Yes, it is. It’s important that the international community recognize and acknowledge the situation of separation that presently characterizes Israel.
Back in April, The Guardian, and many others, reported that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had warned that, “if Israel doesn’t make peace soon, it could become ‘an apartheid state,’ like the old South Africa.” This marked the first time that a US official had “used the term apartheid in the context of Israel.”
The very next day, The Guardian reported that Kerry had apologized for the remark, and had said that “apartheid” was a “word best left out of the debate.” Now, we are not exactly surprised that Kerry has flip-flopped on his stance, but we do think it sends the wrong message.
The word apartheid carries a very specific legal meaning; the word came about in reference to the legal system of racial segregation in South Africa after WWII. According to International Law, apartheid refers to acts “committed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over any other racial group of persons and systematically oppressing them.”
Despite the specificity of the definition, we feel that the phrase carries a connotation that does not require a legal system of racial separation in order to constitute apartheid. The de facto situation in the occupied territories of Palestine more than fits this criteria. While Palestine is not part of Israel on paper, per say, it is in large part under Israel’s economic, military and political control, and we believe that this should be taken into account.
For example, in Palestine, Israel exerts military control over the population. The well-known controversy of Israeli settlements and so called “security barriers” that block the Palestinians from free movement throughout their own territory are imposed without their consent under the direction of a foreign government.
Israel’s blockades against the Gaza Strip in particular have created a humanitarian crisis. The UN has reported that a third of Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip are “food insecure,” meaning that they are at risk of starvation. Israel claims that these are security measures to stifle terrorism and nobody doubts their effectiveness. However, it is our opinion that while starvation and oppression may suppress terrorism, it is still incredibly immoral and objectionable.
The Israeli government has much to complain about, with two bouts of terrorism against Israel in recent memory, Israel feels that these measure are necessary for their survival. What seems to escape them however is that the continued suppression of Palestinian independence will surely inspire more terrorism and more upheaval in the region. The moves that Israel is making can cause short-term security gains however they foster poverty, extremism and political oppression, very potent sources of terrorism.
With such great Israeli power over the Palestinian territories, it seems clear that Israel is an apartheid state, but even worse, the Israeli government shows no interest in changing this for the better.Recently, after the two factions of the Palestinian government, Hamas and Fatah, announced a united government, Israel cut off peace talks with the Palestinian government. When given the rare opportunity to negotiate with a united front, representing all of Palestine, Israel regressed and refused to take advantage of such a positive development.
Debating over terms and definitions may seem like merely a political game, but the weight that the word “apartheid” carries is significant. Once the world classifies Israel as an apartheid state, it opens up the architects of the policy to prosecution by the International Criminal Court.
We feel that the first step needs to be an international acceptance that the word apartheid applies to Israel. This is not a condemnation of the people of Israel, it is a condemnation of the Israeli government that enforces such policies. Through bringing justice to those who have brought about this policy of apartheid, we pave the way for a two state solution where both Palestine and Israel can live together independently and peacefully.
It is a sad that the university allows its paper to publish anti-Semitic hate speech. The Palestinians are illegal colonist-settlers from Arabia who do not belong in Israel. They should go back to Arabia.
All Arab countries practice Islamic apartheid, yet the leftists never criticize them. In Lebanon, Palestinians are not allowed to become citizens and are denied access to medical care. Yet the leftists never call Lebanon an apartheid state. They never call to boycott Lebanon.
It is illegal for Jews to enter Saudi Arabia and illegal for Israelis to enter Indonesia. Yet nobody calls those oppressive countries apartheid states or says those countries shouldn’t exist.
It’s time to call hypocritical criticism of Israel for what it really is: anti-Semitism.
This is for the ill-informed … i.e. the person who wrote this opinion piece…
“The situation of Palestinians in the territories is different (than in South Africa). The security requirements of the nation, and a violent insurrection in the territories, forced Israel to impose restrictions on Arab residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip that are not necessary inside Israel’s pre-1967 borders. Israeli policy is not based on race, but is a result of Palestinian animosity. Palestinians in the territories dispute Israel’s right to exist, whereas blacks did not seek the destruction of South Africa, only the discriminatory regime.
Despite security concerns and the hostile attitude of many Palestinians, more than 40,000 Palestinians from the territories work in Israel every day. And most people are unaware that another 25,000 work in those “obstacles to peace” — Jewish settlements — and all Palestinian workers enjoy the same working conditions and rights as Israelis.
