By MWC News

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By Sherine Tadros

Consider this scenario – a girl meets a guy while out shopping. They make eye contact, they flirt, he tells her he’s a business mogul about to close on a billion dollar deal. she’s the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen, he’s been searching for her all his life, etc etc, you know the drill.

They go to a nearby building and have sex. Both adults, both consenting.

Days past and the boy realises she wasn’t the girl of his dreams, he is never going to call her and in fact his name is Bob and he works at the newsagents around the corner.

The girl then proceeds to file a criminal complaint against the guy for rape and indecent assault. The judge, while admitting the sex was consensual, accuses the guy of misrepresenting himself and sentences him to 18 months in prison for rape.

Incredible right? But what if what the guy "misrepresented" was not his feelings, his job or his wealth, but rather his ethnic background – would that make it understandable or fair?

Rape by 'deception'

According to Israeli law, the answer to that question appears to be 'yes'.

And it's the reason Sabbar Kashur, a 30-year-old Palestinian, was this week given an 18-month sentence for 'rape by deception'.

The scenario is exactly the same as I outlined above, except what Sabbar lied about was being Arab and the girl he had sex with was Jewish.

Handing down the verdict, Tzvi Segal, one of three judges on the case, said that although not "classical rape by force", the woman would not have consented if she had not believed the man was Jewish.

The sex therefore was obtained under false pretences, the judges said. "If she hadn't thought the accused was a Jewish bachelor interested in a serious romantic relationship, she would not have co-operated," they added.

Some may argue that a woman agreeing to have sex (hours after meeting a guy) on the top floor of a nearby building may not send the right message that she's interested in a long term relationship. Nevertheless, lets put that aside.

'What if ...'

It's not the first time Israel has convicted someone for rape by deception (in 2008 Zvi Sleiman was convicted for pretending to be a housing ministry official and promising to exchange housing benefits for sex). But this does appear to be the first time the determining factor is race.

As Gideon Levy, an Israeli commentator, said after the ruling: "I would like to raise just one question with the judge. What if the guy had been a Jew who pretended to be a Muslim and had sex with a Muslim woman?  Would he have been convicted of rape? The answer is: of course not."

Israel claims to be the only true democracy in the Middle East. The rule of law, it argues, is the backbone of this democracy and is upheld by the court system.

20% of Israel’s population – almost 2 million people – are Arabs like Sabbar Kashur. Where were his rights? This case, like so many others where Arabs are stripped of the rights and privileges afforded to other citizens of Israel, highlights a major flaw in Israel’s claim to be a democracy.

If the definition of democracy is equal rights for all people then surely the selective application of the law against Arabs is just plain racism.

Sherine Tadros reports from Israel and the Palestinian Territories.