Israel is not an apartheid state
AS PART of the Israel Apartheid Week campaign, some journalists and activists went out of their way to brand Israel as an apartheid state.
The term apartheid cannot be applied to Israel; to say so is a misuse of the term and a slap in the face of those who suffered under apartheid.
Israel is a parliamentary democracy represented by a very large number of parties, with universal suffrage for all citizens, regardless of race, religion or sex, who are of voting age. More than 1.5 million Israeli citizens are not Jews.
No laws on the statute books prescribe living or working areas or movements of people. While segregation was legally enforced in South Africa, there is no Israeli ideology or policy to segregate the Arab population.
Israeli Arabs are full citizens of Israel: they enjoy full political rights; can vote and stand freely for election and political association, and have free access to the Israeli court system if their rights are being infringed.
There is complete freedom of expression and a totally free press, used against Israel at times to its detriment.
When asked what governments they admired most, more than 80% of Palestinians consistently chose Israel because they could see up close the thriving democracy in Israel and the rights Arab citizens enjoyed there.
A poll commissioned by Channel 10 and conducted by the Statnet research institute, headed by Israeli Arab statistician Yousef Makladeh, shows that the vast majority of Arabs living in Israel, including the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), would much rather live under Israeli administration than under the Palestinian Authority (PA). The Arabs participating in the poll were asked: “Under which authority do you prefer to live, Israel or the Palestinian Authority?” A whopping 77 percent preferred Israel.
What did citizens in Arab countries say about Israel in the Arab media? Here are a few interesting comments:
Mohammed: “Of course Islam is the best religion. But the regimes that claim to endorse Islam are practising repression and corruption. Meanwhile, Israel is among the democratic countries and is better than all the Arab and Islamic countries when it comes to respecting its people and combating theft of resources.” (Al-Wasat News)
Adel: “This is the secret to Israel’s success. It has become a symbol of justice because it has made justice one of its major bases of power. We, on the other hand, are doing the opposite. We continue to cover up cases of corruption and do not do anything about them.” (Echorouk Online)
Sami Dirani: “Israel is the enemy of the Arabs… but it practises democracy – something the Arabs do not know. That is why Israel is stronger and more advanced than the Arabs, who are busy slaughtering each other. Some Arabs are dying of starvation, while others are swimming in pools of dollars.” (Al-Hayat)
Abdo Shehatah: “The Jews continue to prove, every day, that they have real democracy in this world.” (CNN – Arabic).
We need to guard against using information for propaganda purposes. It worsens an already complicated situation. Willie Paterson
There is no Israeli ideology or policy to segregate the Arab population