Opinion
Israel no apartheid state
Yonatan Silverman
Published: 09.08.11, 00:23
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1. What are you talking about??
Yosi ,   Gilo-Jerusalem   (08.09.11)
You are right in that Israel isn't an aparthaid state, but excuse me, the arabs are the aparthaid group! They won't let Jews live or live in peace in OUR own land, in or near their cities and they already have their own state, Jordan. And that was from land they and England stole, yes, stole from us. They are the racists and should be boycotted until they break.
2. Just use the security reason
Leon ,   Algonquin Land   (08.09.11)
This is the same message that Israeli diplomats told their South African comrades during the Apartheid era. We don't like to lock them into open air prisons, but it is for security reasons. We don't like to deprive the Arabs of water in comparison to the settlers down the road, but it is for security reasons. We don't like to have two different laws for two different groups, but it is for security reasons. Ultimately, Israel needs apartheid for security reasons.
3. Articles like this...
Nissim ,   NYC   (08.09.11)
needed to be written and published 2-3 years ago when it mattered. we lost the last and most important war
4. Have been to the West Bank lately Mr. Silverman?
A Bethlehemite   (08.09.11)
The Jewish only settlements and their Jewish only roads that were built in the late sixties were not built for security purposes. Today the settlements and roads surround our major cities. Choking our movement. That planning was not for security purposes. The major settlement blocks built on top of the water aquifers were not intended for security purposes. The water distribution of these aquifers are distributed where Israel uses 73%, 2.5 Million West Bank Palestinians use 17%, and half a million illegal Jewish settlers use 10%. All this does spell apartheid -like conditions and does not make Israel a victim but an occupier to consume land and resources in the West Bank. Please drive around our major cities, get some facts straight then come back and write this article again.
5. Don't be silly: goal of "apartheid" mongers is far grander
Serge ,   Montreal, Canada   (08.09.11)
The reason they wish so urgently to talk of apartheid is in order to set up a comparison with white South Africans as foreigners in an alien land. It's part of the same campaign as the Waqf destroying archaeological evidence. The idea is to undermine Jewish presence in Israel, and to make our history into a fiction. If these people cared a whit for actual Israeli policy, rather than merely seeking to undermine Jewish history, then they would seek to criticize and suggest alternatives. Instead, all of their efforts are devoted to pushing a slogan. Now you know why.
6. this is BS, give us bread
(08.09.11)
all this paranoia is whipped up by the ruling class to divert attention from the fact that Israelis are being screwed by greedy monopolies. 99% of people outside Israel don't give a rat's arse about Israel one way or the other. Its the economy , stupid. Dont fall for this nonsense ,people.
7. Also, keep this in mind:
Vlad   (08.09.11)
Israel exercises virtually no control over Palestinian civilians. In Area A, which includes all major Palestinian cities the Palestinian Authority exercises complete control over the population. It is completely responsible for all civil and security services. In Area B, the Palestinian Authority likewise exercises complete civil control over civilians, but shares joint security responsibilities with Israel. Both these areas are free of settlements. Area C consists of more than 70% of the West Bank, and includes all Israeli settlements and large open spaces, but only has 4% of the Palestinian population. Israel has complete security control and civil control over settlers, while the Palestinian Authority has civil control over Palestinian civilians. Israel maintains a system of checkpoints, and can close off roads to Palestinians. However, this varies by the security situation. Before the Second Intifada, there was a small IDF presence in Palestinian areas. Now that the security situation has died down, over half the checkpoints have been removed. Roads are opened and closed according to the security history, meaning that they can be temporarily closed to Palestinians following terror attacks on Israeli motorists. Israel does, however, have complete control over the West Bank's borders and airspace, and can determine who enters and leaves, although Palestinians who want to leave have to go through Palestinian Authority in addition to Israeli bureaucracy. Thus, except for freedom of movement, security measures, and control over entry and exit, Israel doesn't control the Palestinians the same way South Africa controlled its blacks. South Africa had complete civil and security control over blacks, who could not vote and thus had no say in the way they were governed.
