On March 2nd Linda McGrath of NH4Israel.org declared, against all evidence to the contrary, that Israel is not an apartheid state. At least three well-respected, non-partisan human rights organizations have determined that Israel’s treatment of its non-Jewish residents amounts to the apartheid condition of “an official policy of racial segregation…” (American Heritage Dictionary). There have been other letters exchanged in the Monitor about this. It seems like a case of deliberate ignorance on the part of Israel’s supporters.
There is plenty of data showing the contemptible treatment of the Arab population by Israel, including theft of land, destruction of homes, orchards and gardens, theft of precious water, separate roads for Jews and Arabs, abominable “checkpoints” that harass non-Jews and limit their ability to move freely to jobs, medical appointments, school, markets etc., random shooting of farmers and shepherds, illegal detention of thousands of Arab men and children, laws applicable only to Arabs. The list goes on and on and clearly meets the definition of apartheid. Whatever positive contributions to the world Israel has given, they cannot blot out the on-going violence toward the Indigenous peoples it is trying to expel. “There are none so blind as those who will not see.”
Gail Page
Concord