AlQuds (UK - Arabic) has an article on the gap between Jews and Arabs in health statistics in Israel. It starts off saying:
A new study based on official medical data revealed that the rate of common diseases among Palestinians of the interior is many times greater than that of Jews, as a result of several factors, including external factors related to poverty and racial discrimination between Arabs and Jews...
For death from heart diseases, the percentage of Arabs is one and a half times higher than among Jews, and in death as a result of diabetes, the percentage of Arabs increases by two and a third of times compared to Jews. Vascular and kidney diseases cause two and three-quarters of deaths in Arabs more than Jews, and the rate of death rises to twice as high as a result of respiratory diseases.
One has to read much further to find out that the main reasons for the gaps aren't because of poverty or discrimination - but lifestyle:
16.5% of Jews are obese, compared to 23.5% among Arabs. The percentage of older Jewish women (ages 55-74) who are obese is 41%, compared to 70% among their Arab counterparts.The percentage of smokers is 22.9% for Jewish men and 35.5% for Arab men. In the category in which the individual smokes more than 20 cigarettes a day among Arab men and women, there are twice as many Arabs as the Jews.
Wouldn't that explain the differences in diabetes and heart related diseases far more than any difference in poverty?
Also, if poverty causes illness and shorter life expectancy, then one would expect that the Haredi (ultra-religious Jewish) community in Israel would have shorter life expectancies as well. The truth is the opposite - they generally have better health than their non-religious counterparts. One reason offered is that they have much higher "social capital" than others, and less feelings of loneliness. But it is also significant that haredi men (unlike their stereotype) are much less likely to smoke than most Israeli men - i 2010, only 13.4% smoked, compared to 23.9% of all Jewish men at that time. (However, haredi Jews are seven times as likely to be obese than all Israelis. )
Again, we see how statistics can be easily manipulated for anti-Israel propaganda purposes, and most people don't know enough to recognize how they are being brainwashed.
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