A/75/329 Palestinian citizens to receive unemployment benefits, which are contingent on the worker having been employed for a minimum period prior to receiving them. 36 On 7 April 2020, the Knesset approved an emergency budget allocation, which provided aid to local councils for loss of commercial municipal taxes without considering the loss of residential taxes, resulting in discrimination against Arab municipalities. Accordingly, these municipalities were slated to receive just 1.7 per cent of the aid provided to municipalities nationwide, although Arab citizens comprise 20 per cent of the population. 71. The Bedouin township of Hura in the Negev is one of the top COVID-19 “hotspots” in Israel, yet Adalah reports that data are completely absent for the town. The denial of basic services severely limits the ability of the Bedouin population to protect their health from the spread of COVID-19, for example the lack of clean running water, electricity, sewage disposal, paved roads, emergency health services, medical clinics, and more. Overcrowded living conditions in these villages make it very difficult for people to isolate themselves. 37 All of the seven Bedouin governmentplanned townships are characterized by poverty, deprivation, high unemployment, crime and social tension, as well as inadequate provision of State s ervices. Since the end of May 2020, Adalah reports, these towns have topped the list of the worst affected towns in Israel, with an average of 6.5 per cent confirmed positive cases out of the total number of tests conducted. 72. The Equal Rights Trust notes that, before the pandemic, many labour markets were effectively segregated by race, gender and other characteristics. For example, women disproportionately dominated social care, and ethnic minorities were overrepresented in service-sector jobs. Thus, there are serious discriminatory consequences related to whether and how to close certain sectors of the economy, designate essential roles, enforce work-from-home requirements, and provide financial support to people who cannot work. 38 73. As the pandemic has moved many dimensions of life onto the Internet, the anonymity of this medium emboldens many. Neo-Nazis and other hate groups use digital platforms not only to incite hatred and violence, but also to recruit. The US Human Rights Network reports a 900 per cent increase in hate speech directed towards Chinese people in the United States, and a 200 per cent increase in traffic to hate sites and specific posts against Asians. A white supremacist channel specifically focusing on COVID-19 saw an 800 per cent increase in its number of users. 39 As the Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic and the Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice pointed out, right-wing extremists in Canada are also using the pandemic as an opportunity to stir up racist ideologies. The “collision of conspiracy theories, anti-China [and anti-other] sentiment and white supremacy is rendering dangerous results; it is moving racist theories and messaging from the fringe to the mainstream”. 40 Though the Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic and the Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice were referring to Canada, this observation applies ubiquitously. __________________ 36 37 38 39 40 16/23 Furthermore, unemployment benefits are only available to adults over the age of 20. Jewish Israelis perform military service and enter the workforce at the age of 20. Since Palestinian Arab citizens are exempt from army service, they are disproportionately impacted by this on the basis of age as well as nationality. See the submission from Adalah, p. 13. Submission from Adalah. Equal Rights Trust submission, para. 29. US Human Rights Network submission, p. 2 (citing Time, “White supremacist groups are recruiting with help from coronavirus – and a popular messaging app”, 8 April 2020). Joint submission by the Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic and the Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice. 20-11206