2014 Will Be Remembered As The Year That Israel Revealed Itself To Be An Apartheid State

[Purveyor]

Nasim Ahmed
Thursday, 01 January 2015 13:56

There is no doubt that 2014 will be remembered as one of the most tragic in Palestinian history. There are reasons to believe, though, that the year was also a game changer, not least because the international campaign for recognition of a Palestinian state and the simultaneous de-legitimisation of the Israeli occupation gained significant momentum.

Israel, however, will be remembered for perpetrating one of the bloodiest episodes this year in its short and violent history, as well as for taking a giant leap towards becoming an official apartheid state. Even Israel's loyal friends predicted doom and gloom. Israel could face a "bleak future," said Barack Obama in March, "one of international isolation and demographic disaster." The US president warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that "time is running out for Israel as a Jewish majority democracy."

A month later, US Secretary of State John Kerry irritated pro-Israel lobbyists by raising the spectre of apartheid again. In a private meeting at the Trilateral Commission, a non-governmental organisation of experts and officials from the US, Western Europe, Russia and Japan, he said that "Israel risks becoming an apartheid state if peace talks fail."

By the end of April, the peace talks, as predicted, did fail. Netanyahu cited the reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas as the reason for the failure; Palestinians suggested that Israel was looking for an excuse to end the talks and push the issue down the regional agenda. The US administration blamed Netanyahu for wrecking the attempt to restart the peace process, although publicly it was keen to show that obstinacy and obstacles on both sides were responsible. Privately, US officials identified Israel's land grabs in East Jerusalem and the West Bank as the principal cause of the breakdown.

Keen observers will say that the 2014 peace talks failed for the same reasons that any future talks will also fail. After almost five decades of brutal military occupation, Israel is so entrenched across Palestinian territory that it is now politically irreversible. The cycle of failed peace talks is the result of a diplomatic impasse where even the bare minimum of Palestinian rights far exceeds what Israel is willing to concede. In other words, Israel wants Palestinians to continue giving up more of their rights to fulfil its insatiable demands, which now include the continuation of its occupation without any resistance of any kind.

more...

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/middle-east/16116-2014-will-be-remembered-as-the-year-that-israel-revealed-itself-to-be-an-apartheid-state

[Scootaloo]

2. AIPAC has had that ear for a long time.

Oh, did you mean someone else?

[BillZBubb]

3. I am hoping this is sarcasm!?

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

6. Jew killer lobby? Do tell us what that means.

[The Shredder]

4. Except it isn't apartheid.

Not even close.

It's a myth.

Here are the facts....

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths3/MFrights.html#8


MYTH
“Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is similar to the treatment of blacks in old South Africa.”

FACT

Even before the State of Israel was established, Jewish leaders consciously sought to avoid the situation that prevailed in South Africa. As David Ben-Gurion told Palestinian nationalist Musa Alami in 1934:

We do not want to create a situation like that which exists in South Africa, where the whites are the owners and rulers, and the blacks are the workers. If we do not do all kinds of work, easy and hard, skilled and unskilled, if we become merely landlords, then this will not be our homeland. 36

Today, within Israel, Jews are a majority, but the Arab minority are full citizens who enjoy equal rights and are represented in all the branches of government. Arabs are represented in the Knesset, and have served in the Cabinet, high-level foreign ministry posts (e.g., Ambassador to Finland) and on the Supreme Court.

Under the discriminatory policies of old South Africa, skin color determined every aspect of your life from birth until death. Black South Africans could not vote and were not citizens of the country in which they formed the overwhelming majority of the population. Laws dictated where they could live, work, go to school and travel. And, in South Africa, the government killed blacks who protested against its policies. By contrast, Israel allows freedom of movement, assembly and speech. Some of the government’s harshest critics are Israeli Arabs who are members of the Knesset.

