Looking at both sides–Waddah Sofan

In his recent Vanguard article “Divesting Guilt” [published Feb. 27], staff writer Andrew Geist writes that divestment from Israeli companies is misguided and divisive, and that accusations of apartheid and racism by the state of Israel are indicative of misplaced guilt.

Problem is, the state of Israel is a state engaged in a military occupation of Palestine that actually does parallel apartheid in many ways. Many of those active in the fight against South African apartheid, including leaders Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, have spoken of the parallels between South African apartheid and the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Mandela said in 2001, “Apartheid is a crime against humanity. Israel has deprived millions of Palestinians of their liberty and property. It has perpetuated a system of gross racial discrimination and inequality. It has systematically incarcerated and tortured thousands of Palestinians, contrary to the rules of international law. It has, in particular, waged a war against a civilian population, in particular children.”

One need only look at the Israeli onslaught in Gaza from Dec. 27, 2008 – Jan. 18, 2009, to see that Israeli forces pay no heed to the dictates of international law that forbid attacks against civilians –1,314 Palestinians were killed in the invasion, 412 of whom were children. In the same time period, nine Israelis were killed by Palestinians, four of whom were civilians. That is a difference of over 130 to 1 (or 130 Palestinians killed for every Israeli killed).

And the argument that this attack was somehow a “retaliatory” attack by Israel in response to Palestinian rocket fire is ridiculous: In 2008 alone, 850 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces. The Israeli military reported the deaths of four Israelis from Palestinian shelling in the same time period. Since September 29, 2000, 123 Israeli children have been killed by Palestinians and 1,487 Palestinian children have been killed by Israelis.

But beyond the disparity in numbers, the reality of the occupation reveals the underlying racism inherent in the Zionist system: Since 1948, when Israel was created, the Israeli government has passed and implemented dozens of laws which blatantly discriminate against the indigenous Palestinian population. Among these are the Absentee Property Law (1950), which classifies the personal property of Palestinians who fled during the Zionist terror campaign of 1947-48 as “absentee property” and places it within the power of the Custodian of Absentee Property. According to the law, even the property of Palestinians who are present within the newly created state of Israel, but are not physically present on their property (“internal refugees”) becomes “absentee property.”

The Law of Return (1950) grants right of immigration to Jews born anywhere in the world. The law was amended in 1970 to extend this right to “a child and a grandchild of a Jew, the spouse of a Jew, the spouse of a child of a Jew and the spouse of a grandchild of a Jew.” A “Jew” is defined as “a person who was born of a Jewish mother or has become converted to Judaism and who is not a member of another religion.” Non-Jewish native-born Palestinians—most importantly those who fled during the Zionist massacres in 1947 and 1948—are in most cases prevented from returning.

The Nationality/Citizenship Law (1952) confers automatic citizenship upon all who immigrate under the Law of Return. Non-Jews—including native-born Palestinians—must prove residency and pass other tests; citizenship is granted at the discretion of the Minister of the Interior. The Identity Card (Possession and Presentation) Law (1982) requires that residents must carry identity cards at all times and present them to “senior police officers, to the heads of local authorities, or to police officers or soldiers on duty when requested to do so.” And the list goes on.

Geist argues, in his article, that Israel gives full “voting rights, parties in the Knesset [Israeli Parliament], high standards of living” to Arabs who live inside Israel, so it therefore cannot be an apartheid state. Perhaps he would be surprised to learn that the Central Elections Committee banned Israeli-Arab parties from participating in the February election (see Ha’aretz article of Jan. 13) at which point the Israeli-Arab delegates stormed out of the Knesset saying, “this is a fascist, racist state.” The current regime in power in Israel is pushing “loyalty oaths” to the Jewish state that all Arab-Israelis would be required to take, or risk deportation from their native land.

Far from living lives free from discrimination, Israeli-Arabs are referred to openly by Israeli Knesset members and politicians as a “demographic threat” because they tend to have higher birth rates than Jewish Israelis and the growth of their number (currently at 20 percent of the Israeli population) would threaten the “Jewish character” of the Israeli state. Right-wing politicians like Avigdor Lieberman, who openly call for the expulsion of Arabs from inside Israel, are now considered mainstream in the Israeli political spectrum.

So, before accusing critics of Israeli policy of “belief in time travel” for making parallels between Israeli policy and South African apartheid, why not look at the actual policies in question, and see how they compare. I have mentioned a few of those policies here, but there are many, many more: the separation of Palestinians into isolated enclaves, the walling-off of Palestinian communities throughout the West Bank, the transfer of Israeli civilians into settlements constructed on illegally confiscated Palestinian land, the 700 checkpoints and roadblocks within the West Bank that prevent any freedom of movement for Palestinians, the total siege on Gaza that prevents even patients with life-threatening conditions from accessing medical care. Again, the list goes on.

Once we begin to see that this is not about “guilt” or “time travel,” but about the injustice of Israeli policy and practice, who knows, we may see a divestment movement spring up on this campus as well.