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'''Israeli apartheid''' is a controversial phrase used by some ] and ] rights activists to draw an ] between the policies of the ]i government towards Palestinians to those of the ]-era ]n government towards its ] and mixed-race populations. The analogy has been used as early as ] by ], an Israeli-born academic and ]ish member of the ], in his book ''Israel: An Apartheid State'' (ISBN 0862323177) which provided a detailed comparison of Israel and South Africa. The highly controversial ] in ] adopted resolutions describing Israel as an "apartheid state". ] winner and South African anti-apartheid activist ] wrote in some articles that the situation in Israel reminded him about Apartheid. '''Israeli apartheid''' is a controversial phrase used by some ] and ] rights activists to draw an ] between the policies of the ]i government towards Palestinians to those of the ]-era ]n government towards its ] and mixed-race populations. The analogy has been used as early as ] by ], an Israeli-born academic and ]ish member of the ], in his book ''Israel: An Apartheid State'' (ISBN 0862323177) which provided a detailed comparison of Israel and South Africa. The highly controversial ] in ] adopted resolutions describing Israel as an "apartheid state". ] winner and South African anti-apartheid activist ] wrote in some articles that the situation in Israel reminded him about Apartheid.

Revision as of 15:55, 29 May 2006

It has been suggested that Apartheid wall be merged into this article. (Discuss)

Template:POV-title

Israeli apartheid is a controversial phrase used by some anti-Zionists and Palestinian rights activists to draw an analogy between the policies of the Israeli government towards Palestinians to those of the apartheid-era South African government towards its Black and mixed-race populations. The analogy has been used as early as 1987 by Uri Davis, an Israeli-born academic and Jewish member of the Palestine Liberation Organization, in his book Israel: An Apartheid State (ISBN 0862323177) which provided a detailed comparison of Israel and South Africa. The highly controversial World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa adopted resolutions describing Israel as an "apartheid state". Nobel Peace Prize winner and South African anti-apartheid activist Desmond Tutu wrote in some articles that the situation in Israel reminded him about Apartheid.

Analogy

Proponents of this term argue that while Israel grants some rights to Arabs living in Israel within its pre-1967 borders, it routinely discriminates against Arabs living in the Occupied Territories. Proponenets present a number of reasons for this.

  • Palestinians (as opposed to Israeli Arabs) do not have voting rights as do citizens of Israel, but they are under Israeli occupation and subject to the laws and policies of the Israeli government and its military. (Ibid)
  • Israel has constructed settlements in the West Bank, where Israeli settlers enjoy high standards of living with respect to the local Palestinian population. These colonies also expend large amounts of resources (especially water), at the expense of the local inhabitants, who are forced to make ends meet. (Ibid)
  • Israel has created roads and checkpoints that isolate Palestinian communities and have effectively formed an Israeli version of the South African Bantustans. (Ibid)
  • Israeli road plans in the West Banks have been condemned as "apartheid" as some roads would be reserved for Palestinians while others would be reserved for Jews.

Proponents of this term often claim discrimination against Israeli Arabs.

  • Jews can easily enter Israel, under the Law of Return, yet Palestinians who fled or were driven out, may not have the Right of return.(Ibid)
  • Arab municipalities receive less than one fifth the funding that is given to their Jewish counterparts. (Ibid)
  • The Government of Israel often refuses to grant permits to build or repair homes, and fails to provide electricity, water, health services, education, roads, or any other infrastructure. One of the consequences is that 70% of Negev Desert Bedouin (Arab) infants are not fully immunized and one third are hospitalized within their first year of life. (Ibid)

Usage

The term "Israeli 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. The term is also used by those advocating sanctions against Israel or disinvestment in Israel echoing the 1980s campaign for sanctions and disinvestment as economic tools to pressure apartheid-era South Africa.

One of the most notable figures to apply the term "apartheid" to the situation in Israel is Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who himself was a prominent anti-apartheid activist in South Africa.

On August 31, 2001, 30,000 to 50,000 activists took to the street in Durban, South Africa to protest, what they saw as, Israeli apartheid.

Criticism

Supporters of Israel argue that calling the country an "apartheid state" or referring to "Israeli apartheid" is inaccurate for a number of reasons.

  • Jews constitute a majority of the Israeli population while the situation in South Africa was one of minority rule.(ibid)
  • The Israeli Arab minority have full and equal voting rights and are represented in the Knesset (Israel's legislature) whilst in apartheid South Africa, Blacks could not vote and had no representation in the South African parliament.(ibid)
  • Palestinians who are not Israeli citizens and as such not entitled to have rights as Israeli citizens. An occupying power is not requiered to grant such rights by the international law, and it is seldom done in pracice.
  • Israel's security situation has forced it to impose restrictions on Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza and these conditions are not imposed on Israeli Arabs (that is Palestinians who are residents of Israel living within the state's pre-1967 borders).(ibid)
  • The features of legal petty apartheid do not exist in Israel. Jews and Arabs use the same hospitals with Jewish and Arab babies being born in the same delivery room. Jews and Arabs eat in the same restaurants, travel in the same buses, trains and taxis without being segregated.(ibid)
  • Apartheid South Africa strictly denied Blacks their legal rights. Israeli courts have ruled against practices that exclude Israeli Arabs from leasing property. Arabs are being hired in increasing (though still disproprtionately low) numbers in the civil service and government owned agencies. Arabs are also now being appointed as judges in Israeli courts.
  • Bantustans were created as resevoirs for Black labour to be utilised by South Africa whilst providing a legal means to strip Blacks of their South African citizenship. Israel's policy towards the West Bank and Gaza are quite different, to keep Palestinian residents of these territories out of Israel and exclude as many as possible from working within Israel. (ibid)


See also

External links

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