Yes, There Is Apartheid In Israel
By Shulamit Aloni
02 February, 2007
Munaeem.org
Jewish self-righteousness is taken for granted among ourselves to such
an extent that we fail to see what's right in front of our eyes. It's
simply inconceivable that the ultimate victims, the Jews, can carry out
evil deeds. Nevertheless, the state of Israel practises its own, quite
violent, form of Apartheid with the native Palestinian population.
The US Jewish Establishment's onslaught on former President Jimmy
Carter is based on him daring to tell the truth which is known to all:
through its army, the government of Israel practises a brutal form of
Apartheid in the territory it occupies. Its army has turned every
Palestinian village and town into a fenced-in, or blocked-in, detention
camp. All this is done in order to keep an eye on the population's
movements and to make its life difficult. Israel even imposes a total
curfew whenever the settlers, who have illegally usurped the
Palestinians' land, celebrate their holidays or conduct their parades.
If that were not enough, the generals commanding the region frequently
issue further orders, regulations, instructions and rules (let us not
forget: they are the lords of the land). By now they have requisitioned
further lands for the purpose of constructing "Jewish only" roads.
Wonderful roads, wide roads, well-paved roads, brightly lit at night--
all that on stolen land. When a Palestinian drives on such a road, his
vehicle is confiscated and he is sent on his way.
On one occasion I witnessed such an encounter between a driver and a
soldier who was taking down the details before confiscating the vehicle
and sending its owner away. "Why?" I asked the soldier. "It's an order--
this is a Jews-only road", he replied. I inquired as to where was the
sign indicating this fact and instructing [other] drivers not to use
it. His answer was nothing short of amazing. "It is his responsibility
to know it, and besides, what do you want us to do, put up a sign here
and let some antisemitic reporter or journalist take a photo so he can
show the world that Apartheid exists here?"
Indeed Apartheid does exist here. And our army is not "the most moral
army in the world" as we are told by its commanders. Sufficient to
mention that every town and every village was turned into a detention
centre and that every entry and every exit has been closed, cutting it
off from arterial traffic. If it were not enough that Palestinians are
not allowed to travel on the roads paved 'for Jews only', on their
land, the current GOC found it necessary to land an additional blow on
the natives in their own land with an "ingenious proposal".
Humanitarian activists cannot transport Palestinians either.
Major-General Naveh, renowned for his superior patriotism, has issued
a new order. Coming into affect on 19 January, it prohibits the
conveyance of Palestinians without a permit. The order determines that
Israelis are not allowed to transport Palestinians in an Israeli
vehicle (one registered in Israel regardless of what kind of
numberplate it carries) unless they have received explicit permission
to do so. The permit relates to both the driver and the Palestinian
passenger. Of course none of this applies to those whose labour serves
the settlers. They and their employers will naturally receive the
required permits so they can continue to serve the lords of the land,
the settlers.
Did man of peace President Carter truly err in concluding that Israel
is creating Apartheid? Did he exaggerate? Don't the US Jewish community
leaders recognise the International Convention on the Elimination of
all Forms of Racial Discrimination of 7 March 1966, to which Israel is
a signatory? Are the US Jews who launched the loud and abusive campaign
against Carter for supposedly maligning Israel's character and its
democratic and humanist nature unfamiliar with the International
Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid
of 30 November 1973? Apartheid is defined therein as an international
crime that among other things includes using different legal
instruments to rule over different racial groups, thus depriving people
of their human rights. Isn't freedom of travel one of these rights?
In the past, the US Jewish community leaders were quite familiar with
the meaning of those conventions. For some reason, however, they are
convinced that Israel is allowed to contravene them. It's OK to kill
civilians, women and children, old people and parents with their
children, deliberately or otherwise without accepting any
responsibility. It's permissible to rob people of their lands, destroy
their crops, and cage them up like animals in the zoo. From now on,
Israelis and International humanitarian organisations' volunteers are
prohibited from assisting a woman in labour by taking her to the
hospital. [Israeli human rights group] Yesh Din volunteers cannot take
a robbed and beaten-up Palestinian to the police station to lodge a
complaint. (Police stations are located at the heart of the
settlements.) Is there anyone who believes that this is not Apartheid?
Jimmy Carter does not need me to defend his reputation that has been
sullied by Israelophile community officials. The trouble is that their
love of Israel distorts their judgment and blinds them from seeing
what's in front of them. Israel is an occupying power that for 40 years
has been oppressing an indigenous people, which is entitled to a
sovereign and independent existence while living in peace with us. We
should remember that we too used very violent terror against foreign
rule because we wanted our own state. And the list of victims of terror
is quite long and extensive.
We do limit ourselves to denying the [Palestinian] people human
rights. We not only rob of them of their freedom, land and water. We
apply collective punishment to millions of people and even, in revenge-
driven frenzy, destroy the electricity supply for one and half million
civilians. Let them "sit in the darkness" and "starve".
