Despite
other newsworthy stories concerning Hamas and Muslim reaction to
newspaper cartoons, the
Guardian has chosen to publish a lengthy
two-part diatribe (see parts
1 and
2) comparing Israel to
apartheid South
Africa. The false and unfounded portrayal of Israel as
an "apartheid state" is certainly not new and has been
examined many times by HonestReporting (see below for
related communiques). In the past five years, however, this charge has
been revived and promoted as part of a deliberate campaign
and strategy to demonize and delegitimize Israel. As
Professor Gerald Steinberg notes, this was an outcome of
the
2001 UN World Conference Against Racism held in Durban,
South Africa.
The attempts to turn Israel into a
pariah state like apartheid-era South Africa have encouraged
boycott and divestment campaigns and the singling out of
Israel for special treatment in international forums as well
as tarnishing Israel's image. This potent political weapon
and its emotive terminology is thus used to turn Israel's
security fence into an "Apartheid Wall" and Zionism into a
form of racism. Those who deny the Jewish right to
self-determination also turn to the South Africa "rainbow
state" example to promote an eventual bi-national state of
Jews and Palestinians. The logical outcome of this would see Arab
demographic dominance and the end of Israel as a Jewish
state.
In debunking the comparison between
Israel and apartheid, the
Jewish Virtual Library states:
Today,
within Israel, Jews are a majority, but the Arab minority
are full citizens who enjoy equal rights. Arabs are
represented in the Knesset, and have served in the Cabinet,
high-level foreign ministry posts (e.g., Ambassador to
Finland) and on the Supreme Court. Under apartheid, black
South Africans could not vote and were not citizens of the
country in which they formed the overwhelming majority of
the population. Laws dictated where they could live, work
and travel. And, in South Africa, the government killed
blacks who protested against its policies. By contrast,
Israel allows freedom of movement, assembly and speech. Some
of the government's harshest critics are Israeli Arabs who
are members of the Knesset.
The
situation of Palestinians in the territories is different.
The security requirements of the nation, and a violent
insurrection in the territories, forced Israel to impose
restrictions on Arab residents of the West Bank and Gaza
Strip that are not necessary inside Israel's pre-1967
borders. The Palestinians in the territories, typically,
dispute Israel's right to exist whereas blacks did not seek
the destruction of South Africa, only the apartheid regime.
Flawed and biased journalism
The Guardian's feature article is
not an op-ed or even an editorial, but the work of Chris
McGreal (pictured), the paper's Israel correspondent whose previous
posting was actually in South Africa. McGreal's politicized
agenda towards Israel is dramatically revealed in this
article and raises doubts as to his ability to
provide accurate and balanced reporting from the region.
McGreal chooses to interview known
anti-Israel figures such as the UN's
John Dugard and South African politician Ronnie Kasrils,
who has previously
called for a boycott of Israel. In addition, marginal
figures are quoted, such as supposedly influential Likud
Israeli MP Uzi Cohen who calls for the expulsion of
Palestinians from PA territories. The reality, however, is
that Cohen is the less than influential Deputy Mayor of the
Israeli town of Ra'anana and not even a Member of Knesset. Just
these examples call into question the credibility of McGreal's piece.
Letters to the Guardian:
letters@guardian.co.uk
Further sources
While
HonestReporting has addressed some of the points raised by
McGreal's article, readers are encouraged to use some of the
sources listed below to further their knowledge of this
complex issue:
- HonestReporting communiques:
Not An "Apartheid Wall",
'Road Apartheid' Debunked,
The Guardian is Getting "Boering".
-
BICOM, Response to the Guardian's G2
supplement.
-
Benjamin Pogrund, 'Why depict Israel as a chamber
of horrors like no other in the world', The Guardian, 8 Feb
2006.
-
Gerald Steinberg, Abusing 'Apartheid' for the
Palestinian Cause, Jerusalem Post, August 24, 2004.
-
Reader reactions in the Guardian, Feb 8, 2006.
