UN human rights expert John Dugard told the UN Human Rights Council that Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians is comparable to apartheid. AP writes:
Dugard said that he had previously refrained from using the term apartheid “on account of the sensitivity of the issue.”
But the uproar over Carter’s book “and the serious attempts to impugn his integrity, particularly in the United States, has led me to reconsider this decision,” Dugard said.
Dugard used the apartheid word repeatedly in an op-ed published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last year. Here’s just one snippet:
Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories has many features of colonization. At the same time it has many of the worst characteristics of apartheid.
(The AJC link expired so click here to read the full piece. See also HonestReporting’s response.)
Dugard also authored a report accusing Israel of seeking “racial domination.” Could Dugard possibly be more sensitive?
As for the Human Rights Council, yesterday’s Chicago Sun-Times editorial heaps plenty of scorn. Enough said.