Employees cannot be paid their wages because Israel is holding 500
million shekels that belong to the Palestinians. And after all that we
remain "pure as the driven snow". There are no moral blemishes on our
actions. There is no racial separation. There is no Apartheid. It's an
invention of the enemies of Israel. Hooray for our brothers and sisters
in the US! Your devotion is very much appreciated. You have truly
removed a nasty stain from us. Now there can be an extra spring in our
step as we confidently abuse the Palestinian population, using the
"most moral army in the world".
[Translated from Hebrew by Sol Salbe]
Shulamit Aloni is the former Education Minister of Israel. She has
been awarded both the Israel Prize and the Emil Grunzweig Human Rights
Award by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
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Leaked Israeli Document Gives Frightening Glimpse Of Apartheid
By Ali Abunimah
27 January, 2007
The Electronic Intifada
President Jimmy Carter angered Israel and its friends by describing
"the abominable oppression and persecution in the occupied Palestinian
territories, with a rigid system of required passes and strict
segregation between Palestine's citizens and Jewish settlers in the
West Bank."
Now, The Electronic Intifada has obtained an Israeli Ministry of
Defense Powerpoint presentation which provides a frightening glimpse
into the mindset of the bureaucracy of apartheid.
The first page of the document bears the name "Coordination of
Government Activities in the Territories" as well as the acronym
"COGAT" at the bottom of each page. These appear to refer to the unit
of the Israeli army that enforces the occupation against the
Palestinian civilian population.
The top of the first slide also bears the names and insignia of the
"State of Israel" and the "Ministry of Defense." Dated January 12, the
presentation is titled "Key Measures for easing the daily lives of the
Palestinian Population."
Far from that, the document provides detail of the regime of severe
movement restrictions, bureaucratic ethnic cleansing and political
manipulation and fostering of collaborators that Israel operates in the
the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The document, in English, appears to be genuine. While its exact
purpose or audience is not known, it may have been designed to impress
foreign diplomats with Israel's generosity to the Palestinians.
Among the policies the document outlines are:
Efforts to "empower Abu-Mazen" (Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud
Abbas) by facilitating entry of "security equipment for the
Presidential Guard" donated by foreign countries. (The United States
recently announced that it would provide millions of dollars of weapons
and equipment to this unit which serves as a personal militia for Abbas
and his Fatah faction who seek to overthrow the democratically-elected
Hamas government).
Providing special privileges for "the movement of VIPs and senior
Palestinians" and others allies of Abbas, including "facilitating
movement without security checks." These special privileges, not
available to millions of Palestinians are intended for "Strengthening
Abu-Mazen," presumably at the expense of the democratically-elected
Hamas-led cabinet and legislative council dozens of whose members, far
from enjoying VIP treatment, have been kidnapped and are being held
without charge or trial by Israeli occupation forces.
Special permits for 505 Palestinian "businessmen," allowing them to be
exempt from the pass laws that forbid overnight stays by Palestinians
in Israel. They will also be subject to fewer security checks. This
privileged class may also benefit from the "Possible return of $60
Million from the frozen tax money to the private sector, subject to
identification of the businessman, and the formation of a working
mechanism." This could possibly indicate that Israel, in collusion with
Abbas, seeks to misappropriate Palestinian public assets it has
illegally seized, bypassing the Palestinian Authority Finance Ministry
and redistributing them to Abbas cronies.
With frightening precision, allowing "42,899" Palestinian laborers to
work "in Israel and the settlements" and exempting 2,000 Palestinian
agricultural laborers from the pass laws so that "overnight stay in
Israel" is "permitted." Of these workers, a mere 1,600 would be
permitted to enter occupied East Jerusalem, the largest Palestinian
city in the West Bank.
Millions of Palestinians around the world are forbidden from visiting
or living in their country due to Israeli restrictions and laws that
discriminate against non-Jews. A privileged few Palestinians have been
able to do so, however, by virtue of their citizenship in the United
States or European countries, whose citizens are generally allowed to
enter Israel without visas as tourists. Even this precarious existence
has recently been threatened by the new Israeli practice of denying
them re-entry if they leave the country for any reason. While the
document claims these restrictions will be eased, it also confirms the
policy of prohibiting ordinary family life for Palestinians.
Palestinians (always referred to as "foreign nationals") with foreign
passports, even those with spouses and families Israel does recognize
as residents, will be limited to a total cumulative stay not exceeding
27 months in their country. No other country calling itself a democracy
systematically treats indigenous people as foreigners and deports them
in this manner breaking apart families in the process.
Finally, the document lists a number of catergories of "humanitarian"
workers who will be given some leeway from the strict pass laws. These
include 1,450 religious personnel, 1,300 hospital employees, 300 hotel
workers, and lawyers, teachers and residents of an enclave in occupied
East Jerusalem that has been besieged by settlers and the apartheid
wall.
