The Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality in the Israeli Knesset is to discuss today a draft bill that would separate Arab and Jewish women in the maternity wards of Israeli hospitals, Israeli Radio reported.

The station said the meeting will be attended by representatives from the Ministry of Health, the Federation of Hospital Administrators, the Doctors’ Syndicate and various civil society organisations.

Arab MK Aida Toma-Suleiman said: “Clear instructions must be issued on the subject, and penalties imposed on hospitals which separate women based on ethnicity.”

A specialist in Israeli affairs, Imad Abu Awwad told the Anadolu Agency that the issue is not new, adding that racism controls all Israeli institutions, where the Palestinian citizen is viewed as an enemy that must be eliminated.

(MEMO)