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'''Allegations of Israeli apartheid''' are based on a controversial analogy between ]'s treatment of Arabs living in the ] and Israel and the treatment of blacks in ] during ]. Critics of the allegation argue that it is a factually inaccurate ] that is used to isolate Israel, and cite Israeli security needs for the practises that have prompted the analogy. <ref name=Matas>Matas, David. ''Aftershock: Anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism''. Dundurn, 2005, pp. 53-55.</ref>
'''Allegations of Israeli apartheid''' state that ] policies toward ] ], and to a lesser extent, its own ], violate ] against ], <ref>Desmond Tutu http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1957644.stm Tutu condemns Israeli apartheid</ref> <ref>Jonny Paul, , Jerusalem Post, Feb. 15, 2006, accessed October 21, 2006</ref><ref>Jon Kerkon, , Yale Herald, November 21, 2002, accessed October 21, 2006</ref> or compare the policies to the practices of the ] ]n Government. Opponents state that the situation in Israel and the Palestinian Territories lacks true parallels to South Africa-style apartheid, and point out the legal status of Israeli Arab citizens. They cite security motives and allege that the use of the term is calculated to achieve political ends.


==Introduction to the term== ==History of the term==
The ] was defined by a ] ] convention as "inhuman 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."<ref>{{cite web The ] was defined by a 1973 ] convention as "inhuman 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." <ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/11.htm |url=http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/11.htm
|title=International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of ''Apartheid'' |title=International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of ''Apartheid''
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|year=2006 |year=2006
|accessdate=8 October |accessdate=8 October
|accessyear=2006}}</ref> In ], the United Nations ] defined apartheid as any ] "committed in the context of an institutionalised regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime." It lists such crimes as ], ], deprivation of physical ], ], ], and ]."<ref>{{cite web |accessyear=2006}}</ref> In 2002, the United Nations ] defined apartheid as any ] "committed in the context of an institutionalised regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime." It lists such crimes as ], ], deprivation of physical ], ], ], and ]."<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.un.org/law/icc/statute/romefra.htm |url=http://www.un.org/law/icc/statute/romefra.htm
|title=Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Article 2, Chapter 5 |title=Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Article 2, Chapter 5
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|accessyear=2006}}</ref> |accessyear=2006}}</ref>


Allegations that Israel's policies with respect to the Palestinians on the West Bank and, to a lesser extent, its own Arab citizens resemble the policies of apartheid-era South Africa are highly disputed. According to its opponents, it is without merit and misused to isolate and condemn Israel,<ref name="Matas">Matas, David. ''Aftershock: Anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism''. Dundurn, 2005, pp. 53-55.</ref> <ref> (Honest Reporting) February 15, 2004</ref>. However many individuals, including ] anti-apartheid leaders like ], have call it "apartheid' and recognize the parallels <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1957644.stm Tutu condemns Israeli apartheid </ref> <ref>http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020715/tutu Against Israeli Apartheid </ref>. In some instances South African anti-apartheid activists have called it worse than apartheid in South Africa. Allegations that Israeli policies approximate those of apartheid-era South Africa are highly disputed. Its proponents use it to compare Israel's policy with respect to the Palestinians on the West Bank and, to a lesser extent, its own Arab citizens to apartheid-era South Africa. According to its opponents, it is both without merit, and misused to isolate and condemn Israel.<ref name=Matas/>


The comparison has also been made by some within Israeli politics and academia to warn of adverse scenarios that would result from current trends.<ref>Oren Yiftachel, Department of Geography and Environmental Development, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, '''' {{PDFlink}}</ref> Critics of the analogy argue that it is a factually inaccurate ] ].<ref> (Honest Reporting) February 15, 2004</ref>
==People who have used the term "Israeli apartheid"==
A system of Israeli apartheid has been alleged by diverse groups and individuals from across the world and the political spectrum. These have included former ] and successful ] negotiator ], <ref>http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15169723/site/newsweek/ Jimmy Carter discusses the Mideast conflict. </ref> South African Archbishop ],<ref name="tutu"> in ] by ]</ref><ref name=tutuNation>Tutu, D., and Urbina, I. 2002. Against Israeli apartheid. Nation 275:4-5. </ref> ], ], a professor of international law of South African-origin serving as the ] for the ] in a disputed report<ref>, ] March 10, 2006</ref><ref> (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)</ref><ref> by P. David Hornik (FrontPageMagazine) September 30, 2005</ref><ref></ref> on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories,<ref>Aluf Benn, , ''Ha'aretz'', August 24, 2004] </ref> peace activist and South African native ] <ref>], , Speech, Palestinian International Press Center, August 29 2004, accessed September 17 2006</ref>, ], an Israeli writer and political scientist,<ref> by Meron Benvenisti (''The Guardian'') April 26, 2004</ref> left-wing members members of the Knesset,<ref>Frenkel, Sheera Claire , ''Jerusalem Post'', May 15, 2006</ref> and by Palestinian and other rights activists.<ref name="Davis">Davis, Uri. </ref><ref name="Löwstedt>Löwstedt, Anthony. ] elements, including ] ],<ref name="duke">, David Duke Online Radio Report, July 22, 2002.</ref> ] Paul Grubach of the ],<ref>Grubach, Paul. , ''The Revisionist, No 1, 2002.</ref> and ] groups such as ].<ref>Jew Watch.</ref>


The expression has been used by diverse groups and individuals from across the world and the political spectrum. These have included ],{{fact}} ], a professor of international law of South African-origin serving as the ] for the ] in a disputed report<ref>, ] March 10, 2006</ref><ref> (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)</ref><ref> by P. David Hornik (FrontPageMagazine) September 30, 2005</ref><ref></ref> on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories,<ref>Aluf Benn, , ''Ha'aretz'', August 24, 2004]</ref> ],<ref name="tutu"> in ] by ]</ref><ref name=tutuNation>Tutu, D., and Urbina, I. 2002. Against Israeli apartheid. Nation 275:4-5. </ref>. peace activist and South African native ] <ref>], , Speech, Palestinian International Press Center, August 29 2004, accessed September 17 2006</ref>, ], an Israeli writer and political scientist,<ref> by Meron Benvenisti (''The Guardian'') April 26, 2004</ref> left-wing members members of the Knesset,<ref>Frenkel, Sheera Claire , ''Jerusalem Post'', May 15, 2006</ref> and by Palestinian-rights activists.<ref name="Davis">Davis, Uri. </ref> The term has also been used by ] elements, including ] ],<ref name="duke">, David Duke Online Radio Report, July 22, 2002.</ref> ] Paul Grubach of the ],<ref>Grubach, Paul. , ''The Revisionist, No 1, 2002.</ref> and ] groups such as ].<ref>Jew Watch.</ref>
===Early proponents of the term===


==Early proponents of the term==
In an article in ] ] quotes ], who he identifies as, "the South African prime minister and architect of the 'grand apartheid' vision of the bantustans as seeing 'a parallel' between Israel and Apartheid South Africa in 1961 saying, 'The Jews took Israel from the Arabs after the Arabs had lived there for a thousand years. Israel, like South Africa, is an apartheid state.'"<ref name = "McGreal">{{cite news

In ], the prime minister of South Africa ], widely considered the architect of South Africa's apartheid policies, stated "Israel, like South Africa, is an apartheid state".<ref name = "McGreal">{{cite news
|first = Chris |first = Chris
|last = McGreal |last = McGreal
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</ref> </ref>