“To be sure, there is more de facto separation between Jewish and Arab populations that Israelis should accept,” observed Richard Goldstone, former justice of the South African Constitutional Court. “Much of it is chosen by the communities themselves. Some results from discrimination.” But, he added this is nothing like the situation in South Africa where separation was considered an ideal. “In Israel,” Goldstone added, “equal rights are the law, the aspiration and the ideal; inequities are often successfully challenged in court.”

“The difference between the current Israeli situation and...[old] South Africa is emphasized at a very human level: Jewish and Arab babies are born in the same delivery room, with the same facilities, attended by the same doctors and nurses, with the mothers recovering in adjoining beds in a ward. Two years ago I had major surgery in a Jerusalem hospital: the surgeon was Jewish, the anaesthetist was Arab, the doctors and nurses who looked after me were Jews and Arabs. Jews and Arabs share meals in restaurants and travel on the same trains, buses and taxis, and visit each other’s homes.

Could any of this possibly have happened under apartheid? Of course not.”

— Benjamin Pogrund

The situation of Palestinians in the territories is different. The security requirements of the nation, and a violent insurrection in the territories, forced Israel to impose restrictions on Arab residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip that are not necessary inside Israel’s pre-1967 borders. Israeli policy is not based on race, but is a result of Palestinian animosity. Palestinians in the territories dispute Israel’s right to exist, whereas blacks did not seek the destruction of South Africa, only the discriminatory regime.

Despite security concerns and the hostile attitude of many Palestinians, more than 40,000 Palestinians from the territories work in Israel every day. And most people are unaware that another 25,000 work in those "obstacles to peace" -- Jewish settlements -- and all Palestinian workers enjoy the same working conditions and rights as Israelis.

Many people discovered these facts for the first time when actress Scarlett Johannson was attacked for being the spokesperson for SodaStream because the company's factory is in Maale Adumim. This city of roughly 40,000 people, which is ten minutes from downtown Jerusalem, is considered a settlement. Palestinian peace negotiators have already agreed the city will remain part of Israel if a Palestinian state is established. More to the point, the company employs hundreds of Palestinians, several of whom spoke out against the call to boycott the company: "Before boycotting, they should think of the workers who are going to suffer," a young SodaStream worker said. He now earns nearly 10 times what he earned before joining SodaStream, which also provides transportation, breakfast and lunch for its employees.

Israel could offer Palestinians in the territories full citizenship, but this would require the annexation of the West Bank and Gaza and the end of the two-state solution.

Despite all their criticism, when asked what governments they admire most, more than 80 percent of Palestinians consistently said Israel because they can see up close the thriving democracy in Israel, and the rights the Arab citizens enjoy there. By contrast, Palestinians place Arab regimes, including their own Palestinian Authority, at the bottom.

In fact, growing numbers of Palestinians in East Jerusalem have been applying for Israeli citizenship and, given the choice, many say they would rather live in Israel than Palestine. A poll of Arabs living in East Jerusalem, for example, found that 35% would choose living in Israel, compared to 30% who preferred to live in a future Palestinian state. Forty percent said they would consider moving to another neighborhood to become a citizen of Israel rather than Palestine and 54% said that if they their neighborhood was part of Israel, they would not move to Palestine.

“There is still one other question arising out of the disaster of nations which remains unsolved to this day, and whose profound tragedy, only a Jew can comprehend. This is the African question. Just call to mind all those terrible episodes of the slave trade, of human beings who, merely because they were black, were stolen like cattle, taken prisoner, captured and sold. Their children grew up in strange lands, the objects of contempt and hostility because their complexions were different. I am not ashamed to say, though I may expose myself to ridicule for saying so, that once I have witnessed the redemption of the Jews, my people, I wish also to assist in the redemption of the Africans.” — Theodor Herzl

[hack89]

5. Facts are meaningless to the pro-Hamas faction. Nt

[grossproffit]

11. Yep, they're freedom fighters don't cha know. *puke*

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

7. The world doesn't believe that bullshit any longer. Israel's hands are far too filthy now.

But go ahead and try to splain it all away.

[The Shredder]

8. I did.

you call it bullshit, so where is your proof?

