The misconception that Israel is an apartheid state is a propaganda tool that has been seized by anti-Israel organizations around the world. As citizens of the only democracy in the Middle East, Israeli Arabs enjoy equal rights to Israeli Jews, including, proportional representation within the Israeli Parliament.
Under South African apartheid, the black South Africans were not considered citizens of the country in which they represented the vast majority of the population. Conversely, Israeli Arabs, while the minority, are citizens with an equal political voice. While no nation is perfect, Israeli Arabs, especially women, enjoy more freedom in Israel than do most other Arabs in the Middle East. Therefore, it is absurd to attempt to draw analogies between South Africa and Israel proper.
The current situation in the territories requires a deeper investigation. This situation cannot be compared to South African apartheid because Israel has intentionally not annexed the territories. In fact, from the Oslo Accords in 1993 to the outbreak of the second Intifada in September 2000, the Palestinian Authority had growing control of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israel even aided the Palestinians in building their own infrastructure, with the understanding that in the future there indeed would be a Palestinian state.
At both Camp David and at Taba, Palestinian leaders rejected Israeli proposals for a viable Palestinian state without offering an alternative, thereby ending the negotiations and paving the way for seemingly endless suffering and violence. According to Egyptian intellectual, Amin Al-Mahdi, in the London paper, Al-Hayat, \Not only did the Palestinians miss a genuine opportunity for a reasonable settlement that would have enabled the Palestinians to integrate into the modern age, taking the reins of change [into their hands]; they lost its previous gains: the Camp David II negotiations.""
Since the start of the Intifada, Israel has been forced to sporadically close its borders due to an overwhelming number of attacks against its civilians. No other nation in the world, including the United States, would stand by idly while its citizens continue to be brutally bombed in their cafes and buses, without taking some security precautions. This situation has caused hardship for many innocent Palestinians, but that is not the intent of the Israeli government.
Israel closes its borders in response to attacks, whereas in South Africa, blacks were continually oppressed without such a stark provocation. South African blacks did not perpetually call for the destruction of South Africa. Conversely, extremely popular organizations, such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah'Yassir Arafat's personal security organization'call for the destruction of Israel publicly, and in their charters. What people fail to realize is that Israel is fighting for its existence.
It would be nice if people would look at the big picture. It would be nice if people condemned human rights abuses in all states, instead of singling out the least abusive regime in the Middle East. It would be nice if people knew history before making na??ve claims. It would be nice if Israel had a true opportunity for peace.
Israel has proven time and time again that it is a peace-loving nation. It has and will continue to give land in exchange for peace. Only when the Palestinian leadership ends the use of violence and proves that it truly wants to live as a state in peace with its neighbor, Israel, will there be an end to Palestinian and Israeli suffering.