Following the Israeli victory in the ] ] war, there was an intense debate in Israel and elsewhere about the right way to deal with the Palestinian Arab population within the the territories captured by Israel from ] and ], particularly on the West Bank and the Gaza strip. ], the Israeli Defence Minister, publicly called for the creation of "a sort of Arab ']'" in the ] structured along similar lines to the nominally independent "homelands" established in South Africa.<ref>"Problems of victory divide Israelis", ''The Times'', London. 15 June 1967.</ref> Following the Israeli victory in the ] ] war, there was an intense debate in Israel and elsewhere about the right way to deal with the Palestinian Arab population within the the territories captured by Israel from ] and ], particularly on the West Bank and the Gaza strip.
], the Israeli Defence Minister, publicly called for the creation of "a sort of Arab ']'" in the ] structured along similar lines to the nominally independent "homelands" established in South Africa.<ref>"Problems of victory divide Israelis", ''The Times'', London. 15 June 1967.</ref>


The senior ] ] politician ] was an early proponent of this school of thought which saw South African policy as an unmitigated evil to avoid, rather than emulate. In June ] he wrote a lengthy article in '']'' arguing that an apartheid-style system was the "logical culmination" of "Zionist exclusiveness." <ref>"Zionist doctrine and Israeli expansionism", Ian Gilmour M.P., ''The Times''. 25 June 1969</ref> The senior ] ] politician ] was an early proponent of this school of thought which saw South African policy as an unmitigated evil to avoid, rather than emulate. In June ] he wrote a lengthy article in '']'' arguing that an apartheid-style system was the "logical culmination" of "Zionist exclusiveness." <ref>"Zionist doctrine and Israeli expansionism", Ian Gilmour M.P., ''The Times''. 25 June 1969</ref>
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The argument that Zionism is an inherently racist doctrine was adopted by the ], Arab countries and a number of non-aligned nations, against the opposition of Israel and most Western countries. In December ], the Soviet ambassador to the ], ], accused Israel of promulgating a "racist policy of apartheid against Palestinians.<ref>Summary of news events, ''New York Times'', 10 December 1971</ref> The argument that Zionism is an inherently racist doctrine was adopted by the ], Arab countries and a number of non-aligned nations, against the opposition of Israel and most Western countries. In December ], the Soviet ambassador to the ], ], accused Israel of promulgating a "racist policy of apartheid against Palestinians.<ref>Summary of news events, ''New York Times'', 10 December 1971</ref>


==Current proponents of the term==
===Notable individuals and quotes===


===Notable individuals===
*], a former ], ] winner, and ] negotiator recently authored a book entitled ''Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid''. The book is highly critical of Israel's treatment of ] in Israel and the occupied territories.<ref>http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15169723/site/newsweek/page/4/ |Jimmy Carter discusses the Middle East</ref><ref>Accessed October 22, 2006</ref>

*], ] winner and Catholic Archbishop supported this analogy first in 1989 when he said in a ] article dated 12-25-89, "I am a black South African, and if I were to change the names, a description of what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank could describe events in South Africa." Later, in ], he said that he was "very deeply distressed" by a visit to the Holy Land, adding that "it reminded me so much of what happened to us black people in South Africa" and that he saw "the humiliation of the ] at checkpoints and roadblocks, suffering like us when young white police officers prevented us from moving about". <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1957644.stm</ref> Tutu also added that "Many ] are beginning to recognize the parallels to what we went through", and stated that a letter signed by ], Max Ozinsky, and "several hundred other prominent Jewish South Africans" had drawn "an explicit analogy between apartheid and current Israeli policies."<ref name="tutu"/><ref name=tutuNation/>
*], former ] recently authored a book entitled ''Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid''. The book is highly critical of Israel's treatment of ] in Israel and Palestine.]
*], former president of the ] Women's League, anti-apartheid activist, and former wife of South African ] stated: "Apartheid Israel can be defeated, just as apartheid in South Africa was defeated".<ref>http://gigablast.com/get?d=244211186303 Winnie Mandela on apartheid Israel</ref>
*Nobel Peace Prize winner ] supported this analogy when, in ], he wrote: "Many South Africans are beginning to recognize the parallels to what we went through", and stating that a letter signed by ], Max Ozinsky, and "several hundred other prominent Jewish South Africans" had drawn "an explicit analogy between apartheid and current Israeli policies."<ref name="tutu"/><ref name=tutuNation/>
*], a ] Muslim writer, scholar and ] activist, and currently William Henry Bloomberg Visiting Professor at ], stated that "the logic of ] is akin to the logic of ]", "life for the Palestinians is infinitely worse than what we ever had experienced under Apartheid", and "and the price they (Palestinians) have had to pay for resistance much more horrendous". <ref>http://cjpip.org/0609_esack.html Audio: Learning from South Africa -- Religion, Violence, Nonviolence, and International Engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian Struggle</ref>
*], a South African professor of international law and an ad hoc Judge on the ], serving as the ] for the United Nations on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories described the situation in the West Bank as "an apartheid regime ... worse than the one that existed in South Africa." <ref>Aluf Benn,, ''Ha'aretz'', August 24, 2004]</ref>. Dugard has since become an outspoken critic of Israel.<ref>"Tear Down This Wall". John Dugard, ''International Herald Tribune'', August 2, 2003</ref> *], a South African professor of international law and an ad hoc Judge on the ], serving as the ] for the United Nations on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories described the situation in the West Bank as "an apartheid regime ... worse than the one that existed in South Africa." <ref>Aluf Benn,, ''Ha'aretz'', August 24, 2004]</ref>. Dugard has since become an outspoken critic of Israel.<ref>"Tear Down This Wall". John Dugard, ''International Herald Tribune'', August 2, 2003</ref>
<!-- John's original report is available here: http://www.pchrgaza.org/Library/Dugard.pdf --> <!-- John's original report is available here: http://www.pchrgaza.org/Library/Dugard.pdf -->

*], Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) president , said "the 'apartheid Israel state' is worse than the apartheid that was conducted in South Africa. Madisha also said that Israel "should be seen as an apartheid state and the same sanctions must be applied that were established against South Africa".<ref>http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=276860&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/ 'Apartheid Israel' worse than apartheid South Africa</ref>
*], a South African ] activist stated that there are stark parallels between the Middle East and the old South Africa and that Israel's ] will create Palestinian ]. <ref>http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/2004/02/22/insight/in08.asp Israel's wall of shame will create poor Palestinian bantustans</ref>
*], peace activist born in South Africa, and grandson of former Indian leader ], criticised Israel's controverisial security barrier, saying, "This reminds me of something you might see in apartheid South Africa. The walls surround cities and towns, choking the people - it's not right.",<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3562434.stm Arun Gandhi, grandson of former Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi, is visiting Palestinian territories and Israel to spread the message of non-violence. </ref>
*In 1987, ], an Israeli-born academic and ]ish member of the ], wrote a book ''Israel: An Apartheid State'', which drew parallels between Israel and South Africa.<ref name="UriDavis">] ''Israel: An Apartheid State'' (1987) ISBN 0-86232-317-7</ref> *In 1987, ], an Israeli-born academic and ]ish member of the ], wrote a book ''Israel: An Apartheid State'', which drew parallels between Israel and South Africa.<ref name="UriDavis">] ''Israel: An Apartheid State'' (1987) ISBN 0-86232-317-7</ref>
*], Israeli admiral and former leader of ], Israel's domestic security agency stated in December 2000: "Israel must decide quickly what sort of environment it wants to live in because the current model, which has some apartheid characteristics, is not compatible with Jewish principles." <ref>http://www.dispatch.co.za/2000/12/05/foreign/IISRAEL.HTM Israel warned against emerging apartheid</ref>


