Michelle Jackson is an author and travel writer who runs a site called The Novel Traveller. She wrote a sponsored article on her experiences touring South Africa for the Irish Sunday Independent.
Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse when Jackson included her thoughts from Johannesburg:
The most important must-do in Johannesburg is the Apartheid Museum. Walking through its ‘blank’ entrance takes me right back to 1970. It is printed on my ticket that I’m white/blank and the other entrance has non-blank emblazoned across it. I’m reminded that apartheid still exists in the world.
A visit to Selma in Alabama or a stroll through the Bogside in Derry informs the most earnest traveller that this has happened before and indeed is still happening in parts of the world such as Palestine. Injustice is clearly seen in retrospect while walking through the corridors of a well-furnished museum.
Only this month I was in the Apartheid Museum during a South African speaking tour and briefly mentioned my own feelings in a post written upon my return to Israel:
While those of us who live in Israel are acutely aware of just how inaccurate and defamatory the Israel apartheid libel is, it is enlightening to witness what real apartheid actually was. A visit to Johannesburg’s Apartheid Museum and a tour of the notorious former prison at Constitution Hill with a former prisoner who outlined his experiences there helped to place things in proper perspective.
In light of this, I tweeted a personal response to Jackson:
I’m Israeli & I visited the Apartheid Museum in Joburg only a few weeks ago. Seeing the history & results of South African apartheid confirmed exactly why what’s going on in Israel & Pal Territories ISN’T apartheid. You have needlessly politicized your piece with disinformation. pic.twitter.com/pJ0njy7Fpy
— Simon Plosker (@SimonPlosker) August 28, 2018
Presumably, wouldn’t a seasoned travel writer be using her own experiences to make a judgment about Israel and the disputed territories?
It appears, however, that Jackson has never visited Israel. A search of her website reveals that she has never written about the region. It’s hard to imagine that she would have visited without writing something about one of the most fascinating places on earth. Yet it appears that she has the gall to make such a loaded comment without even having bothered to explore the country.
See more about The Apartheid State Libel at our dedicated resources page.
Jackson failed to respond to the tweets, including one inviting her to visit. Instead she has blocked both my personal and HonestReporting’s Twitter accounts from viewing her tweets.
Michelle Jackson isn’t even prepared to engage and justify her apartheid comment that had no reason to be included in an otherwise benign travel article.
Maybe, like so many people who believe themselves to be experts on Israel and the region, she simply doesn’t know what she’s talking about.
You can ask the Sunday Independent why it has allowed such a politicized, inaccurate and inflammatory comment to appear in its travel review by writing to [email protected].