I offered mine.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

9. You offered schlock. The world is turning against Israeli Apartheid. BDS!

That's your proof, but I doubt that it will reach your lala land.

[The Shredder]

10. So you have nothing to offer in defense?

I will take it a non-answer and ding you for not answering my questions.

I have now another question for you:

why do Palestine consider BDS activists troublemakers and criminal?

The Palestinian Authority's move against the BDS activists shows that it considers the movement a threat to Palestinian interests.

A Palestinian Authority official in Ramallah explained that BDS and its followers make the Palestinians appear as if they are all radicals who are only interested in boycotting and delegitimizing Israel.

"No, we do not support the boycott of Israel." — Mahmoud Abbas, President, Palestinian Authority.

At university campuses in the US, Canada, Australia and Europe, they are hailed as heroes campaigning for Palestinian rights. But in Ramallah, ironically, activists belonging to the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions [BDS] movement are seen by the Palestinian Authority [PA] as trouble-makers and law-breakers.

For some PA officials, BDS is a movement that acts against the true interests of the Palestinians. They say that the actions of those promoting BDS make the Palestinians appear as if they are not interested in peace and coexistence with Israel. BDS activists in Ramallah have succeeded in preventing several planned meetings between Israelis and Palestinians in Ramallah and east Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Authority is also worried that BDS is harming the Palestinians' relations with other countries. The most recent example of BDS efforts to damage Palestinians' relations with friendly countries occurred a few weeks ago, when the "anti-normalization" activists tried to disrupt a performance by an Indian dance troupe in Ramallah.

A PA official in Ramallah explained that BDS and its followers make the Palestinians appear as if they are all radicals who are only interested in boycotting and delegitimizing Israel. "This goes against the PLO's official policy, which is to seek a peace agreement with Israel based on the two-state solution," he said.

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4334/palestinians-bds-trial

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

15. Israeli apartheid will end one way or another.

And all its bankrupt defenders will probably still be in denial: posting "Yay Israel" crap.

Someday you'll get it.

[The Shredder]

17. Are you denying that Israel has the right to exist as a state?

I'd like to know the truth.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

18. I'm pointing out Israel's gross human rights abuses

will end one way or another.

Reading comprehension apparently is not one of your strengths.

[azurnoir]

12. you do realize that there are seperate laws in the West Bank depending on ones ethnicity?

and that South Africa during Apartheid used 'security' as a cover too?
Also Theodore Hertzl passed away in 1904 fully 43 years before the term apartheid was even coined?

[oberliner]

13. This is not true

There are separate laws depending on one's citizenship (Israeli vs. Palestinian) not one's ethnicity.

[azurnoir]

14. such hair splitting but it changes nothing attempt to justify by any means necessary

but the same government gives it's colonizers more privilege than the native inhabitants it rules over

[King_David]

16. Hairsplitting?

That proves you don't really know what Apartheid is.

I suppose you consider NYC to be one ethnicity. Or in 2015 Johannesburg is one ethnicity?

[azurnoir]

19. proves nothing except hairsplitting Palestinian Arabs are governed by one set of laws

and Israeli settlers who are all most entirely Jews are governed by another

[King_David]

22. Proves everything

http://www.democraticunderground.com/113491419#post21

[azurnoir]

25. Yes that the military occupation and its colonial setlers are of one ethnic group

and the Palestinians inhabitants are of another ethnic group have different laws applied to them based on their respective group proves everything, the colonists are not citizens of the land they are occupying

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

20. Keep justifying apartheid, king?

NYC is not ethnically cleansing, by force, one group over another, but TY for the poor analogy.

[King_David]

21. Was a great analogy, the poster didn't seem to know the difference between Cotizenship and Ethnicity

And called it "hairsplitting ".

[azurnoir]

23. yes I do indeed know the difference shall we go over it again so that perhaps you understand?

in the West Bank the Palestinian Arabs are living under a different set laws imposed by their military rulers and their protected colonizers who are almost 100% Israeli Jews, hence the difference is indeed ethnic but citizenship will work too, does that clarify for you?

