"As someone who lived in Apartheid South Africa and who has visited Palestine I say with confidence that Israel is an Apartheid state. In fact, I believe that some of Israel's actions make the actions of South Africa's Apartheid regime appear pale by comparison."
- Willie Madisha, in a letter supporting CUPE Ontario's resolution
"Indeed, for those of us who lived under South African Apartheid and fought for liberation from it and everything that it represented, Palestine reflects in many ways the unfinished business of our own struggle."
- Farid Esack, Writer, Visiting Professor at Harvard and Anti-Apartheid Spokesperson
"They support Zionism, a version of global racist domination and Apartheid based on the doctrine that Jews are superior to Arabs and therefore have a right to oppress them and occupy their country."
- Current COSATU President, Sidumo Dlamini
Former U.S President Jimmy Carter, who helped bring about the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt has also written and spoken out on Israel's policy towards the Palestinians. In an interview in Israel Carter stated the following on the Apartheid comparison:
When Israel does occupy this territory deep within the West Bank, and connects the 200-or-so settlements with each other, with a road, and then prohibits the Palestinians from using that road, or in many cases even crossing the road, this perpetrates even worse instances of apartness, or Apartheid, than we witnessed even in South Africa."
Carter said his new book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" was meant to spark U.S. discussion of Israeli policies. "The hope is that my book will at least stimulate a debate, which has not existed in this country. There's never been any debate on this issue, of any significance."
Issues
that are virtually forbidden in the North American public arena are treated
much differently in Israel
where such topics are part of the general political discourse and debate. Many
Israelis use the term Apartheid to describe Israel's policies toward the
Palestinians. It is worth reviewing the political debate and public discussion
of these questions in Israel.
Michael Ben-Yair was Israel's attorney general from 199396. He wrote that after Israel won the Six Day War in June 1967:
We enthusiastically chose to become a colonial society, ignoring international treaties, expropriating lands, transferring settlers from Israel to the occupied territories, engaging in theft and finding justification for all these activities. Passionately desiring to keep the occupied territories, we developed two judicial systems: one progressive, liberal in Israel; and the other cruel, injurious in the occupied territories. In effect, we established an Apartheid regime in the occupied territories immediately following their capture.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