Amidst a system of ruthless and obsessive control such as the one
Israel operates against Palestinians, not even this token 'easing'
designed purely for public relations can be taken for granted; Israel
routinely lies about what it does. For example, during a summit meeting
with Mahmoud Abbas in December, Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert
promised to remove dozens of checkpoints and obstacles impeding the
movement of Palestinians inside the occupied West Bank. The Israeli
occupation forces later claimed to have removed 44 of the hundreds of
obstacles in fulfillment of Olmert's pledge. In fact, the Israeli
newspaper Ha'aretz reported on January 22, the Israeli army "admitted
on Sunday that the 44 dirt obstacles it said had been removed from
around West Bank villages did not actually exist."
What does exist, and is plain for all the world to see, is a
horrifying regime of totalitarian control of millions of Palestinians
who remain prisoners of Israel's racist system and the army and settler
militias that enforce it.
DOWNLOAD THE PRESENTATION HERE: http://electronicintifada.
net/download/documents/key-measures-israel.pdf
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Apartheid In The Holy Land
By Desmond Tutu
24 December, 2006
The Guardian
In our struggle against apartheid, the great supporters were Jewish
people. They almost instinctively had to be on the side of the
disenfranchised, of the voiceless ones, fighting injustice, oppression
and evil. I have continued to feel strongly with the Jews. I am patron
of a Holocaust centre in South Africa. I believe Israel has a right to
secure borders.
What is not so understandable, not justified, is what it did to
another people to guarantee its existence. I've been very deeply
distressed in my visit to the Holy Land; it reminded me so much of what
happened to us black people in South Africa. I have seen the
humiliation of the Palestinians at checkpoints and roadblocks,
suffering like us when young white police officers prevented us from
moving about.
On one of my visits to the Holy Land I drove to a church with the
Anglican bishop in Jerusalem. I could hear tears in his voice as he
pointed to Jewish settlements. I thought of the desire of Israelis for
security. But what of the Palestinians who have lost their land and
homes?
I have experienced Palestinians pointing to what were their homes, now
occupied by Jewish Israelis. I was walking with Canon Naim Ateek (the
head of the Sabeel Ecumenical Centre) in Jerusalem. He pointed and
said: "Our home was over there. We were driven out of our home; it is
now occupied by Israeli Jews."
My heart aches. I say why are our memories so short. Have our Jewish
sisters and brothers forgotten their humiliation? Have they forgotten
the collective punishment, the home demolitions, in their own history
so soon? Have they turned their backs on their profound and noble
religious traditions? Have they forgotten that God cares deeply about
the downtrodden?
Israel will never get true security and safety through oppressing
another people. A true peace can ultimately be built only on justice.
We condemn the violence of suicide bombers, and we condemn the
corruption of young minds taught hatred; but we also condemn the
violence of military incursions in the occupied lands, and the
inhumanity that won't let ambulances reach the injured.
The military action of recent days, I predict with certainty, will not
provide the security and peace Israelis want; it will only intensify
the hatred.
Israel has three options: revert to the previous stalemated situation;
exterminate all Palestinians; or - I hope - to strive for peace based
on justice, based on withdrawal from all the occupied territories, and
the establishment of a viable Palestinian state on those territories
side by side with Israel, both with secure borders.
We in South Africa had a relatively peaceful transition. If our
madness could end as it did, it must be possible to do the same
everywhere else in the world. If peace could come to South Africa,
surely it can come to the Holy Land?
My brother Naim Ateek has said what we used to say: "I am not pro-
this people or that. I am pro-justice, pro-freedom. I am anti-
injustice, anti-oppression."
But you know as well as I do that, somehow, the Israeli government is
placed on a pedestal [in the US], and to criticise it is to be
immediately dubbed anti-semitic, as if the Palestinians were not
semitic. I am not even anti-white, despite the madness of that group.
And how did it come about that Israel was collaborating with the
apartheid government on security measures?
People are scared in this country [the US], to say wrong is wrong
because the Jewish lobby is powerful - very powerful. Well, so what?
For goodness sake, this is God's world! We live in a moral universe.
The apartheid government was very powerful, but today it no longer
exists. Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Pinochet, Milosevic, and Idi Amin
were all powerful, but in the end they bit the dust.
Injustice and oppression will never prevail. Those who are powerful
have to remember the litmus test that God gives to the powerful: what
is your treatment of the poor, the hungry, the voiceless? And on the
basis of that, God passes judgment.
We should put out a clarion call to the government of the people of
Israel, to the Palestinian people and say: peace is possible, peace
based on justice is possible. We will do all we can to assist you to
achieve this peace, because it is God's dream, and you will be able to
live amicably together as sisters and brothers.
Desmond Tutu is the former Archbishop of Cape Town and chairman of
South Africa's truth and reconciliation commission. This address was
given at a conference on Ending the Occupation held in Boston,
Massachusetts, earlier this month. A longer version appears in the
current edition of Church Times.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006
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