, more efficient, and more accountable. pic.twitter.com/MREcnTnSzb

— Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield (@USAmbUN) November 17, 2021

Ms. Thomas-Greenfield made no mention of UNWRA textbooks inciting intolerance of Israeli Jews.

She also ignored the fact that single-gender schools are a violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972.

Since UNWRA receives US federal funding, UNWRA is required to abide by US civil rights laws, the same as any other recipient. UNWRA may not discriminate based on national origin. However, UNWRA's very existence is a violation of Title VI since it only provides services to people who claim Palestinian nationality.

Furthermore, UNWRA as a rule does not employ Israelis, which is also a violation of Title VII. Moreover, the UNWRA school textbooks have violated OCR guidelines regarding diversity and inclusion for decades, which is yet another reason to halt US funding of UNWRA.

While the US State Department may argue the geographic location of certain funding recipients is the distinguishing criterion for their policy, that argument is contradicted by facts. The State Department continues to fund Palestinian Arab institutions in the disputed territories, which may be a violation of existing civil rights laws. Meanwhile they restrict funding to Israeli institutions in the very same geographic area in the absence of any laws that could justify such discrimination.

Title VII of The Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees from discrimination based on national origin. The law focuses on the behavior of the employer, which in this case is the US Government. Title VII makes no mention of disputed territories.

It isn't only UNRWA. The US Office of Palestinian Affairs offers grants to create "partnership between American and Palestinian institutions" in the West Bank and east Jerusalem under the Sustainable U.S.-Palestinian Higher Education Partnerships program. Those grants are not available to Israeli institutions in the same geographic locations. And clearly Israeli Jews are not allowed to become students at these institutions that can receive these funds.

This sure sounds like discrimination based on national origin by the US Office of Palestinian Affairs, and their grants to Palestinian institutions that discriminate against Jews violates Title VI.

In summary, the US State Department policy in the West Bank is problematic on many levels. It is a double standard that could conceivably be analyzed in the context of the IHRA definition. It is also a double standard that demeans Palestinian academics by holding them to a lower standard than those applied to Israeli institutions. The US State Department policy may also be illegal according to US law. I have yet to see any widely published analysis of this subject. I hope that this can be an impetus for further research.

(My appreciation to EoZ for publishing this essay.)

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