8. Do Lebanon, Syria, Jordan
Rachel ,   US   (08.09.11)
Extend voting rights to their own Palestinian populations? In Lebanon they are not even allowed to work. Pot calling kettle black.
9. Hahahahah
Philos ,   Tel Aviv   (08.09.11)
Talk about not taking oneself seriously
10. Unfortunately this is not the case.
Jacob   (08.09.11)
Israel's treatment of those Palestinians allowed Israeli citizenship, while utterly appalling, is undeniably somewhat better than the treatment of non-white South Africans. However, Israel's treatment of the majority of the Palestinians is far worse - they are not even second class citizens; they are not citizens at all. They are not allowed to return to their homes, they are not allowed to vote for the government that rules over them, and they are not allowed to establish a state of their own. And it must not be forgotten that many of these are people whose ancestors have lived inside Israel for many generations, while most Jewish Israelis are recent immigrants So, if anything, the comparison between Israel's treatment of the Palestinians and apartheid is unfair to apartheid - at least the non-whites were not driven out of South African wholesale. If Israel wants the accusation of "apartheid state" to cease to be accurate, ideally it should allow a full right of return, but failing that the least it can do is allow the extablishment of a Palestinian state on the remaining 22% of the disputed territories.
11. Apartheid is European
Phil ,   USA   (08.09.11)
It is aazing to me that so many leftists love to falsely accuse Israel as an apartheid state. I have seen accusations that Jews and Muslims are not allowed to drive the same roads---an accusation that is a disgusting lie. Rather than try to defend itself (antisemites like Jimmy Carter and others who are empty-headed ideologues really don't care for the truth), Israelis should tell the truth about the apartheid that their accusers are practicing or have practiced; there are certainly enough examples. Actually apartheid began with Jews being forced to live apart from the Christian population---in ghettos. Just about all European countries had Jews forced to live in ghettos and the practice became a convenient way for the nazis to round up Jews for the final solution. Even the US practiced apartheid when they forced nativeAmericans onto reservations. So for those who are making a blood libel against Israel, you can go the h***.
12. Arab Snatches Gun From Jew In East Jerusalem
Raviv Greenberg ,   New York, USA   (08.09.11)
Your article regarding an Arab "snatching" a gun from a Jew in East Jerusalem is so racist I don't even know where to start. What was the reason the Arab "snatched" the gun? Did the Jew threaten him for no reason? Did he draw it for no reason? Nothing in the article stated what happened before the gun was grabbed. Did you ever think the Arab, probably an Israeli citizen, just like the Jew, had a good reason to defend himself? Are there no crazy Jews in Israel? Articles like this help turn world opinion against Israel and make me ashamed that I am Israeli and a Jew.
13. Glossing over Israeli Racism and illegal Occupation
Marcus   (08.09.11)
What sort person would write this sort of garbage and expect anyone to believe it. Racism is alive and ever present in Israel if you happen to be an Arab. As for the indefensible borders justification for the illegal occupation - well the group of Israeli ex-military who conceived the Israeli Peace Initiative came to conclusion that 67 borders are defensible, so that argument goes out the window as well.
14. #9 - so start taking yourself more seriously ;-)
michael peterson ,   London UK   (08.09.11)
15. Good article. Thanks.
R ,   Israel   (08.09.11)
16. to #11 British actually, cause the Duches
ghostq   (08.09.11)
from the Netherland farmers r very kind to the afrikans, there r even inter marriges. the Duches even protected the afrikans and the wild life down there.
17. to #2-Evidence?
Andi ,   Israel   (08.09.11)
#2: "deprive the Arabs of water in comparison to the settlers .." Evidence, please? That settlers AND Israeli Arabs for instance use more water than Palestinian Arabs on the West Bank/person is not evidence of deliberate deprivation, but of life style differences.