[King_David]

24. Recently a Muslim Druze policeman was killed in cold blood by terrorists in Jerusalem

His ethnicity was Muslim Druze and citizenship was Israeli.

How's that for clarity.

[azurnoir]

26. Do you consider East Jerusalem part of the West Bank? unless you do

your point is meaningless

[oberliner]

29. You don't?

If not, why not?

[azurnoir]

31. East Jerusalem is a seperate issue it is offcially occupied territory but it is not part of the WB

[oberliner]

33. Fascinating

A lot of folks think East Jerusalem is part of the West Bank.

[azurnoir]

35. Do they, are you one of them?

or is there some confusion between being occupied territory and being part of the West Bank?

[oberliner]

37. Have you ever looked at Wikipedia?

The West Bank (Arabic: الضفة الغربية? aḍ-Ḍaffah l-Ġarbiyyah, Hebrew: הגדה המערבית?, HaGadah HaMa'aravit or Cisjordan, also Hebrew: יהודה ושומרון? Yehuda ve-Shomron (Judea and Samaria)[1][2]) is a landlocked territory near the Mediterranean coast of Western Asia, forming the bulk of the Palestinian territories. The West Bank shares boundaries (demarcated by the Jordanian-Israeli armistice of 1949) to the west, north, and south with the state of Israel, and to the east, across the Jordan River, with Jordan. The West Bank also contains a significant coastline along the western bank of the Dead Sea.[3]

The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has a land area of 5,640 km2 and 220 km2 water, the northwest quarter of the Dead Sea.[3] It has an estimated population of 2,676,740 (July 2013).[4] More than 80%, about 2,100,000,[3] are Palestinian Arabs, and approximately 500,000 are Jewish Israelis living in the West Bank,[3] including about 192,000 in East Jerusalem,[5] in Israeli settlements. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.[6][7][8][9] The International Court of Justice advisory ruling (2004) concluded that events that came after the 1967 occupation of the West Bank by Israel, including the Jerusalem Law, Israel's peace treaty with Jordan and the Oslo Accords, did not change the status of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) as occupied territory with Israel as the occupying power

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Bank

[azurnoir]

38. yes I notice that EJ was noted as being included in land area that is because usually it is not

considered part of the West Bank

[Israeli]

28. One Rule, Two Legal Systems:.....

Israel's Regime of Laws in the Wild West Bank :

http://www.acri.org.il/en/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Two-Systems-of-Law-English-FINAL.pdf

[oberliner]

30. Exactly my point

Two different systems of laws depending on citizenship, not ethnicity.

[azurnoir]

32. except that one group are Palestinian Arabs and the other are nearly 100% Israeli Jews

making it both an issue of ethnicity and if you wish citizenship albeit the Israeli citizens colonizing the West Bank are not on their own sovereign territory

[oberliner]

34. Not true

The law applies equally to Israeli non-Jews as well as Israeli Jews of various different ethnicities.

[azurnoir]

36. How many non-Jewish Israeli's live in the WB not counting East Jerusalem which is not part of the WB

can you give us a number even an approximation, with a link?

and once again the key is Israeli not Palestinian

[oberliner]

39. Not many

But there are Jews of a wide variety of different ethnicities.

[azurnoir]

40. I've been told right here that Jews are of a single ethnicity more over none are citizens

of the land on which they are living

[oberliner]

41. Are you familiar with these terms: Ashkenazi Sephardi Mizrahi?

This may help explain:

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/beliefs/Theology/Who_is_a_Jew/Types_of_Jews/Ethnic_Diversity.shtml

[azurnoir]

42. of course I am however some present them as sub groups within a single larger group

[oldandhappy]

27. 2014 was an eye-opener for me.

I changed from supporting Israel to neutral. Israel has a lot of control in our foreign policy in that area. I am nervous about that. The obvious human rights abuses are being ignored or maybe tolerated. Both peoples have a right to life.