Israeli Apartheid Criticized

 

Dear stan,  This past week another human rights organization published a report concluding that Israeli policies and behavior fulfill the legal predicates in order to be classified as apartheid. This is significant.  Historically, Human Rights Watch has been reticent to characterize Israeli atrocities as war crimes. Invariably it has characterized as “accidental” Israeli actions that have resulted in scores of Palestinian and others (usually Lebanese) deaths. There were always rumors that HRW’s chief, Ken Roth, would personally read all reports that dealt with Israel, before the reports were approved. This wasn’t the case for any other country, allegedly. Given the usual suspect’s typically hyperbolic response to the report, I don’t doubt there is something to that rumor; the Lobby feels betrayed. Well, that’s too bad. For a very long time the Lobby has nurtured an edifice that has had the (intended) practical effect of creating a zone of disingenuous bunk around the Palestine issue. Some people won't go along with it any longer. Is this the Humpty Dumpty moment? Maybe, maybe not. But it’s clear something is changing in the way Israel is described in polite mainstream circles.  I’ve thought often about Egypt and its complicity in Israel’s abuse of Palestinians. And I wonder if the fact that the largest Arab state has been essentially put on ice for the last four decades all to insure that a regime friendly to Israel, no matter how abusive it is to its own people, has made it easier for ordinary Egyptians to mistreat Palestinians. They can’t take out their anger at Israel, because that’s whole point. As the edifice I mentioned above continues to crumble, I think this will be a theme we will hear more about. Thanks for reading, Scott Roth