What is still surprising, though, is how Israel, most Israelis (including professional and liberal journalists), and supporters of Israeli apartheid (from the most "radical" anarchist academics in the US who ostensibly support "Palestinian rights," only for 38% of the Palestinians, to the most ardent Zionists) continue propagating an absolutely false, self-styled definition of apartheid.
Levy here and in previous articles reiterates the absurd assumption that only when Jewish Israelis become a minority in historic Palestine (48 + 67 areas) does Israel qualify as an apartheid state. Can't blame Levy as many Israeli academics, politicians and many closet supporters of Israeli apartheid in the West have repeated this same fallacy on many occasions. This minority-majority premise that is regarded as a condition for qualifying as an apartheid regime, however, is based on either lack of awareness about the UN definition of the crime of apartheid or insistence, as Israel often does, in re-defining the term. Either way, the underlying assertion here is that Israel can only be called an apartheid state if, like South Africa under apartheid, it had a minority racial group systematically oppressing the majority of the population. This is a false assumption, period.
According to the International Convention for the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (passed by the UN in 1973) and, more to the point, the 2002Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court, the crime of apartheid is defined as:
"inhumane acts ... committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime."
"Racial" here follows the very wide definition of the term adopted by the UN and applies to Jewish-Israelis and Palestinian Arabs as two "racial" groups.
There is absolutely no mention in this international definition of apartheid of majorities and minorities! By this definition, and in retrospect, the US, with a clearly overwhelming white majority, practiced apartheid against Blacks and other "non-whites" in the Southern states, by having laws that allow whites to discriminate systematically against them.
The fact is Israel has dozens of laws that have persistently discriminated against the state's "non-Jewish" citizens, the indigenous Palestinians (Christian, Muslim or otherwise). It systematically denies "non-Jewish" citizens equal rights in vital domains of life, especially land ownership, education, health care and many jobs.
According to the latest statistics, Jewish Israelis form no more than 49% of the total population under Israel's control (historic Palestine) -- a minority. This of course ignores the millions of indigenous Palestinians in exile denied by Israel their basic right to return to their homes simply because they are the wrong type. Regardless, this statistic is completely irrelevant in deciding whether Israel's system of racial discrimination meets the UN definition of apartheid.
Since 1948, Israel was born an apartheid state and has always been an apartheid state because it always had racist laws that discriminate against its non-Jewish citizens, let alone Palestinians who are not citizens, regardless what percentage of the total population Jewish Israelis constitute.
Omar
Survey: Most Israeli Jews support apartheid regime in Israel
Survey, conducted by Dialog on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, exposes anti-Arab, ultra-nationalist views espoused by a majority of Israeli Jews.
By Gideon Levy
Haaretz - Oct.23, 2012
Most of the Jewish public in Israel supports the establishment of an apartheid regime in Israel if it formallhy annexes the West Bank.
A majority also explicitly favors discrimination against the state's Arab citizens, a survey shows.
The survey, conducted by Dialog on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, exposes anti-Arab, ultra-nationalist views espoused by a majority of Israeli Jews. The survey was commissioned by the New Israel Fund's Yisraela Goldblum Fund and is based on a sample of 503 interviewees.
The questions were written by a group of academia-based peace and civil rights activists. Dialog is headed by Tel Aviv University Prof. Camil Fuchs.
The majority of the Jewish public, 59 percent, wants preference for Jews over Arabs in admission to jobs in government ministries. Almost half the Jews, 49 percent, want the state to treat Jewish citizens better than Arab ones; 42 percent don't want to live in the same building with Arabs and 42 percent don't want their children in the same class with Arab children.
A third of the Jewish public wants a law barring Israeli Arabs from voting for the Knesset and a large majority of 69 percent objects to giving 2.5 million Palestinians the right to vote if Israel annexes the West Bank.
A sweeping 74 percent majority is in favor of separate roads for Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank. A quarter - 24 percent - believe separate roads are "a good situation" and 50 percent believe they are "a necessary situation."
Almost half - 47 percent - want part of Israel's Arab population to be transferred to the Palestinian Authority and 36 percent support transferring some of the Arab towns from Israel to the PA, in exchange for keeping some of the West Bank settlements.
Although the territories have not been annexed, most of the Jewish public (58 percent ) already believes Israel practices apartheid against Arabs. Only 31 percent think such a system is not in force here. Over a third (38 percent ) of the Jewish public wants Israel to annex the territories with settlements on them, while 48 percent object.
The survey distinguishes among the various communities in Israeli society - secular, observant, religious, ultra-Orthodox and former Soviet immigrants. The ultra-Orthodox, in contrast to those who described themselves as religious or observant, hold the most extreme positions against the Palestinians. An overwhelming majority (83 percent ) of Haredim are in favor of segregated roads and 71 percent are in favor of transfer.
The ultra-Orthodox are also the most anti-Arab group - 70 percent of them support legally barring Israeli Arabs from voting, 82 percent support preferential treatment from the state toward Jews, and 95 percent are in favor of discrimination against Arabs in admission to workplaces.
The group classifying itself as religious is the second most anti-Arab. New immigrants from former Soviet states are closer in their views of the Palestinians to secular Israelis, and are far less radical than the religious and Haredi groups. However, the number of people who answered "don't know" in the "Russian" community was higher than in any other.
The Russians register the highest rate of satisfaction with life in Israel (77 percent ) and the secular Israelis the lowest - only 63 percent. On average, 69 percent of Israelis are satisfied with life in Israel.
Secular Israelis appear to be the least racist - 68 percent of them would not mind having Arab neighbors in their apartment building, 73 percent would not mind Arab students in their children's class and 50 percent believe Arabs should not be discriminated against in admission to workplaces.
The survey indicates that a third to half of Jewish Israelis want to live in a state that practices formal, open discrimination against its Arab citizens. An even larger majority wants to live in an apartheid state if Israel annexes the territories.
The survey conductors say perhaps the term "apartheid" was not clear enough to some interviewees. However, the interviewees did not object strongly to describing Israel's character as "apartheid" already today, without annexing the territories. Only 31 percent objected to calling Israel an "apartheid state" and said "there's no apartheid at all."
In contrast, 39 percent believe apartheid is practiced "in a few fields"; 19 percent believe "there's apartheid in many fields" and 11 percent do not know.
The "Russians," as the survey calls them, display the most objection to classifying their new country as an apartheid state. A third of them - 35 percent - believe Israel practices no apartheid at all, compared to 28 percent of the secular and ultra-Orthodox communities, 27 percent of the religious and 30 percent of the observant Jews who hold that view. Altogether, 58 percent of all the groups believe Israel practices apartheid "in a few fields" or "in many fields," while 11 percent don't know.
Finally, the interviewees were asked whether "a famous American author [who] is boycotting Israel, claiming it practices apartheid" should be boycotted or invited to Israel. About half (48 percent ) said she should be invited to Israel, 28 percent suggest no response and only 15 percent call to boycott her.
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten