The dreaded "A-Word" has once again made its way into Israeli media, not by a leftist "self-hating Jew", but by a prominent Israeli politician, the Minister of Defense, who is a decorated soldier and a former prime minister as well. "A" is for Apartheid.
An awful word that evokes awful memories, presumably left behind in the annals of history in places such as Soweto and Cape Town. A word that has invited rage, insults, and attacks against a former US president who received a Nobel Peace Prize.
This past Tuesday, however, Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned that if Israel does not achieve a peace deal with the Palestinians, it will have to become a binational state or be an undemocratic apartheid one if it remains as it is.
"The simple truth is, if there is one state" including Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, "it will have to be either binational or undemocratic. ... if this bloc of millions of Palestinians cannot vote, that will be an apartheid state," Barak said at the Herzliya Conference north of Tel Aviv.
Though rarely used by Israeli leaders in connection to the Palestinians, the term "apartheid" is becoming more common to describe the current reality on the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
More than two years ago, on the anniversary of the 1947 UN partition plan that would have divided British mandate Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state, then Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned of this same scenario. In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, Ehud Olmert said Israel was "finished" if it forced the Palestinians into a struggle for equal rights.
If the two-state solution collapsed, he said, Israel would "face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights, and as soon as that happens, the state of Israel is finished".
But veteran Israeli journalist David Michaelis believes that a South African-style apartheid system has already emerged due to Israel's prolonged occupation of Palestinian territories.
"What Ehud Barak intended to do is to send a stark warning that Israel is heading towards a binational situation; however, we are already in a binational situation, and an apartheid system that's working very well for the Israeli military and government."
Five years ago David Michaelis and I jointly interviewed Palestinians and Israelis about the prospect of a binational state. Most Palestinians we spoke to then were thinking of independence and most Israelis were thinking of separation. At the time, the Israeli government was frantically building the Separation Wall, and only a handful of Israelis entertained the idea of binational coexistence. One such person we interviewed who predicted what Ehud Barak is currently cautioning of was Meron Benvenisti, a former Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem.
Benvenisti has recently published an elaborate article in Ha'aretz chronicling how Israel became a de facto binational regime.
"The attempt to mark the settlements, and the settlers, as the major impediment to peace is a convenient alibi, obfuscating the involvement of the entire Israeli body politic in maintaining and expanding the regime of coercion and discrimination in the occupied territories, and benefiting from it," he argued.
According to him, the violent events of the (second) intifada brought the Jewish-Israeli public to a crossroads in relation to their neighbors-enemies. Benvenisti argues that Israeli-Jews turned their backs on the Palestinians, erasing them from their consciousness and imprisoning them behind impenetrable walls, and became willing to congregate in a ghetto and pray that the Mediterranean might dry up or a bridge be built to connect them with Europe.
This mentality is manifested in two, recently constructed, architectural monuments whose symbolism transcends their functional value: The gigantic Separation Wall and the colossal Ben Gurion air terminal. The former is meant to hide the Palestinians and erase them from Israeli consciousness and the latter serves as an escape gateway.
David Michaelis concurs and believes that most Israelis prefer to live in denial and avoid the subject of apartheid.
"The peace process is a misnomer, and the word occupation is misleading because it's really about systematic control."
How long can Israelis live in this denial and pretend that apartheid-like conditions do not exist?
Well you've heard the expression, "If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck..."
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"The situation for Arabs in Israel & Palestine is “far worse” than that of the blacks in what was apartheid South Africa". -Ronnie Kasrils (Minister of Defence, South africa)
"Apartheid is a crime against humanity. Israel has deprived millions of Palestinians of their liberty and property. It has perpetuated a system of gross racial discrimination and inequality. It has systematically incarcerated and tortured thousands of Palestinians, contrary to the rules of international law. It has, in particular, waged a war against a civilian population, in particular children." - Nelson Mandela
"The similarities between the situation of East Jerusalemites and black South Africans is very great in respect of their residency rights. We had the old Group Areas Act in South Africa. East Jerusalem has territorial classification that has the same sort of consequences as race classification had in South Africa in respect of who you can marry, where you can live, where you can go to school or hospital.”
—Ronnie Kasrils after a 2004 visit to the Palestinian territories, quoted in Chris McGreal, Mail & Guardian, October 24, 2006 Kasrils bio http://www.intelligence.gov.za/Biography.htm
He is the Minister of Intelligence in South Africa.
But I’m not impressed. He’s not risking anything by using in the future tense, when it’s obvious that we’re already at the Apartheid stage.
The kind of courage I like to see is the one demonstrated by this 19-year old!
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/10/israeli-refusers-follow-south-african-footsteps-in-the-struggle-against-apartheid.html
http://mondoweiss.net/2008/09/some-israeli-kids-refuse-to-serve-the-occupation-why-dont-we-know-about-them.html
Please read this article. The injustice described here is breathtaking!:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3841480,00.html
All these testimonies give new meaning to: The truth shall set you free! There’s nothing more refreshing “catchy” than the truth, even when it hurts!
Look the meaning of the word "reply."
At the time, the Israeli government was frantically building the Separation Wall, and only a handful of Israelis entertained the idea of binational coexistence."
Failure to mention that at that time Palestinains were engaged in a vicious war against Israeli people at that time, strains all norms of rationality.
Apartheid-- In Jordan and Palestinian controlled territories ANY sale of land to a Jewish person is punishable by capital punishment,
Apartheid--- In Palestinian controlled territories Bedouin are treated worse than blacks in South Africa. A lot worse. and are deprived of basic human rights.
Israel--- ALL citizens have access to voting generous benefits and travel. There is no apartheid.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta%27al
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balad_%28political_party%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Democratic_Party_%28Israel%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_National_Party
You can read more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_members_of_the_Knesset
Hussniya Jabara Meretz
Also considerable amount of Arab Israelis voted fro various parties like labor, Meretz and even Likud.
Arabic and Hebrew-- two official languages of Israel.
By Israeli law, every state-run company must have at least one Arab Israeli on its board of directors.
Arab Israeli was a pro-tem President of Israel.
Sorry if these facts don't correspond to the propaganda pitched in various anti-Israeli sources.
This majority of the West Bank - known under the defunct Oslo Agreement's sinister sobriquet as "Area C" - has already fallen under an Israeli rule which amounts to apartheid by paper:"
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/01/30-3
One of the first warnings of apartheid is forcible removable and illegal dispossession; ethnically cleansing a region to make room for immigrant “settler colonies”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqb4llfXph4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNFaCmF7f8k&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2jQyJrteog
http://www.internal-displacement.org/8025708F004CFA06/httpPictureGallery?readform&unid=083D63DB7078447EC12574C8002CF050&count=1000
“Fifty years ago the first families were forcibly removed from their homes in Sophiatown, their possessions loaded on the back of police trucks, and dumped in Meadowlands in Soweto.
Over the next eight years the vibrant Sophiatown was flattened.....to give way for Triomf - Afrikaans for "triumph" - a residential suburb for whites created by the policy of apartheid.
http://www.southafrica.info/about/history/sophiatown50.htm
,,,,/2
“During the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s, the government implemented a policy of 'resettlement', to force people to move to their designated "group areas".
The Sophiatown slum was destroyed by bulldozers, and a new white suburb named Triomf (Triumph) was built in its place.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa_under_apartheid#Forced_removals
As of July 2009, Israel has demolished a total of 24,145 homes. Just imagine how many Palestinians have been rendered homeless and displaced? (This is no way includes the refugees)
Israel has stolen over 750,000 acres that were destined for a future Palestinian state. Hundreds of billions of dollars of our tax money is funnelled into the deconstruction of a future Palestinian state, the dismantling and demolition of the Peace Process and the creation of the Apartheid State.
http://www.ifamericansknew.org/stats/homes.html
Also, none of the Bantustans declalred war on South Africa.
Israel practices apartheid on several fronts - if an individual does not fit particular cultural and religious criteria then they do not enjoy full access to the rule of law,cna be subject to travel restrictions and so on.
“They’re really demolished because Israel is trying to contain the Palestinians inside these little islands [on the West Bank]…..so it’s a control mechanism.” - Jeff Halper
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDAb2Gm6VCI&feature=PlayList&p=E571D13C705BFE7B&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=4
Those "little islands" where Palestinians live walled off from sprawling settlements = Bantustans!
