“The violence the Palestinian people are being subjected to is a grim continuation of a more than half a century of apartheid by Israel…We South Africans know what apartheid looks like, we suffered and died under apartheid. We will not remain silent and watch as apartheid is perpetrated against others.” — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa
Human rights organizations Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Israel’s B’Tselem all conclude that Israel is committing the crime of apartheid. So does the International Court of Justice, former Israeli Attorney General Michael Ben-Yair and former Mossad intelligence agency chief Tamir Pardo, among others.
According to Human Rights Watch: “We reached this determination based on our documentation of an overarching government policy to maintain the domination by Jewish Israelis over Palestinians coupled with grave abuses committed against Palestinians living in the occupied territory, including East Jerusalem.”
When former president Jimmy Carter was asked why many Americans are not aware that Israel is practicing apartheid, he responded that Americans don’t want to know what is going on inside Palestine, which he characterized as a “terrible human rights persecution.” Carter added that there are powerful political forces which prevent any objective evaluation of what is taking place, and that legislators could risk their seats in Congress by speaking out.
This is indeed what happened to the Democratic party’s progressive “Squad” members — Cori Bush, the leftwing representative from Missouri, and New York’s Jamaal Bowman — who were both defeated in their Democratic primaries. This was largely due to their harsh criticism of Israel and massive opposition funding organized by the pro-Israel group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
Palestinians do not possess the power to humanize their people in the eyes of the American public. Palestinian-Americans were afforded no speaking roles at the Democratic or Republican National Conventions, and there are no panel members on CNN, Fox News, or MSNBC making the case that Israel is committing the crime of apartheid. Moreover, the US often vetoes United Nations Security Council resolutions criticizing the Israeli occupation and the treatment of the Palestinians.
When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress in July of this year, he received numerous standing ovations. One could not imagine this occurring in the 1980’s with apartheid South Africa’s President P.W. Botha.
Israel is the largest recipient of cumulative US foreign aid since its founding. If most members of Congress are not capable of offering strong criticism of Israel regardless of its actions, how will Israel ever be forced to adopt more humane practices toward the Palestinians?
Terry Hansen is a retired educator who has taken graduate coursework at UW-Whitewater. He lives in Milwaukee.
References:
On Israel’s apartheid, privilege & Gaza