18. you would be right, #2
s ,   carmel, israel`   (08.09.11)
except here there are actual security reasons. i would be happy to annex judea and samaria and make everyone equal, but the palestinians would outvote us and there would no longer be a jewish state. it's quite a paradox, we need to be a jewish state, and if you don't know why, you should study a little history before trying to say what we should do in the future. at the same time, everywhere in the world is supposed to be democratic. thanks to democracy and massive arab growth, lebanon, which was supposed to be a country for the middle east's christians has been taken over by hizbullah. all of europe is starting to feel israel's pain a bit. democracy doesn't work in countries where one half wants to kill the other, honestly look at how stupid and easily corrupted lebanon's government is! it sounds very racist but the best solution to israel's "apartheid" would be to annex the west bank and all of her inhabitants, and those who formerly had no right to vote would continue to have no right to vote. that way there would still be about 20% of israeli-arabs who would represent the 50% that there would be if we anexed them. equality cannot exist in a country where half of them have different interests than a democratic, jewish state. so it's not an appartheid, and what there is would be solved by what would be seen in the world's eyes as "social injustice" and lack of democracy. democracy is taking down just about every country other than the us, which will fall under it's own weight.
19. no it's not #13
s ,   carmel, israel   (08.09.11)
just look at a map
20. to #10
Andi ,   Israel   (08.09.11)
#10 If Israel wants the accusation of "apartheid state... least it can do is allow the extablishment of a Palestinian state ." I agree except the moment Israel withdraws from the West Bank, rockets will start flying from their on to my house in central Israel. Its obvious. Hamas is preventing the formation of a Palestinians State with its continued denial of Israel's right to exist, and is preventing an end to the occupation. BUt that's nothing to do with apartheid unless you are talking about Gaza where Jews are banned.
21. to #Israeli only, not Jew only
Andi ,   Israel   (08.09.11)
#4 The Jewish only settlements and their Jewish only roads.." Jews can't buy houses in Palestinian Ramallah either, and in Hebron the Arabs are doing everything to prevent Jews from living there. Roads are Israeli only, not Jewish only ie Israeli Arabs with Israel car number plates CAN use them. The restrictions are for security reasons as the writer says, not racial.
22. An Attempt to Be Precise and Avoid False Accusations
Danny Johnes ,   Bethlehem, Palestine   (08.09.11)
There is a difference between comparing Israel to South Africa and labeling it as an apartheid state. This article seems to only be concerned with saying that Israel is not South Africa, but fails to deal with the full concept of apartheid. The West Bank aside (as it is a very complicated situation), the situation in Israel is much different than SA. Israeli Arabs have complete freedom of movement within the country, and there is more political representation for them. But let's look at the international definition of "apartheid." According to the Rome statute: the crime of apartheid "means inhumane acts of a character similar to those referred to in paragraph 1, committed in the context of an institutionalized 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 regim." With that definition in mind, one need only look at a number of Israeli laws to see that, even though the Israeli government is not forcing its Arab citizens into ghettos, it is committing crimes of apartheid against them. The nature of a "Jewish state" requires apartheid, because its very essence is a legislated, dominent racial group. Here are some of the laws I would cite as apartheid: -The Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law -Section 7A(1) of the Basic Law: The Knesset -The Law of Political Parties -National Planning and Building Law I think it is wonderful and good to have a homeland for the Jews. But a homeland for the Jews is not necessarily the same thing as a Jewish state. The very principal of the Jewish state involves crimes of apartheid at one point or another. If the Knesset passes a recently proposed law placing the Jewish state above the democratic state, then the Israeli "democracy" will officially be dead, even in Israel. So, I agree that many of the comparisons with South Africa are not valid, but I think there is significant evidence to accuse Israel of crimes of apartheid.