But they all point to the fact that Israel is doing to the Palestinians is worse. It is a slow, systematic ethnic cleansing and dehumanizing in general.
Observed a J Street local meeting last night. Great turn out. Good energy. Although few present would be comfortable with the above, they are very much moving in the right direction towards negotiations and addressing the real needs of all concerned.
It is hoped that the Israel uber alles crowd on this blog give serious thought to joining that organization, a pro Israel, pro peace group.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2002rank.html
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=4715
Can you name a SINGLE other Middle Eater stat with such variety of opinion? No. This is precisely why Israeli is a strong country.
And this precisely why Those who wish it destroyed are livid with impotent rage.
When a certain class of citizens have no access to government provided education.
Israeli Schools Refuse To Admit Children Of Ethiopian Origin
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1062
When certain citizens are not allowed to be joined by a wife or husband.
Racist' marriage law upheld by Israel
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/racist-marriage-law-upheld-by-israel-478291.html
When a government steals land to expand illegal settlements.
"State admits outpost built on private Arab land"
http://peacenow.org/entries/archive5308
And then there are the famous "Jew-only" roads.
The Israeli government says it constructs these roads to protect the settlers but fails to mention that the Jew-only roads encircle Palestinian villages and towns, thus severing Palestinian communities from one another. The ability of bypass roads to create small island-like enclaves demonstrates how roads too can be employed as a mechanism of control.
http://magazine.nd.edu/news/11379
Great "Democracy", isn't Israel?”
2.Your "racist" marriage law prohibits Palestinians from moving to Israel just because they married an Israeli. Palestinians have used this to kill Israelis, as I'm sure you didn't know. Regardless, it has no bearing on Israel's democracy.
3. "Stealing land" also has nothing to do with Israel's democratic status.
4. For what has to be the FOURTEENTH time I have explained this, there are no "Jew-only" roads. They are *Israeli only* roads. And even if they were only for Jews, it would not have any baring on Israel's democracy either.
Sorry aly, but your slander fails. Israel is a democracy.
There are no laws in Israel that discriminate against Arab citizens or separate them from Jews. . . .
South Africa had a job reservation policy for white people;
Israel has adopted pro-Arab affirmative action measures in some sectors. Israeli schools, universities and hospitals make no distinction between Jews and Arabs. An Arab citizen who brings a case before an Israeli court will have that case decided on the basis of merit, not ethnicity. This was never the case for blacks under apartheid."
Rhoda Kadalie and Julia Bertelsmann, two black South African women whose families were active in the anti-Apartheid movement,
Real democracies don't deny basic human rights to the native populations in the lands they occupy.
Real democracies do not violate the Geneva Conventions by stealing land and water from areas they occupy.
Then U.S. is not a democracy. Look up the isutation of Native Americans. Yes, the land YOU live on.
"Real democracies don't deny basic human rights to the native populations in the lands they occupy. "
Real democracies AT WAR do that and with full justification.
BEFORE Palestinians began a war on Israel ( Intifada 2) Palestinians had un encumbered access to all parts of W. Bank and Gaza; , employment in Israel, no check points, no Security barrier, joint security patrols, heavy israel invesrtment in W. Bank etc.
Palestinian terrorsit war finished all that.
in 2000 Palestinian leaders have chosen war instead of continued cooperation and negotiations. too bad for them, and too bad for Israeli people.
Fact: Palestinian are not citizens of Israel, do not wish to be citizens of Israel, indulge in most preposterous kind of denial of Jewish culture, ethnicity, religion. Palestinian Arab have been CONTINUOUSLY fighting against the very presence of Jews for a century now.
Therefore-- no apartheid.
Fact EVERYONE who has Israeli citizenship has full voting, travel, pension and taxation rights and privileges.
If this is apartheid than every state is the wolrd is apartheid system.
That their is resistance to the illegal and immoral occupation of the West Bank is totally unrelated to the question of whither apartheid.
Why does Israel have any obligation to Palestinians?
Because Israel is an occupying force bound by international law, unless, of course Israel would rather declare itself a rogue state (like it has on the nuke issue) and ignore the Geneva Convention.
But that would undermine its 'legal right to exist" now wouldn't it - oh the dilemma!
Just your fervent desire to be a memebr of the thought police obviously.