*Several ] Members of the ] (MKs) have drawn an analogy between Israeli policies and apartheid, such as ] of the ] party who said of an ] ruling upholding the country's citizenship law: "The Supreme Court could have taken a braver decision and not relegated us to the level of an apartheid state."<ref> at ] by Sheera Claire Frenkel</ref> *Several ] Members of the ] (MKs) have drawn an analogy between Israeli policies and apartheid, such as ] of the ] party who said of an ] ruling upholding the country's citizenship law: "The Supreme Court could have taken a braver decision and not relegated us to the level of an apartheid state."<ref> at ] by Sheera Claire Frenkel</ref>

*], the ] newspaper's Middle East Correspondent, compared Israel with South Africa and alleged numerous similarities.<ref name = "McGreal" /> This article has been by opponents of the comparison.
*], former Education minister and a former leader of ], has said "if we are not an apartheid state, we are getting much, much closer to it."<ref>"EDITORIAL: An apartheid state?", '']'', November 11, 2002</ref> This comment was in response to a proposal by the then-government of ] to bar Arabs from buying homes in "Jewish townships" within Israel proper.<ref>Eric Silver, "Israel Accused of 'Racist Ideology' with Plan to Prevent Arabs Buying Homes", ''The Independent (UK)'', July 9, 2002.</ref> The proposed bill was narrowly defeated in the Knesset. At the time, ], leader of the liberal '']'' party, said he opposed the bill because it "smells of apartheid".<ref>Lucy Ash, , BBC News, December 23, 2004</ref>


===Governments=== ===Governments===
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*The term "apartheid" has been used by groups protesting the Israeli government, particularly student groups in ], the ] and ], where "Israeli apartheid week" is held on many campuses.<ref> at ] by Jonny Paul</ref> It has been widely used by Palestinian rights advocates, <ref>http://www.palestinecenter.org/cpap/pubs/20020604ib.html</ref> anti-Zionists, and by some on the Israeli Jewish left. *The term "apartheid" has been used by groups protesting the Israeli government, particularly student groups in ], the ] and ], where "Israeli apartheid week" is held on many campuses.<ref> at ] by Jonny Paul</ref> It has been widely used by Palestinian rights advocates, <ref>http://www.palestinecenter.org/cpap/pubs/20020604ib.html</ref> anti-Zionists, and by some on the Israeli Jewish left.
*In 2006, the ], which represents 1.2 million South African workers, also criticized Israel as an apartheid state and supported the boycott of the ]. <ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3260201,00.html |title=South African union joins boycott of Israel |date= |publisher=]}}</ref> *In 2006, the ], which represents 1.2 million South African workers, also criticized Israel as an apartheid state and supported the boycott of the ]. <ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3260201,00.html |title=South African union joins boycott of Israel |date= |publisher=]}}</ref>
*The ] actively campaigns against what they believe are ]s and an emerging Israeli apartheid.


===Media===
==Other people who have made apartheid analogies==
{{main|Chris McGreal}}

In a controversial '']'' special report, Chris McGreal, the newspaper's Middle East Correspondent, compared Israel with South Africa and alleged numerous similarities. This article has been heavily criticized by pro-Israel organizations.<ref name = "McGreal" />
], former Education minister and a former leader of ], has said "if we are not an apartheid state, we are getting much, much closer to it."<ref>"EDITORIAL: An apartheid state?", '']'', November 11, 2002</ref> This comment was in response to a proposal by the then-government of ] to bar Arabs from buying homes in "Jewish townships" within Israel proper.<ref>Eric Silver, "Israel Accused of 'Racist Ideology' with Plan to Prevent Arabs Buying Homes", ''The Independent (UK)'', July 9, 2002.</ref> The proposed bill was narrowly defeated in the Knesset. At the time, ], leader of the liberal '']'' party, said he opposed the bill because it "smells of apartheid".<ref>Lucy Ash, , BBC News, December 23, 2004</ref>


==Israeli practices cited by proponents of the term== ==Israeli practices cited by proponents of the term==

===Affecting Occupied Territories===
====Military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip==== ===Military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip===


Palestinians living in the non-annexed portions of the West Bank (i.e. ]) do not have Israeli citizenship or voting rights in Israel, but are under Israeli occupation and subject to the policies of the Israeli government and its military. Israel grants rights to its Arab citizens. Palestinians living in the non-annexed portions of the West Bank (i.e. ]) do not have Israeli citizenship or voting rights in Israel, but are under Israeli occupation and subject to the policies of the Israeli government and its military. Israel grants rights to its Arab citizens.


According to ] writing in '']'', after 1977, "(t)he military government in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS) expropriated and enclosed Palestinian land and allowed the transfer of Israeli settlers to the occupied territories: they continued to be governed by Israeli laws. The government also enacted different military laws and decrees to regulate the civilian, economic and legal affairs of Palestinian inhabitants. These strangled the Palestinian economy and increased its dependence and integration into Israel." Fasakh adds that "Israel has constructed more than 145 settlements by 1993 and moved in 196,000 settlers; half lived in 10 settlements around East Jerusalem. The settlements’ exponential growth and scattered distribution over the occupied areas began the structural-territorial fragmentation of the WBGS (West Bank and Gaza Strip); they were intended to challenge the Palestinian demographic in the WBGS. Many view these Israeli policies of territorial integration and societal separation as apartheid, even if they were never given such a name."<ref>Farsakh, Leila "", ''Le Monde diploatique'', November 2003</ref>

=====Freedom of Movement=====
Israel has created roads and checkpoints in the ] which isolate Palestinian communities<ref name="btselem"> at ]</ref>. Policies also restrict the movement of goods between Israel and the West Bank, and into the Gaza Strip. Marwan Bishara, a teacher of international relations at the ], has compared the restrictions on movement to apartheid ]<ref name=Bishara> , accessed October 21 2006</ref>; Israel maintains that these roads and checkpoints are important to its self-defense. Israel has created roads and checkpoints in the ] which isolate Palestinian communities<ref name="btselem"> at ]</ref>. Policies also restrict the movement of goods between Israel and the West Bank, and into the Gaza Strip. Marwan Bishara, a teacher of international relations at the ], has compared the restrictions on movement to apartheid ]<ref name=Bishara> , accessed October 21 2006</ref>; Israel maintains that these roads and checkpoints are important to its self-defense.


According to ] writing in '']'', after 1977, "(t)he military government in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS) expropriated and enclosed Palestinian land and allowed the transfer of Israeli settlers to the occupied territories: they continued to be governed by Israeli laws. The government also enacted different military laws and decrees to regulate the civilian, economic and legal affairs of Palestinian inhabitants. These strangled the Palestinian economy and increased its dependence and integration into Israel." Fasakh adds that "Israel has constructed more than 145 settlements by 1993 and moved in 196,000 settlers; half lived in 10 settlements around East Jerusalem. The settlements’ exponential growth and scattered distribution over the occupied areas began the structural-territorial fragmentation of the WBGS (West Bank and Gaza Strip); they were intended to challenge the Palestinian demographic in the WBGS. Many view these Israeli policies of territorial integration and societal separation as apartheid, even if they were never given such a name."<ref>Farsakh, Leila "", ''Le Monde diploatique'', November 2003</ref>
====Separation program====
In response to the ], under Prime Minister ], Israel began in 2002 to implement a "separation program" (Hebrew ''Hafrada'') designed to physically separate Palestinians and Israelis in the West Bank. The program includes ] between ] and Palestinian areas, limitations on travel by Palestinians within the West Bank, <ref></ref> and Israeli-only roads <ref> </ref>. Some critics of Israeli policy consider this program, and the philosophy behind it, to be a form of apartheid <ref>http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20060524-074634-8971r</ref>.

