In response to Linda McGrath’s “Why Israel is not an apartheid state,” (Monitor, 3/2), of course, Israel is an apartheid state. Jimmy Carter, the late Bishop Tutu, Nelson Mandela, all concur! She writes that Israel is the only country in the Middle East that doesn’t segregate and oppress its minority population. Saying that Israel is not an apartheid state does not make it so. Her opinion is duly noted, but facts are what matter. Incidentally, 25% of U.S. Jews say Israel is an apartheid state (Jewish Electorate Institute.)
There are three major human rights organizations that affirm that Israel practices apartheid. One organization is Amnesty International whose recent report stated that Israel oppresses and completely controls the lives of Palestinians. Amnesty agrees with Human Rights Watch and the leading Israeli human rights group, B’Tselem, that Palestinians have been subjected for 74 years to illegal seizure of their land, victimized by unlawful killings, forced evictions and/or demolition of their homes, and prohibited from freedom of movement. B’Tselem’s director, Hagai El-Ad, said “Israel is not a democracy that has a temporary occupation attached to it: it is one regime between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, and we must look at the full picture and see it for what it is: apartheid.” Amnesty says that “apartheid is a crime against humanity and is committed with the specific intent of maintaining a cruel system of control by one racial group over another.” Want justice? Support the nonviolent BDS movement!
William Thomas
Auburn