Amnon Rubinstein, a former Knesset Member of Meretz, writes in Ha'aretz today that infant and baby mortality statistics in Israel tell an important story about how Israel treats a minority that "in culture, religion and nationality belong to those besieging [Israel]."
Rubinstein writes that the infant mortality rate in British Mandate Palestine in 1943-44 was almost 10% for Muslims, 3.5% for Jews, and 7% for Christians. For children up to age 5, the Muslim mortality rate was 21%, 4.5% for Jews, and 10% among Christians.
In Israel 2001, all the mortality rates were of course much lower, "but no less important, gaps between Jews and Arabs have also shrunk." The infant mortality rate among Jews was 0.41%, among Muslims 0.82%, and among Christians 0.2% - a drop of a third in the gap between Jews and Muslims. Among children up to age 5, the Muslim mortality rate sank to 0.5%, only twice as much as the Jewish rate, instead of almost five times more.
"This is dramatic, unprecedented progress unknown to the public," Rubinstein writes, "and is in contrast with Arab states where infant mortality is much higher than in Israel. Infant mortality in wealthy Kuwait, for example, is 1.2% - twice that of Muslims in Israel. Infant and child mortality rates are one of the unequivocal measures of success in a welfare state… Israel is a besieged island in an Arab and Muslim region... But those looking at the Middle East from afar can see the gaps between the Jews in their country and the Muslims in their countries growing, and continuing to grow, while the gaps inside the besieged island shrink and continue to shrink, despite lengthy conflict and hostility... Ata time when Israel is criticized at home and abroad as an apartheid state, it is worth noting the infant mortality rates and the shrinking gaps in education and health from the past to the present, as an indication of reality... Even the most vehement critic of Israel cannot allow himself to ignore this data."
Rubinstein writes that the infant mortality rate in British Mandate Palestine in 1943-44 was almost 10% for Muslims, 3.5% for Jews, and 7% for Christians. For children up to age 5, the Muslim mortality rate was 21%, 4.5% for Jews, and 10% among Christians.
In Israel 2001, all the mortality rates were of course much lower, "but no less important, gaps between Jews and Arabs have also shrunk." The infant mortality rate among Jews was 0.41%, among Muslims 0.82%, and among Christians 0.2% - a drop of a third in the gap between Jews and Muslims. Among children up to age 5, the Muslim mortality rate sank to 0.5%, only twice as much as the Jewish rate, instead of almost five times more.
"This is dramatic, unprecedented progress unknown to the public," Rubinstein writes, "and is in contrast with Arab states where infant mortality is much higher than in Israel. Infant mortality in wealthy Kuwait, for example, is 1.2% - twice that of Muslims in Israel. Infant and child mortality rates are one of the unequivocal measures of success in a welfare state… Israel is a besieged island in an Arab and Muslim region... But those looking at the Middle East from afar can see the gaps between the Jews in their country and the Muslims in their countries growing, and continuing to grow, while the gaps inside the besieged island shrink and continue to shrink, despite lengthy conflict and hostility... Ata time when Israel is criticized at home and abroad as an apartheid state, it is worth noting the infant mortality rates and the shrinking gaps in education and health from the past to the present, as an indication of reality... Even the most vehement critic of Israel cannot allow himself to ignore this data."