Israel described the features of the separation program not as methods of enforcing apartheid rule of Israel over the Palestinians, but rather as an unilateral approach to a ]. Israel has dismantled Israeli settlements and withdrawn the army from the Gaza Strip.{{fact}} The 2006 ] of Prime Minister ] called for withdrawing the army from most of the West Bank. The West Bank barrier has been portrayed as one approach to such a solution.


=====Israeli West Bank barrier===== ===Israeli West Bank barrier===
{{see also|Israeli West Bank barrier}} {{see also|Israeli West Bank barrier}}
The Israeli West Bank barrier has been called the "apartheid wall". The Israeli West Bank barrier has been called the "apartheid wall".
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The ] ruled that the barrier is indeed defensive and accepted the Israeli claim that the route is based on security considerations <ref> Beit Sourik Village Council vs. The Government of Israel and Commander of the IDF Forces in the West Bank. (Articles 28-30)</ref> The ] ruled that the barrier is indeed defensive and accepted the Israeli claim that the route is based on security considerations <ref> Beit Sourik Village Council vs. The Government of Israel and Commander of the IDF Forces in the West Bank. (Articles 28-30)</ref>


===Land policy inside the Green Line===
=====Separate Roads=====
Israel has created separate road for Israelis and Palestinians. Israeli human rights group ] said "Palestinians are barred from or have restricted access to 450 miles of West Bank roads, a system with 'clear similarities' to South Africa's former ] regime". The Israeli newspaper ] reported that the Israeli government gave its military approval to implement a plan to culminate in barring all Palestinians from roads used by Israelis in the West Bank. "The purpose is to reach, in a gradual manner, within a year or two, total separation between the two populations. The first and immediate stage of separation applies to the roads in the territories: roads for Israelis only and roads for Palestinians only," the newspaper said.<ref>http://www.btselem.org/english/publications/summaries/200408_forbidden_roads.asp Forbidden Roads: The Discriminatory West Bank Road Regime (Discrimination-based separation - An Apartheid Practice)</ref>

===Within Israel===
====Land policy====
93.5% of the land inside the ] is not held by private owners. 79.5% of the land is owned by the Israeli Government through the ], and 14% is privately owned by the ]. Under Israeli law, both ILA and JNF lands may not be sold, and are leased under the administration of the ILA.<ref name=camera>Alex Safian, , ], February 20, 2006</ref> 93.5% of the land inside the ] is not held by private owners. 79.5% of the land is owned by the Israeli Government through the ], and 14% is privately owned by the ]. Under Israeli law, both ILA and JNF lands may not be sold, and are leased under the administration of the ILA.<ref name=camera>Alex Safian, , ], February 20, 2006</ref>


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Although there are formal restrictions on the lease of JNF land, which is privately owned by the JNF , "in practice JNF land has been leased to Arab citizens of Israel, both for short-term and long-term use. To cite one example of the former, JNF-owned land in the Besor Valley (Wadi Shallaleh) near Kibbutz Re'em has been leased on a yearly basis to Bedouins for use as pasture."<ref>''The Negev Bedouin and Livestock Raising", Berg Publishers Ltd, 1994, pgs 28, 36, 38.</ref><ref name=Camera2>, ], June 25, 1997</ref> Although there are formal restrictions on the lease of JNF land, which is privately owned by the JNF , "in practice JNF land has been leased to Arab citizens of Israel, both for short-term and long-term use. To cite one example of the former, JNF-owned land in the Besor Valley (Wadi Shallaleh) near Kibbutz Re'em has been leased on a yearly basis to Bedouins for use as pasture."<ref>''The Negev Bedouin and Livestock Raising", Berg Publishers Ltd, 1994, pgs 28, 36, 38.</ref><ref name=Camera2>, ], June 25, 1997</ref>


====Government Employment==== ===Employment===
18% of the population within Israel's pre-1967 borders is Arab. "Only 3.7 percent of Israel's employees are Arabs; Arabs hold only 50 out of 5,000 university faculty positions; and of the country's 61 poorest towns, 48 are Arab."<ref>Flore de Préneuf, , November 3, 2000</ref> 18% of the population within Israel's pre-1967 borders is Arab. "Only 3.7 percent of Israel's employees are Arabs; Arabs hold only 50 out of 5,000 university faculty positions; and of the country's 61 poorest towns, 48 are Arab."<ref>Flore de Préneuf, , November 3, 2000</ref>


====Identity cards==== ===Identity cards===
{{POV-section}}
{{main|Identity card (Israel)}} {{main|Identity card (Israel)}}


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|accessyear=2006}}</ref> The same article also compared Israel's Population Registry Act, which calls for the gathering of ethnic data, to South Africa's Apartheid-era ]. |accessyear=2006}}</ref> The same article also compared Israel's Population Registry Act, which calls for the gathering of ethnic data, to South Africa's Apartheid-era ].


====Marriage==== ===Separation program===
In response to the ], under Prime Minister ], Israel began in 2002 to implement a "separation program" (Hebrew ''Hafrada'') designed to physically separate Palestinians and Israelis in the West Bank. The program includes ] between ] and Palestinian areas, limitations on travel by Palestinians within the West Bank, <ref></ref> and Israeli-only roads <ref> </ref>. Some critics of Israeli policy consider this program, and the philosophy behind it, to be a form of apartheid <ref>http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20060524-074634-8971r</ref>.
A ] law forbids married couples comprising an Israeli citizen and a Palestian from an occupied territory from living together in Israel.<ref name=adam>{{cite book
|title=Seeking Mandela: Peacemaking Between Israelis and Palestinians
|first=Heriber
|last=Adam
|coauthors=Kogila Moodley
|publisher=UCL Press
|month=June
|year=2005
|pages=23
|id=ISBN 1844721302}}</ref> The law does allow children from such marriages to live in Israel until age 12, at which age the law requires them to move out of Israel.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20030801/ai_n12701494
|title=Israel Imposes 'Racist' Marriage Law
|first=Justin
|last=Huggler
|date=2003-08-01
|location=Jerusalem
|publisher=The Independant
|accessdate=23 October
|accessyear=2006}}</ref> This is reminiscent of South African apartheid immigration laws, which adversely affected Indian practices of ], in that they were forbidden from importing brides from their native country as they had done for generations prior to the apartheid regime.<ref name=adam/> Israel cites security and not fears of further drain on minority status, as white South Africans did, as reason for their immigration policies.<ref name=adam/>


Israel described the features of the separation program not as methods of enforcing apartheid rule of Israel over the Palestinians, but rather as an unilateral approach to a ]. Israel has dismantled Israeli settlements and withdrawn the army from the Gaza Strip.{{fact}} The 2006 ] of Prime Minister ] called for withdrawing the army from most of the West Bank. The West Bank barrier has been portrayed as one approach to such a solution.
The law was passed as an emergency one year measure in 2002, and has been renewed every year since. The law was narrowly upheld in ] ], by the ] on a six to five vote. Israel's Chief Justice, ], sided with the minority on the bench, declaring: "This violation of rights is directed against Arab citizens of Israel. As a result, therefore, the law is a violation of the right of Arab citizens in Israel to equality."<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20060515/ai_n16366013
|title='Racist' marriage law upheld by Israel
|date=2006-05-15
|first=Donald
|last=Macintyre
|location=Jerusalem
|publisher=The Independant
|accessdate=23 October
|accessyear=2006}}</ref>


