E/C.12/1/Add.27 page 8 39. The Committee urges the State party to respect the right to self-determination as recognized in article 1 (2) of the Covenant, which provides that “in no way may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence”. Closure restricts the movement of people and goods, cutting off access to external markets and to income derived from employment and livelihood. The Committee also calls upon the Government to give full effect to its obligations under the Covenant and, as a matter of the highest priority, to undertake to ensure safe passage at checkpoints for Palestinian medical staff and people seeking treatment, the unhampered flow of essential foodstuffs and supplies, the safe conduct of students and teachers to and from schools, and the reunification of families separated by closures. 40. The Committee calls upon the State party to reassess its Permanent Residency Law with a view to ensuring that its implementation does not result in impeding the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights by Palestinians in East Jerusalem. In particular, the Committee urges the State party to remove the quota system currently in place so that families separated by residency rules can be reunited without delay. 41. The Committee calls upon the State party to cease the practices of facilitating the building of illegal settlements and constructing bypass roads, expropriating land, water and resources, demolishing houses and arbitrary evictions. The Committee urges the State party immediately to take steps to respect and implement the right to an adequate standard of living, including housing, of the Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem and the Palestinian Arabs in the mixed cities. The Committee strongly recommends equal access to housing and settlement on State land for the “present absentees” who are citizens of Israel. The Committee recalls in this connection its General Comment No. 4. 42. The Committee urges the State party to recognize the existing Arab Bedouin villages, the land rights of the inhabitants and their right to basic services, including water. 43. The Committee calls upon the State party to undertake measures addressing the inequalities in the educational system at the secondary and university levels, particularly in terms of budget allocations. The Committee recommends that a study be made of the viability of establishing an Arab university within Israel for the purpose of ensuring equal opportunities and access to higher education in the respective official languages. 44. The Committee urges the State party to adopt effective measures to combat domestic violence against women and to promote equal treatment of women in the field of employment, including in the Government and in education and health. 45. The Committee requests the State party to ensure the wide dissemination in Israel of these concluding observations. 46. The Committee reiterates that the additional information requested in these concluding observations should be submitted in time for the twenty-third session of the Committee in November-December 2000. -----