The claim that Israel is an “apartheid state” is intensifying worldwide, even though it is demonstrably false and misleading and the improper use of such a serious moniker poses a danger to Israel, Palestinians and democracies in general.
PA Foreign Minister Riyad Malki recently queried diplomats at the UN Security Council: “Will you accept [Israeli] apartheid in the 21st century?” PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said Israel risked perpetuating “apartheid.” Their remarks were parroted by many news outlets.
It is legitimate for media to share news that an official or NGO issued a statement, even if false. It is, however, improper to blindly echo it without proper research or rebuttal, which is precisely what media have done in this case.
B’Tselem published a report calling Israel an “apartheid regime” devoted to cementing the supremacy of Jews over Palestinians. Media portrayed B’Tselem, which supports the annihilationist Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, as a leading proponent of human rights — thereby facilitating the hijacking of the word “apartheid” by an anti-Israeli group.
In 2021, Human Rights Watch published a report accusing Israel of implementing apartheid. The New York Times and other news organizations produced extensive coverage of the “explosive” charge, notwithstanding its lack of validity.
Aside from misconstruing well-established facts, HRW declared Israel an “apartheid state” through a particularly devious method: Changing the definition of the word to make it so broad that if applied fairly and rigorously, almost every nation would be guilty.
Related Reading: Human Rights Watch Peddles ‘War Crimes’ Accusations in Biased Anti-Israel Report
The claims are not mere rhetoric, but are part of a bigger picture in which reports and speeches escalate to legal actions.
In December 2021, the UN General Assembly approved an open-ended Commission of Inquiry into Israel’s treatment of Palestinians following that May’s Hamas-initiated conflict. The UN’s Human Rights Council launched the probe amid accusations Israel committed war crimes.
Celebrities have increasingly embraced the ‘apartheid’ libel. Richard Gere, Simon Pegg and Claire Foy were among more than a hundred celebrities who signed a letter including the attack.
Supermodel Bella Hadid posted to her Instagram account, which has 58 million followers, cartoons referring to Palestinians as “oppressed.” In one, a woman tells her friend: “There is no ‘fighting’. There is only Israeli colonization, ethnic cleansing, military occupation and apartheid.”
Related Reading: Hollywood Stars Sign Anti-BDS Letter But Major Media Outlets Turn Blind Eye
That apartheid refers to the racial segregation in pre-1990s South Africa, which does not remotely apply to Israel, is seemingly irrelevant to the UN, ostensible human rights groups and the media. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines ‘apartheid’ as “a former policy of segregation and political, social, and economic discrimination against South Africa’s nonwhite majority.”
Compare that to Israel’s relationship with the Palestinians. Since the 1990s’ Oslo Accords, the vast majority of Palestinians have been governed by the PA or Hamas.
In Israel, Arabs serve as Supreme Court Justices, fighter pilots, politicians, artists and athletes. Everything Israelis do, Arab Israelis do. BDS co-founder and apartheid claim proponent Omar Barghouti even earned his degree at Tel Aviv University.
The legal, state-sanctioned discrimination that is the definition of apartheid is not only absent from Israel, it is furiously combatted by its laws and independent judiciary. Israel’s basic laws serve as legal safeguards, providing protection of life, body and dignity in a democratic state with equal rights for all, including ethnic minorities.
As such, singling Israel out exposes a double standard and misrepresents the actual legal and practical state of affairs within the country.
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Featured Image: Background Photo by Murat Ozgur Guvendik/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
