Ramle Mayor Disqualified From Top Job After SHATIL Exposes His Racist Views

April 15, 2008

Attorney General Meni Mazuz has ruled that Ramle Mayor Yoel Lavie cannot serve as Director-General of the Israel Lands Administration because of racist statements he made to the media in 2006. Mazuz has instructed Housing and Construction Minister Zeev Baum to find another candidate to head the organization, which controls all the country's publicly-owned land.

Yoel Lavie has learned that racism doesn't pay.

The affair came about after Jamal Salameh, Field Coordinator for SHATIL's Mixed Cities Project, suggested to Lavie that some of the streets in the predominantly Arab part of Ramle's old city be named after Arab notables. Not only did Lavie ignore the request, he gave an astonishing interview to the local Ayalon newspaper, which was taped by their correspondent. "Because some Jamal wants to change a street name," Lavie said, "or some Mohammed wants it changed? Let him change his God. The Arabs can all go f*** themselves, you the media have become every butt f****** Arab's lackey."

SHATIL's Mixed Cities Project also spearheaded protests against Lavie's racist statements, although Mazuz refused to prosecute the Ramle Mayor for fear of infringing freedom of speech. However, Mazuz's latest decision shows public figures that racist remarks are not only abhorrent but also do not go unpunished.