http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091112/wl_mideast_afp/mideastisraeljusticearabdiscrimination

Israel discriminates against Arab youths: judge

JERUSALEM (AFP) – An Israeli judge has decided not to convict an Arab youth accused of hurling rocks at a police car, claiming the state discriminates against teenage Arab transgressors, media reported on Thursday.

"Israel operates on two fundamentally different levels of enforcement for ideological offences committed by Arab and Jewish minors," Nazareth Magistrate Court Judge Yuval Shadmi wrote in his ruling.

The 17-year-old was arrested in January when he and some friends allegedly threw rocks at a police vehicle near the northern Israeli city of Nazareth.

Shadmi told him to promise to refrain from violence against police and sign a 5,000 shekel (1,315 dollar, 875 euro) bond.

The judge also ordered the youth to perform 200 hours of community service.

He accepted the defence argument that the state systematically discriminates against Arab teens, particularly in the case of attacks on police.

He pointed out that very few Jewish teens had been indicted after attacking security forces in 2005 to protest the withdrawal of Israeli settlers and troops from the Gaza Strip.

The same holds true of ultra-religious Jews who attacked police during recent protests in Jerusalem, the judge wrote.

He said he had not seen a single Jewish minor sentenced to prison, although dozens of Jewish teenagers had committed the same offence as the Arab teen had.

"If the state believes that 'ideological' offences by youngsters justify lenient enforcement, it should apply this policy to all youngsters, regardless of their nationality or religion,' Shadmi wrote.

The Supreme Court denounced in 2006 that Arab-Israelis, who account for 20 percent of the country's 7.5 million population, suffer from discrimination.

Arab-Israelis officially enjoy the same rights as other Israelis, unlike Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli military law is enforced. There are currently 326 Palestinians under the age of 18 in Israeli detention, according to Defence for Children International.