23. its jenocide
zooz ,   gaza   (08.09.11)
not aparthide. stealling water , money , land , houses , are not aparthide ? when the settlers stories are belived more than palestenian in the courts and everywhare isnt this aparthide? when stealling someone home with forged documents and throughh the actual owner , isnt this aparthide ? when arabs are stopped by checkpoints and humilated just beacse the are arabs even if they were blu card holder isnt this aparthide , etc.. and the list can go till tomorow without ending
24. Israel be careful
Jonathan ,   Christchurch NZ   (08.09.11)
As stupid as the Aprtheid argument is Israel must be very careful. Most champagne socialists and latte activists have never been near a sand dune let alone the Middle East. The racist Jewish State argument finds a ready audience amongst those who wish to pronounce their lack of racism and awareness of the cause de jour amongst people they would secretly never live beside. Our old friend anti-semitism can be easily let off the leash in this context. Unfortunately (and unfairly) Israel must be vigilent and stay ahead of the PR war being raged against it by the stupid, the ignorent and the downright evil.
25. apartheid.
wonder ,   world(-wide)   (08.09.11)
unfortunately there are different types/forms of apartheid/discrimination/segragation etc. even in this world now.
26. Not Ludicrous, But Rather, Self-Serving Lies
Robert Blum ,   New Albany, USA   (08.09.11)
There is NO Jewish occupation! There is only a Muslim occupation of Judea & Samaria, which the Muslims cleverly renamed 'The West Bank', in order to de-Judaize the area in the world's collective mind. The Muslims of Jordan (formerly Trans-Jordan, which England created), cleverly re-named themselves "Palestinians" in the 1960's, and revised history in order to gain world sympathy for their cause, which is the annihilation of Israel, and to teach the great lie, which is, that the Jews stole their land from them! Before Jordan started its war against Israel, they told their Muslims brothers in Jerusalem & in Samaria & in Judea to sell the land to the Jews, because they were confident that they & their co-religionist Muslim nations (Syria, Egypt, etc.), would destroy Israel & so they could thereafter keep the land as well. So they sold & fled & waited for the results of the war. Israel won that war. They recaptured the Holy Jewish land; Jerusalem, Samaria & Judea. They rightfully settled it, even though Obama the Muslim, who constantly quotes the Qoran, (NOT the Bible), demands Israel to stop settling Jewish, G-d-given land. Israel, unlike the Jordanians, allowed Christians & Muslims to come & go freely in those areas. The deeds to the land were and are owned by Jews. They allowed the Muslims to continue living in Jewish apartments & homes as long as they continued paying rent to the Jews. Arafat came along & told the Muslims to be arrogant & not pay! They stopped paying and were consequently evicted. Of course Islam, the revisionist liars, tell the world that the Jews are pushing them out of their rightful land! It is NOT Muslim land, regardless of the fact that the Muslims continue to teach and even believe their own lies! Democracy where Muslims vote, hold political office, become diplomats, equal rights for women, have higher education, is NOT apartheid!
27. and who will decide when Palestinians can govern themselves?
Salma ,   Palestine   (08.09.11)
From the point of view of zionists and their supporters it's "Israel" who must decide whether Palestinians can govern themselves or not. what does this mean? it means one thing: this day will never come. Yonatan Silverman, have you ever seen the separation wall in WB built by "Israel" ? we call it apartheid wall, i think you call it "security fence" !!!!! Ynet,can I know why are you censoring my freedom of speech?!!!
28. Even with apartheid the black in SA were better off
Rebecca ,   Modiin   (08.09.11)
30 years ago than they are now. This is even more true for Zimbabwe.
29. #23 boo hoo
Israel Israeli ,   Tel Aviv   (08.09.11)
Genocide is not the situation where the Arab population under Israel multiplies at an unprecedented rate and has a standard of living higher than most Arabs, for example higher than in Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Jordan or Iraq. Genocide is what the Arabs did to the Jews, Christians, or Sudanese: you reduce an existing population to almost nothing in a few years.
30. #16 ghostq ..''apartheid'' is an Afrikans word
(08.09.11)
-its not an English word. If you don't understand why this is, read about South Africa on wikipedia. The Brits of SA fought against Hitler. Your mates loved him, and after spending the war in prison for loving him a bit too much, they set up the apartheid system in SA after winning elections in 1949. America was another country which practised segregation of blacks and whites. A shocking history there for you to research too. Happy researching.
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