[WCUSP] "Indeed there is Apartheid in Israel" by Shulamit Aloni

[KATHARLOW at aol.com]

This item by Shulamit Aloni, the Israeli Prize  laureate who once served as 
Minister of Education under Yitzhak Rabin, is from  Yediot Acharonot, Israel’s 
largest circulating newspaper, which appeared in the  Hebrew Ynet but not in 
the English-language Ynetnews.  


Hebrew  original: _http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3346283,00.html _ 
(http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3346283,00.html)    



Indeed there  is Apartheid in Israel  
 



A new order issued by the GOC Central command bans  the conveyance of 
Palestinians in Israeli vehicles. Such a blatant violation of  the right to travel 
joins the long list of humans rights violations carried out  by Israel in the 
[Occupied] Territories.  


Shulamit Aloni  


Jewish self-righteousness is taken for granted among  ourselves to such an 
extent that we fail to see what’s right in front of our  eyes. It’s simply 
inconceivable that the ultimate victims, the Jews, can carry  out evil deeds. 
Nevertheless, the state of Israel practises its own, quite  violent, form of 
Apartheid with the native Palestinian population.  


The US Jewish Establishment’s onslaught on former  President Jimmy Carter is 
based on him daring to tell the truth which is known  to all: through its 
army, the government of Israel practises a brutal form of  Apartheid in the 
territory it occupies. Its army has turned every Palestinian  village and town into 
a fenced-in, or blocked-in, detention camp. All this is  done in order to keep 
an eye on the population’s movements and to make its life  difficult. Israel 
even imposes a total curfew whenever the settlers, who have  illegally usurped 
the Palestinians’ land, celebrate their holidays or conduct  their parades.  


If that were not enough, the generals commanding the  region frequently issue 
further orders, regulations, instructions and rules (let  us not forget: they 
are the lords of the land). By now they have requisitioned  further lands for 
the purpose of constructing “Jewish only” roads. Wonderful  roads, wide 
roads, well-paved roads, brightly lit at night – all that on stolen  land. When a 
Palestinian drives on such a road, his vehicle is confiscated and  he is sent 
on his way.  


On one occasion I witnessed such an encounter between  a driver and a soldier 
who was taking down the details before confiscating the  vehicle and sending 
its owner away. “Why?” I asked the soldier. “It’s an order –  this is a 
Jews-only road”, he replied. I inquired as to where was the sign  indicating this 
fact and instructing [other] drivers not to use it. His answer  was nothing 
short of amazing. “It is his responsibility to know it, and besides,  what do 
you want us to do, put up a sign here and let some antisemitic reporter  or 
journalist take a photo so he that can show the world that Apartheid exists  here?”
   


Indeed Apartheid does exist here. And our army is not  “the most moral army 
in the world” as we are told by its commanders. Sufficient  to mention that 
every town and every village has turned into a detention centre  and that every 
entry and every exit has been closed, cutting it off from  arterial traffic. If 
it were not enough that Palestinians are not allowed to  travel on the roads 
paved ‘for Jews only’, on their land, the current GOC found  it necessary to 
land an additional blow on the natives in their own land with an  “ingenious 
proposal”.  


Humanitarian activists cannot transport  Palestinians either  


Major-General Naveh, renowned for his superior  patriotism, has issued a new 
order. Coming into affect on 19 January, it  prohibits the conveyance of 
Palestinians without a permit. The order determines  that Israelis are not allowed 
to transport Palestinians in an Israeli vehicle  (one registered in Israel 
regardless of what kind of numberplate it carries)  unless they have received 
explicit permission to do so. The permit relates to  both the driver and the 
Palestinian passenger. Of course none of this applies to  those whose labour 
serves the settlers. They and their employers will naturally  receive the required 
permits so they can continue to serve the lords of the  land, the settlers.  


Did man of peace President Carter truly err in  concluding that Israel is 
creating Apartheid? Did he exaggerate? Don’t the US  Jewish community leaders 
recognise the International Convention on the  Elimination of all Forms of Racial 
Discrimination of 7 March 1966, to which  Israel is a signatory? Are the US 
Jews who launched the loud and abusive  campaign against Carter for supposedly 
maligning Israel’s character and its  democratic and humanist nature 
unfamiliar with the International Convention on  the Suppression and Punishment of the 
Crime of Apartheid of 30 November 1973?  Apartheid is defined therein as an 
international crime that among other things  includes using different legal 
instruments to rule over different racial groups,  thus depriving people of their 
human rights. Isn’t freedom of travel one of  these rights?  


In the past, the US Jewish community leaders were  quite familiar with the 
meaning of those conventions. For some reason, however,  they are convinced that 
Israel is allowed to contravene them. It’s OK to kill  civilians, women and 
children, old people and parents with their children,  deliberately or 
otherwise without accepting any responsibility. It’s permissible  to rob people of 
their lands, destroy their crops, and cage them up like animals  in the zoo. From 
now on, Israelis and International humanitarian organisations’  volunteers 
are prohibited from assisting a woman in labour by taking her to the  hospital. 
[Israeli human rights group] Yesh Din volunteers cannot take a robbed  and 
beaten-up Palestinian to the police station to lodge a complaint. (Police  
stations are located at the heart of the settlements.) Is there anyone who  believes 
that this is not Apartheid?  




Jimmy Carter does not need me to defend his  reputation that has been sullied 
by Israelophile community officials. The  trouble is that their love of 
Israel distorts their judgment and blinds them  from seeing what’s in front of 
them. Israel is an occupying power that for 40  years has been oppressing an 
indigenous people, which is entitled to a sovereign  and independent existence 
while living in peace with us. We should remember that  we too used very violent 
terror against foreign rule because we wanted our own  state. And the list of 
victims of terror is quite long and extensive.  


We do limit ourselves to denying the [Palestinian]  people human rights. We 
not only rob of them of their freedom, land and water.  We apply collective 
punishment to millions of people and even, in revenge-driven  frenzy, destroy the 
electricity supply for one and half million civilians. Let  them “sit in the 
darkness” and “starve”.  


Employees cannot be paid their wages because Israel  is holding 500 million 
shekels that belong to the Palestinians.  And after  all that we remain “pure 
as the driven snow”. There are no moral blemishes on  our actions. There is no 
racial separation. There is no Apartheid. It’s an  invention of the enemies of 
Israel. Hooray for our brothers and sisters in the  US! Your devotion is very 
much appreciated. You have truly removed a nasty stain  from us. Now there 
can be an extra spring in our step as we confidently abuse  the Palestinian 
population, using the “most moral army in the world”.  



[Translated by Sol Salbe] 




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