==The debate on the future of Israel == ==The debate on the future of Israel ==
Line 230: Line 192:
==Criticisms of the term== ==Criticisms of the term==
{{See also|New anti-Semitism}} {{See also|New anti-Semitism}}
Some critics of the term argue that it is inaccurate, ], dangerous,<ref name="Rufin" /> and used as a rhetorical device with no substantive merit. South African-born ], who reported on black townships in South Africa for the Rand Daily Mail from 1958-1985 and who currently lives and works in ] gives a personal account of the difficulty of the comparsion between Apartheid in South Africa and the situation in Israel in ] in response to Chris McGreal's articles. Specifically, Pogrund argues that McGreal "muddled in distinguishing between the situations of Israeli Arabs and West Bank Arabs and Jerusalem Arabs" and goes on to describe his experiences with the Israel Arab population:<ref>{{cite web Some critics of the term argue that it is inaccurate, ], dangerous,<ref name="Rufin" /> and used as a rhetorical device with no substantive merit.
|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1704780,00.html
|title=Why depict Israel as a chamber of horrors like no other in the world?
|first=Benjamin
|last=Pogrund
|date=2006-02-08
|publisher=The Guardian UK
|accessdate=23 October
|accessyear=2006}}</ref> <blockquote>"Nearly three years ago I underwent an operation in a Jerusalem hospital. The surgeon was Jewish, the anaesthetist was Arab. The doctors and nurses who looked after me were Jews and Arabs. I lay in bed for a month and watched as they gave the same skilled care to other patients - half of whom were Arabs and half of whom were Jewish - all sharing the same wards, operating theatres and bathrooms. After that experience I have difficulty understanding anyone who equates Israel with apartheid South Africa. What I saw in the Hadassah Mt Scopus hospital was inconceivable in the South Africa where I spent most of my life, growing up and then working as a journalist who specialised in exposing apartheid. It didn't happen and it couldn't happen. Blacks and whites were strictly separated and blacks got the least and the worst. And this is only one slice of life. Buses, post offices, park benches, cinemas, everything, were segregated by law. No equation is possible"</blockquote>


===General criticism=== ===General criticism===
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Because apartheid is universally condemned, and a global coalition helped to bring down the South African apartheid regime, anti-Zionists "dream of constructing a similar global anti-Zionism effort", writes Matas. "The simplest and most direct way for them to do so is to label Israel as an apartheid state. The fact that there is no resemblance whatsoever between true apartheid and the State of Israel has not stopped anti-Zionists for a moment."<ref name=Matas/> Because apartheid is universally condemned, and a global coalition helped to bring down the South African apartheid regime, anti-Zionists "dream of constructing a similar global anti-Zionism effort", writes Matas. "The simplest and most direct way for them to do so is to label Israel as an apartheid state. The fact that there is no resemblance whatsoever between true apartheid and the State of Israel has not stopped anti-Zionists for a moment."<ref name=Matas/>

Heribert Adam and Kogila Moodley deal with the topic in their book ''Seeking Mandela''.<ref>{{cite book
|title=Seeking Mandela: Peacemaking Between Israelis and Palestinians
|first=Heriber
|last=Adam
|coauthors=Kogila Moodley
|publisher=UCL Press
|month=June
|year=2005
|pages=22
|id=ISBN 1844721302}}</ref> They write in critism that emphasizing simiilarities between Israel and the South African regime has the effect of "delegitimizing Israeli governance" and that: <blockquote>After fascism and African decolonization, the apartheid regime constituted an international pariah state, and equating Jewish treatment of Palestinians with Bantustans and the suppression of national liberation casts Israel in a similar pariah role.</blockquote>


In November, 2002, ], in his capacity as President of ], said in a statement about a divestment petition at the university that the analogy of Israel to South Africa at the time of apartheid, "is both grotesque and offensive". <ref>, November 7, 2002. Retrieved from the Columbia University Divestment Campaign website, July 4, 2006.</ref> In November, 2002, ], in his capacity as President of ], said in a statement about a divestment petition at the university that the analogy of Israel to South Africa at the time of apartheid, "is both grotesque and offensive". <ref>, November 7, 2002. Retrieved from the Columbia University Divestment Campaign website, July 4, 2006.</ref>
Line 270: Line 213:
According to Fred Taub, the President of ], "The assertion ... that Israel is practicing apartheid is not only false, but may be considered libelous. ... The fact is that it is the Arabs who are discriminating against non-Muslims, especially Jews."<ref> August 1, 2004 (Boycott Watch)</ref> According to Fred Taub, the President of ], "The assertion ... that Israel is practicing apartheid is not only false, but may be considered libelous. ... The fact is that it is the Arabs who are discriminating against non-Muslims, especially Jews."<ref> August 1, 2004 (Boycott Watch)</ref>


In her book, ''The Trouble with Islam Today'', ] lists numerous reasons why Israel is not an apartheid state. Israeli Arabs (however not Palestinians) can run for office, and there are several Israeli Arab political parties. Israeli Arab Muslim legistlators have veto powers. In 2003, when two Israeli Arab political parties were disqualified for supporting terrorism, the judiciary, free from political interference, overturned the disqualifications. Women and the poor can vote. ], an Israeli Arab, was awarded the ] for literature. Hebrew speaking children are encouraged to learn Arabic. Road signs are bilingual. Arabs study side by side in universities, and live in the same apartment buildings. Palestinians who commute from the West Bank have state benefits and legal protections. Israel has a free Arab Press, ].<ref>{{cite book In her book, ''The Trouble with Islam Today'', ] lists numerous reasons why Israel is not an apartheid state. Arabs can run for office, and there are several Arab political parties. Arab Muslim legistlators have veto powers. In 2003, when two Arab political parties were disqualified for supporting terrorism, the judiciary, free from political interference, overturned the disqualifications. Women and the poor can vote. ], and Arab, was awarded the ] for literature. Hebrew speaking children are encouraged to learn Arabic. Road signs are bilingual. Arabs study side by side in universities, and live in the same apartment buildings. Palestians who commute from the West Bank have state benefits and legal protections. Israel has a free Arab Press, ].<ref>{{cite book
|title=The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith |title=The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith
|first=Irshad |first=Irshad
Line 305: Line 248:
:*The analogy "demean(s) Black victims of the real apartheid regime in South Africa."<ref name="ngo_Jpost"> ] op-ed by Gerald M. Steinberg</ref> :*The analogy "demean(s) Black victims of the real apartheid regime in South Africa."<ref name="ngo_Jpost"> ] op-ed by Gerald M. Steinberg</ref>
:* ] is not a manifestation of ].<ref name="ngo_Jpost" /> :* ] is not a manifestation of ].<ref name="ngo_Jpost" />

==See also==
*] for other uses of the term
*]
*]
*'']'', a Hebrew term for "separation"
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]


==References== ==References==
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;"> <div class="references-small">
<references /> <references />
</div> </div>


==Books== ==Books==
<div class="references-small">
* {{cite book | title=The New Intifada: Resisting Israel's Apartheid | author = Roane Carey, Noam Chomsky, Gila Svirsky, and Alison Weir | id = ISBN 1-85984-377-8 | publisher=Verso | year = 2001 }} * {{cite book | title=The New Intifada: Resisting Israel's Apartheid | author = Roane Carey, Noam Chomsky, Gila Svirsky, and Alison Weir | id = ISBN 1-85984-377-8 | publisher=Verso | year = 2001 }}
* {{cite book | title=Palestine: Peace not Apartheid | author = ] | publisher = Simon and Schuster | id = ISBN 07432-8502-6 | year = 14 November, 2006 }} * {{cite book | title=Palestine: Peace not Apartheid | author = ] | publisher = Simon and Schuster | id = ISBN 07432-8502-6 | year = 14 November, 2006 }}
Line 330: Line 260:
* {{cite book | title=Israel: An Apartheid State| author=Uri Davis | id = ISBN 0-86232-317-7 | publisher=Zed Books | year=1987 }} * {{cite book | title=Israel: An Apartheid State| author=Uri Davis | id = ISBN 0-86232-317-7 | publisher=Zed Books | year=1987 }}
* {{cite book | title=Apartheid Israel: Possibilities for the Struggle Within| author=Uri Davis | id = ISBN 1-84277-339-9 | publisher=Zed Books | year=2004 }} * {{cite book | title=Apartheid Israel: Possibilities for the Struggle Within| author=Uri Davis | id = ISBN 1-84277-339-9 | publisher=Zed Books | year=2004 }}
</div>