Many people discovered these facts for the first time when actress Scarlett Johannson was attacked for being the spokesperson for SodaStream because the company’s factory is in Maale Adumim. This city of roughly 40,000 people, which is ten minutes from downtown Jerusalem, is considered a settlement. Palestinian peace negotiators have already agreed the city will remain part of Israel if a Palestinian state is established. More to the point, the company employs hundreds of Palestinians, several of whom spoke out against the call to boycott the company: “Before boycotting, they should think of the workers who are going to suffer,” a young SodaStream worker said. He now earns nearly 10 times what he earned before joining SodaStream, which also provides transportation, breakfast and lunch for its employees.
Israel could offer Palestinians in the territories full citizenship, but this would require the annexation of the West Bank and Gaza and the end of the two-state solution.
Despite all their criticism, when asked what governments they admire most, more than 80 percent of Palestinians consistently said Israel because they can see up close the thriving democracy in Israel, and the rights the Arab citizens enjoy there. By contrast, Palestinians place Arab regimes, including their own Palestinian Authority, at the bottom.
In fact, growing numbers of Palestinians in East Jerusalem have been applying for Israeli citizenship and, given the choice, many say they would rather live in Israel than Palestine. A poll of Arabs living in East Jerusalem, for example, found that 35% would choose living in Israel, compared to 30% who preferred to live in a future Palestinian state. Forty percent said they would consider moving to another neighborhood to become a citizen of Israel rather than Palestine and 54% said that if they their neighborhood was part of Israel, they would not move to Palestine.”
“The loathsome occupation in Palestine—its land and its holy places—by these new Mongols and what they are perpetrating upon this holy, blessed and pure land—killing, assassination, destruction, confiscation, Judaization, harassment and splitting the homeland—are clear proof of . . . incomparable racism, and of Nazism of the 20th century. The Jews, the enemies of Allah and of His Messenger! Enemies of humanity in general, and of Palestinians in particular . .”
-Palestinian Liberation Organization…
Seems like you just repackaged this ideology into a modernized social justice meme for the those who fail to read any history. Many of us aren’t stupid enough to buy the propaganda.
“The charge that Israel is [like old South Africa] is a false and malicious one that precludes, rather than promotes, peace and harmony.”
— Richard Goldstone, former justice of the South African Constitutional Court
This is an incredibly sad and narrow minded article that presents no facts whatsoever….Since 2001, more than 12,800 rockets and mortars, an average of 3 attacks every single day, have landed in Israel. And somehow the state of Israel is so horrible for trying to defend itself against terrorists? Why not discuss how sad it is that textbooks in Muslim dominated countries are still demonizing Jews? That they won’t admit there was ever any type of Jewish presence at all in the Middle East, despite archaeological and historical records stating otherwise?
That is the true crime… the bad attempt to erase an entire group of people from history, and then to say that a country, the ONLY democracy in the Middle East, the size of the state of New Jersey, surrounded by enemy nations is bigoted? REALLY? There are thousands of Arabs living peacefully in Israel with Jews, and non-Jews alike.
“Like all other Israeli citizens, they have full rights to vote and to hold elective office. Both Arabs and Druze hold seats in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. Every Knesset, since the founding of the State in 1948, has had Arab and Druze members. All transactions in the Knesset are simultaneously translated into Arabic, and Arab members may address the Knesset in Arabic.
It is official policy of the Israeli government to foster the language, culture, and traditions of the Arab minority, in the educational system and in daily life. Arabic is an official language in Israel, together with Hebrew. Israel’s Arabic press is the most vibrant and independent of any country in the region. There are more than 20 Arabic periodicals. Arab women in Israel enjoy the same status as men”
Check your facts before you start spewing garbage.
Also, history has taught us that the Israeli government actually gave the Palestinians a very prime piece of land with a thriving industry in flowers. The Hamas-Terrorist led government destroyed it and then oppressed their own people.
Utterly shocked that this was posted under “Our View.” You all should be ashamed of yourselves for writing intellectually dishonest garbage like this. Israel’s policies are not motivated by an attempt to “systematically oppress” the Palestinians; rather, the blockade on Gaza, and the security fence- yes, it is a fence- are motivated by the desire to protect Israeli citizens from indiscriminate murder by the terrorist threats in both Gaza and the West Bank. And yes, these terrorist threats are real. Murder originating from terrorists from the West Bank have been reduced to almost zero after the construction of the security fence; the blockade has captured scores of weapons from Iran which Hamas would’ve used to indiscriminately fire at civilian centers. Don’t try and chalk it up to “apartheid” which it clearly is not. Why don’t you talk about both Jordan and Egypt’s refusal to grant citizenship to the Palestinian refugees? Israel provided full citizenship to the 800,000 Jews who fled every country in the Middle East following 1948 and 1967; obviously, Israel cares more about its people than the Arabs do about theirs.
This is a lazy, intellectually dishonest piece and should not represent CSULB.