==Further reading== ==Further reading==
<div class="references-small">
*
*
* by ], '']'' * by ], '']''
* *
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* by Jock L. Falkson * by Jock L. Falkson
* by Anthony Löwstedt * by Anthony Löwstedt

* by Oren Yiftachel, Department of Geography and Environmental Development, Ben Gurion University of the Negev
==See also==
</div>
*] for other uses of the term
*]
*'']'', a Hebrew term for "separation"
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]


] ]

Revision as of 09:54, 24 October 2006

Allegations of Israeli apartheid are based on a controversial analogy between Israel's treatment of Arabs living in the West Bank and Israel and the treatment of blacks in South Africa during Apartheid. Critics of the allegation argue that it is a factually inaccurate political epithet that is used to isolate Israel, and cite Israeli security needs for the practises that have prompted the analogy.

History of the term

The crime of apartheid was defined by a 1973 United Nations convention as "inhuman 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." In 2002, the United Nations treaty establishing the International Criminal Court defined apartheid as any crime against humanity "committed in the context of an institutionalised regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime." It lists such crimes as murder, enslavement, deprivation of physical liberty, forced relocation, sexual violence, and collective persecution."

Allegations that Israeli policies approximate those of apartheid-era South Africa are highly disputed. Its proponents use it to compare Israel's policy with respect to the Palestinians on the West Bank and, to a lesser extent, its own Arab citizens to apartheid-era South Africa. According to its opponents, it is both without merit, and misused to isolate and condemn Israel.

The comparison has also been made by some within Israeli politics and academia to warn of adverse scenarios that would result from current trends. Critics of the analogy argue that it is a factually inaccurate pejorative political epithet.

The expression has been used by diverse groups and individuals from across the world and the political spectrum. These have included Jimmy Carter, John Dugard, a professor of international law of South African-origin serving as the Special Rapporteur for the United Nations in a disputed report on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, Desmond Tutu,. peace activist and South African native Arun Ghandhi , Meron Benvenisti, an Israeli writer and political scientist, left-wing members members of the Knesset, and by Palestinian-rights activists. The term has also been used by far right elements, including white supremacist David Duke, Holocaust denier Paul Grubach of the Institute for Historical Review, and anti-Semitic groups such as Jew Watch.

Early proponents of the term

In 1961, the prime minister of South Africa Hendrik Verwoerd, widely considered the architect of South Africa's apartheid policies, stated "Israel, like South Africa, is an apartheid state".

Following the Israeli victory in the 1967 Six Day War war, there was an intense debate in Israel and elsewhere about the right way to deal with the Palestinian Arab population within the the territories captured by Israel from Jordan and Egypt, particularly on the West Bank and the Gaza strip.

Moshe Dayan, the Israeli Defence Minister, publicly called for the creation of "a sort of Arab 'Bantustan'" in the West Bank structured along similar lines to the nominally independent "homelands" established in South Africa.

The senior British Conservative politician Ian Gilmour was an early proponent of this school of thought which saw South African policy as an unmitigated evil to avoid, rather than emulate. In June 1969 he wrote a lengthy article in The Times arguing that an apartheid-style system was the "logical culmination" of "Zionist exclusiveness."

The argument that Zionism is an inherently racist doctrine was adopted by the Soviet Union, Arab countries and a number of non-aligned nations, against the opposition of Israel and most Western countries. In December 1971, the Soviet ambassador to the United Nations, Yakov Malik, accused Israel of promulgating a "racist policy of apartheid against Palestinians.

Current proponents of the term

Notable individuals

  • Jimmy Carter, former President of the United States recently authored a book entitled Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. The book is highly critical of Israel's treatment of minority groups in Israel and Palestine.]
  • Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu supported this analogy when, in 2002, he wrote: "Many South Africans are beginning to recognize the parallels to what we went through", and stating that a letter signed by Ronnie Kasrils, Max Ozinsky, and "several hundred other prominent Jewish South Africans" had drawn "an explicit analogy between apartheid and current Israeli policies."
  • John Dugard, a South African professor of international law and an ad hoc Judge on the International Court of Justice, serving as the Special Rapporteur for the United Nations on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories described the situation in the West Bank as "an apartheid regime ... worse than the one that existed in South Africa." . Dugard has since become an outspoken critic of Israel.
  • Several left wing Members of the Knesset (MKs) have drawn an analogy between Israeli policies and apartheid, such as Zehava Gal-On of the Meretz party who said of an Israeli Supreme Court ruling upholding the country's citizenship law: "The Supreme Court could have taken a braver decision and not relegated us to the level of an apartheid state."
  • Shulamit Aloni, former Education minister and a former leader of Meretz, has said "if we are not an apartheid state, we are getting much, much closer to it." This comment was in response to a proposal by the then-government of Ariel Sharon to bar Arabs from buying homes in "Jewish townships" within Israel proper. The proposed bill was narrowly defeated in the Knesset. At the time, Tommy Lapid, leader of the liberal Shinui party, said he opposed the bill because it "smells of apartheid".

Governments

The apartheid analogy was used in a 1984 Syrian letter to the UN Security Council, which stated: "... Zionist Israeli institutional terrorism in no way differs from the terrorism pursued by the apartheid regime against millions of Africans in South Africa and Namibia ..., just as it in no way differs in essence and nature from the Nazi terrorism which shed European blood and visited ruin and destruction upon the peoples of Europe."

Non-governmental organizations

  • The term "apartheid" has been used by groups protesting the Israeli government, particularly student groups in Britain, the United States and Canada, where "Israeli apartheid week" is held on many campuses. It has been widely used by Palestinian rights advocates, anti-Zionists, and by some on the Israeli Jewish left.
  • In 2006, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, which represents 1.2 million South African workers, also criticized Israel as an apartheid state and supported the boycott of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

Media

Main article: Chris McGreal

In a controversial Guardian special report, Chris McGreal, the newspaper's Middle East Correspondent, compared Israel with South Africa and alleged numerous similarities. This article has been heavily criticized by pro-Israel organizations.

Israeli practices cited by proponents of the term

Military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip

Palestinians living in the non-annexed portions of the West Bank (i.e. East Jerusalem) do not have Israeli citizenship or voting rights in Israel, but are under Israeli occupation and subject to the policies of the Israeli government and its military. Israel grants rights to its Arab citizens.

Israel has created roads and checkpoints in the occupied territories which isolate Palestinian communities. Policies also restrict the movement of goods between Israel and the West Bank, and into the Gaza Strip. Marwan Bishara, a teacher of international relations at the American University of Paris, has compared the restrictions on movement to apartheid pass laws; Israel maintains that these roads and checkpoints are important to its self-defense.

According to Leila Farsakh writing in Le Monde diplomatique, after 1977, "(t)he military government in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS) expropriated and enclosed Palestinian land and allowed the transfer of Israeli settlers to the occupied territories: they continued to be governed by Israeli laws. The government also enacted different military laws and decrees to regulate the civilian, economic and legal affairs of Palestinian inhabitants. These strangled the Palestinian economy and increased its dependence and integration into Israel." Fasakh adds that "Israel has constructed more than 145 settlements by 1993 and moved in 196,000 settlers; half lived in 10 settlements around East Jerusalem. The settlements’ exponential growth and scattered distribution over the occupied areas began the structural-territorial fragmentation of the WBGS (West Bank and Gaza Strip); they were intended to challenge the Palestinian demographic in the WBGS. Many view these Israeli policies of territorial integration and societal separation as apartheid, even if they were never given such a name."

Israeli West Bank barrier

See also: Israeli West Bank barrier

The Israeli West Bank barrier has been called the "apartheid wall".

The wall isolates Palestinian communities in the West Bank, and consolidates the annexation of Palestinian land by Israeli settlements. The International Solidarity Movement describes the barrier as part of a "long-term policy of occupation, discrimination and expulsion," which effectively constitutes a feature of "Israeli apartheid". Israeli left wing groups such as Gush Shalom and more recently by the Israeli State Prosecution itself (in reference to the part built beyond the 1949 Armistice lines) have described the wall.

88% of barrier is currently fenced while only around 11.5% actually walled.

According to the US Central Intelligence Agency, over 1 million Arabs on the Israeli side of the barrier are full citizens of Israel, and constitute 15% of Israel's population.

The Israeli foreign ministry claims that the West Bank barrier will cause no transfer of population and that none of the estimated 10,000 Palestinians (0.5%) who will be left on the Israeli side of the barrier (based on the February, 2005 route) will be forced to migrate. South African Apartheid involved the forced removal of about 1.5 million South Africans to Bantustans, created in order to force legal borders and eliminate the rights of the black population, and the U.N. has made forced migration a crime against humanity.

The barrier has been presented as a reasonable and necessary security precaution to protect Israeli civilians from Palestinian terrorism. Supporters of the barrier consider it to be largely responsible for reducing incidents of terrorism by 90% from 2002 to 2005. Israel's foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, stated in 2004 that the barrier is not a border but a temporary defensive measure designed to protect Israeli civilians from terrorist infiltration and attack, and can be dismantled if appropriate.

The Supreme Court of Israel ruled that the barrier is indeed defensive and accepted the Israeli claim that the route is based on security considerations

Land policy inside the Green Line

93.5% of the land inside the Green Line is not held by private owners. 79.5% of the land is owned by the Israeli Government through the Israeli Land Authority, and 14% is privately owned by the Jewish National Fund. Under Israeli law, both ILA and JNF lands may not be sold, and are leased under the administration of the ILA.

Critics say that as a result of this leasing arrangement, the vast majority of land in Israel is not available to non-Jews. In response, Alex Safian has argued that this is not true -- according to Safian, the 79.5% of Israeli land owned directly by the ILA is available for lease to both Jews and Arabs, sometimes on beneficial terms to Arabs under Israeli affirmative action programs. While Safian concedes that the 14% of Israeli land owned by the JNF is not legally available for lease to Israel's arab citizens, he argues that the ILA often ignores this restriction in practice.

In March 2000, Israel's High Court ruled in Qaadan v. Katzir that the government's use of the JNF to develop public land was discriminatory due to the agency's prohibition against leasing to non-Jews. According to Dr. Alexandre Kedar of the Haifa University Law School "Until the Supreme Court Qaadan v. Katzir decision, Arabs could not acquire land in any of the hundreds of settlements of this kind existing in Israel..

Although there are formal restrictions on the lease of JNF land, which is privately owned by the JNF , "in practice JNF land has been leased to Arab citizens of Israel, both for short-term and long-term use. To cite one example of the former, JNF-owned land in the Besor Valley (Wadi Shallaleh) near Kibbutz Re'em has been leased on a yearly basis to Bedouins for use as pasture."

Employment

18% of the population within Israel's pre-1967 borders is Arab. "Only 3.7 percent of Israel's employees are Arabs; Arabs hold only 50 out of 5,000 university faculty positions; and of the country's 61 poorest towns, 48 are Arab."

Identity cards

Main article: Identity card (Israel)

"In recent decades, partly as a result of international action against the former Apartheid policies in South Africa, ID cards or documents with racial categories have come to be viewed with international disapproval." Israeli identity cards, required of all residents over the age of 16, indicate whether holders are Jewish or not by adding the person's Hebrew date of birth.

In a controversial article in the Guardian, journalist Chris McGreal reported that having indications of Jewish ethnicity on national identification cards is "in effect determining where they are permitted to live, access to some government welfare programmes, and how they are likely to be treated by civil servants and policemen." The same article also compared Israel's Population Registry Act, which calls for the gathering of ethnic data, to South Africa's Apartheid-era Population Registration Act.

Separation program

In response to the Intifada, under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Israel began in 2002 to implement a "separation program" (Hebrew Hafrada) designed to physically separate Palestinians and Israelis in the West Bank. The program includes fences and walls between Israeli and Palestinian areas, limitations on travel by Palestinians within the West Bank, and Israeli-only roads . Some critics of Israeli policy consider this program, and the philosophy behind it, to be a form of apartheid .

Israel described the features of the separation program not as methods of enforcing apartheid rule of Israel over the Palestinians, but rather as an unilateral approach to a two-state solution. Israel has dismantled Israeli settlements and withdrawn the army from the Gaza Strip. The 2006 realignment plan of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called for withdrawing the army from most of the West Bank. The West Bank barrier has been portrayed as one approach to such a solution.

The debate on the future of Israel

A number of voices, both within Israel and internationally, warn that Israel could become an "apartheid state" if the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza were to continue or if certain government policies were implemented. Such arguments are raised both by those advocating complete Israeli disengagement from the West Bank and Gaza and by those who advocate a binational solution.

Meron Benvenisti, an Israeli political scientist and the former deputy mayor of Jerusalem warns that Israel is moving towards the model of apartheid South Africa through the creation of "Bantustan" like conditions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip

An academic paper by Professor Oren Yiftachel of the Ben Gurion University of the Negev warns that Israel unilateral disengagement plan will result in "creeping apartheid" both in the West Bank and Gaza as well as within Israel itself. .

The analogy has also been used as a warning of what Israel may become if a two state solution is not realised. This allusion has been used in reference to the debate on Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza and West Bank. The Economist, in an article on the debate over withdrawal from the Occupied Territories, asserted that "Keeping the occupied land will force on Israel the impossible choice of being either an apartheid state, or a binational one with Jews as a minority."

In January 2004, Ahmed Qureia, then the Palestinian Prime Minister, said that Sharon's unilateralism could prompt an end to the Palestinian efforts towards a two-state solution:

This is an apartheid solution to put the Palestinians in cantons. Who can accept this? We will go for a one-state solution... There's no other solution. We will not hesitate to defend the right of our people when we feel the very serious intention to destroy these rights.'"

Colin Powell, then U.S. Secretary of State, when asked about Qureia's threat of a one-state solution responded:

No. We're committed to a two-state solution. I believe that's the only solution that will work: a state for the Palestinian people called Palestine and a Jewish state, state of Israel. I don't believe that we can accept a situation that results in anything that one might characterize as apartheid or Bantuism."

Ehud Olmert, then Deputy Prime Minister of Israel, later commented in April 2004 that,

More and more Palestinians are uninterested in a negotiated, two-state solution, because they want to change the essence of the conflict from an Algerian paradigm to a South African one. From a struggle against 'occupation,' in their parlance, to a struggle for one-man-one-vote. That is, of course, a much cleaner struggle, a much more popular struggle - and ultimately a much more powerful one. For us, it would mean the end of the Jewish state."

Criticisms of the term

See also: New anti-Semitism

Some critics of the term argue that it is inaccurate, anti-Semitic, dangerous, and used as a rhetorical device with no substantive merit.

General criticism

David Matas, senior counsel to B'nai Brith Canada, argues that the starting point for anti-Zionists is the "vocabulary of condemnation", rather than specific criticism of the practises of Israel. He writes that "any unsavoury verbal weapon that comes to hand is used to club Israel and its supporters. The reality of what happens in Israel is ignored. What matters is the condemnation itself. For anti-Zionists, the more repugnant the accusation made against Israel the better."

Because apartheid is universally condemned, and a global coalition helped to bring down the South African apartheid regime, anti-Zionists "dream of constructing a similar global anti-Zionism effort", writes Matas. "The simplest and most direct way for them to do so is to label Israel as an apartheid state. The fact that there is no resemblance whatsoever between true apartheid and the State of Israel has not stopped anti-Zionists for a moment."

In November, 2002, Lee Bollinger, in his capacity as President of Columbia University, said in a statement about a divestment petition at the university that the analogy of Israel to South Africa at the time of apartheid, "is both grotesque and offensive".

In 2004, Dr. Jean-Christophe Rufin, former vice-president of Médecins Sans Frontières and president of Action Against Hunger, recommended in a report about anti-Semitism commissioned by French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin that the charge of apartheid and racism against Israel be criminalized in France. He argued that the new "anti-Semitism is more heterogeneous" than previously thought and not confined to right-wing organizations or youth from North Africa. He wrote that a "subtle" form of anti-Semitism exists in "radical anti-Zionism" expressed by far-left and anti-globalization groups, and he condemned acts against Jews as a pretext to "legitimize the armed Palestinian conflict."

He wrote:

here is no question of penalising political opinions that are critical, for example, of any government and are perfectly legitimate. What should be penalised in the perverse and defamatory use of the charge of racism against those very people who were victims of racism to an unparalleled degree. The accusations of racism, of apartheid, of Nazism carry extremely grave moral implications. These accusations have, in the situation in which we find ourselves today, major consequences which can, by contagion, put in danger the lives of our Jewish citizens. It is why we invite reflection on the advisability and applicability of a law ... which would permit the punishment of those who make without foundation against groups, institutions or states accusations of racism and utilise for these accusations unjustified comparisons with apartheid or Nazism.

The conclusions of the report were welcomed by the anti-discrimination group, SOS-Racism, which called it "a good analysis" of a "new breed of anti-Israel, anti-Semitism". Norman G. Finkelstein, by contrast, described the recommendations as "truly terrifying", and as reflecting "a totalitarian cast of mind" with an "attendant stigmatizing of dissent as a disease that must be wiped out by the state".

In 2003, South Africa's minister for home affairs Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi said that "The Israeli regime is not apartheid. It is a unique case of democracy".

According to Fred Taub, the President of Boycott Watch, "The assertion ... that Israel is practicing apartheid is not only false, but may be considered libelous. ... The fact is that it is the Arabs who are discriminating against non-Muslims, especially Jews."

In her book, The Trouble with Islam Today, Irshad Manji lists numerous reasons why Israel is not an apartheid state. Arabs can run for office, and there are several Arab political parties. Arab Muslim legistlators have veto powers. In 2003, when two Arab political parties were disqualified for supporting terrorism, the judiciary, free from political interference, overturned the disqualifications. Women and the poor can vote. Emile Habibi, and Arab, was awarded the Israel Prize for literature. Hebrew speaking children are encouraged to learn Arabic. Road signs are bilingual. Arabs study side by side in universities, and live in the same apartment buildings. Palestians who commute from the West Bank have state benefits and legal protections. Israel has a free Arab Press, Al-Quds.

Legal status of Israeli Arabs

  • Israeli law does not differentiate between Israeli citizens based on ethnicity. Israeli Arabs have the same rights as all other Israelis, whether they are Jews, Christians, Druze, etc. These rights include suffrage, political representation and recourse to the courts. Israeli Arabs are represented in the Knesset (Israel's legislature) and participate fully in Israeli political, cultural, and educational life. In apartheid South Africa, "Blacks" and "Coloureds" could not vote and had no representation in the South African parliament.
  • Black labour was exploited in slavery-like conditions under apartheid; Palestinians are given the same rights and privileges as all other non-citizen foreign workers in Israel.
  • The features of legal petty apartheid do not exist in Israel. Jews and Arabs use the same hospitals, Jewish and Arab babies are born in the same delivery room, Jews and Arabs eat in the same restaurants, and Jews and Arabs travel in the same buses, trains and taxis without being segregated.
  • According to StandWithUs, a pro-Israel advocacy organisation, Arab Israelis are often eligible for special perks. The organisation has pointed out that the city of Jerusalem gives Arab residents free professional advice to assist with the house permit process and structural regulations, advice which is not available to Jewish residents on the same terms.
  • According to StandWithUs, a pro-Israel advocacy organisation, "FACT: Apartheid was an official policy, enacted in law and brutally enforced through police violence, of political, legal and economic discrimination against blacks. Apartheid is a political system based upon minority control over a majority population. In South Africa, blacks could not be citizens, vote, participate in the government or fraternize with whites. Israel, a majority-rule democracy like the U.S., gives equal rights and protections to all of its citizens. It grants full rights and protections to all Arab inhabitants inside of Israel, a reality best exemplified by Israel’s Arab members of parliament. Israeli citizens struggle with prejudices amongst its many minorities, just as all multi-racial, multi-ethnic democracies do, but Israel’s laws try to eradicate – not endorse – prejudices. The Palestinian Authority, not the Israeli government, governs the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Like many Arab nations, the PA does not offer equal rights and protections to its inhabitants. Branding Israel an apartheid state is inaccurate – and emotional propaganda.

Demographics

  • The concept that Jews and Palestinians are distinct races is highly controversial.
  • Unlike South Africa, where Apartheid prevented Black majority rule, in Israel (including the occupied territories) there is currently a Jewish majority.

Differences between Israel and South Africa

  • Dr. Moshe Machover, professor of philosophy in London and co-founder of Matzpen, argues against the use of the term on the basis that the situation in Israel is worse than apartheid. Machover points out some significant differences between the policy of the Israeli government and the apartheid model. According to Machover, drawing a close analogy between Israel and South Africa is both a theoretical and political mistake.
  • Israel never formally annexed the West Bank or Gaza, and the Palestinians are not Israeli citizens, and they don't want to be. Palestinians have their own government, the Palestinian Authority.
  • The analogy "demean(s) Black victims of the real apartheid regime in South Africa."
  • Zionism is not a manifestation of European colonialism.

References

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  53. Davidson, Lawrence (2004). "Apartheid Israel". Retrieved 22 October. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |acccessyear= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
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  69. S. African Minister: Israel is Not Apartheid by Yossi Melman (Haaretz) September 23, 2003
  70. Presbyterian Church Violates US Antiboycott Laws. General Assembly of Presbyterian Church, USA, votes For Illegal Action at Convention August 1, 2004 (Boycott Watch)
  71. Manji, Irshad (2005). The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. pp. 108–109. ISBN 0312326998. {{cite book}}: |format= requires |url= (help)
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  77. Truth, Lies & Stereotypes...

Books

  • Roane Carey, Noam Chomsky, Gila Svirsky, and Alison Weir (2001). The New Intifada: Resisting Israel's Apartheid. Verso. ISBN 1-85984-377-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Jimmy Carter (14 November, 2006). Palestine: Peace not Apartheid. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 07432-8502-6. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  • Uri Davis (1987). Israel: An Apartheid State. Zed Books. ISBN 0-86232-317-7.
  • Uri Davis (2004). Apartheid Israel: Possibilities for the Struggle Within. Zed Books. ISBN 1-84277-339-9.

Further reading

See also

Categories: