Writing from the confines of what some Palestinians call the "Ramallah bubble," Thomas Friedman thinks he knows how to solve the Israeli/Palestinian conflict: "quietly support[ing]" the Palestinian Authority while it builds a "real economy, a professional security force and an effective, transparent government bureaucracy."
Friedman has a curious definition of a Palestinian state, which according to Friedman is “in the West Bank and Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem.” Gaza is missing from this equation, and probably not by accident, as Friedman has a history of trying to dismiss Hamas-run Gaza as “undemocratic,” and therefore illegitimate--despite the fact that Hamas was democratically elected and the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority is in power illegally. Friedman seems to be following the “West Bank first” approach, first begun by the Bush administration and now followed by the Obama administration, that seeks to shower economic support on the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank while isolating Gaza. If the Gaza aid flotilla affair taught the world anything, though, those looking to end the violence in Palestine can’t ignore the situation in the besieged Gaza Strip.
The irony of Friedman’s column is that the same day it was published online, Al Jazeera English reported that a new Save the Children UK report set to come out today paints picture of life in the West Bank, particularly the Israeli-administered zone known as Area C, that’s almost an exact opposite to Friedman’s cheery view.
From the report:
"The international community has rightly focused its attention on the suffering of families in Gaza, but the plight of children in Area C must not be overlooked," Salam Kanaan, Save the Children's director in the occupied Palestinian Territories, said.
"Palestinians in the West Bank are widely thought to enjoy a higher standard of living but tragically many families, particularly in Bedouin and herder communities, actually suffer significantly higher levels of malnutrition and poverty."
The organization called for Israel to immediately cease home demolitions and land confiscations in the West Bank and said the Palestinian authority should take "urgent action" to develop services and improve food security in Area C.
"Palestinian children cannot wait for the stalled peace talks between the Palestinian Authority, Israel and the United States to find solutions to this crisis," Kanaan said.
Friedman’s chat with an “upbeat” Salam Fayyad, the prime minister for the Palestinian Authority, apparently didn’t touch on what Save the Children calls “grinding poverty” in the West Bank. That discussion would surely put the kibosh on any benign and happy view of life under Israeli occupation.
This post originally appeared at the national media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting's blog.
I’m not saying another word until I see Tom Freidman and Richard Witty together at the same time.
You don’t seem to be aware of recent advances in biology
“You don’t seem to be aware of recent advances in biology”
They can repair botched circumcisions (the mohel was drunk, and I got the hangover, if you know what I mean)? O frabjous day! Relief at last!
“O frabjous day!” Congrats. I meant about cloning –New Age Biology.
>> Alex Kane: Friedman has a history of trying to dismiss Hamas-run Gaza as “undemocratic,” and therefore illegitimate–despite the fact that Hamas was democratically elected and the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority is in power illegally.
>> Mooser: I’m not saying another word until I see Tom Freidman and Richard Witty together at the same time.
Funny! Before I read your comment, I was thinking to myself that Friedman appears to be suffering from Witty-itis. :-)
I am waiting for Friedman to compose an article that compares the access Russians (some of whom may have American dual citizenship) were attempting to get to American policy making circles, compared to the access that Israelis with dual American citizenship have.
Fayyad is an example of “Decolonizing the Mind”.
While Kane and hundreds of solidarity declare that only the incidents of oppression are worthy of attention and support, Fayyad says, “why the hell should we wait another few decades for a nearly inevitably losing gamble of community improvement resulting from resistance”.
Free at last. I’ve seen the mountaintop.
I don’t know to what extent Phil is the editor of this blog, or if Adam chooses content, or if Alex as an invited contributor posts of his own accord.
The posting looks like knee-jerk to me. “We hate Friedman. We hate Fayyad. We hate Abbas. We hate Barak (the judge).”
“We hate ideas” is the true message.
Kane,
For logic sake, it is possible for Hamas to be undemocratic fundamentally, and for Hamas to be elected in a democratic election. Lots of less than democratic parties and groups have been elected in locales.
Netanyahu was elected as well, actually more convincingly as his election was accepted in Israel and the rest of the world. (Even though Livni got more votes, such is a parliamentary democracy.)
Until you adopt the logic of persuasion and appreciation at least of some element of those that you criticize, rather than hatchet, you will condemn the Palestinians to subordinated status.
Unless you are seeking regime change. In which case you would be uniquely butting in to others business. (Regime change of the PA, or regime change of Israel?)
To elaborate, if in the world there is poverty in the West Bank, and at the same time, there is improvement in West Bank economy, how can you (with anything resembling a heart), act to diminish that improvement?
Selling out Palestinian rights for a mess of pottage.
“To elaborate…..”
Oh, please do! I just hope there’s enough dressing for all that salad.
For logic sake, it is possible for Hamas to be undemocratic fundamentally, and for Hamas to be elected in a democratic election.
Whats your point? Hamas was the democratically elected government of Palestine. They signed up as a political party, created a political party charter, endorsed the 2 state solution based on the 67 borders whole sale, called for an end to suicide bombing, removed their call for the destruction of Israel, and have done an excellent job of keeping Al-Qaeda out of Palestine.
Whats your hold up with Hamas?
They’ve shown themselves to be far more democratic than Israel, a country in which more than 50% of the population under its jurisdiction is NOT allowed to vote or have any say in how the Israeli government decides to treat them.
Until you adopt the logic of persuasion and appreciation at least of some element of those that you criticize, rather than hatchet, you will condemn the Palestinians to subordinated status.
Funny how you go on the war path against Alex Kane, yet you offer no constructive criticism of his article whatsoever.
RW is bitterly disappointed there’s no viagra available for zionist intellectual impotency.
“Whats your hold up with Hamas?”
Hamas belongs to a Zionist blind spot, along with the fact
a) Israel started the 2008 Gaza war
b) there have been no suicide attacks since 2008
c) that Hamas endorse a 2 state solution as per the 1967 border
d) that 22 Arab States have singed a peace offer which recognizes Israel
e) that Hamas and Hebollah actually have their own agenda and are not simply Iranian puppets
The Zionist mind is ideologically incapable of aknowledge any of these realities because it would be an end of their raison détre. Zionism requies these myth to be perpetuated in order to thrive and sustain itself.
Here’s you shorter, essential Witty: The Palestinains are Israeli hostages. Look sideways at Israel and the Palestinians get it!
You are some piece of work, Witty. How that struggle against the “American convention of hostility towards Jews” coming along?
I agree Witty, the chances for your son as a haredim in Israel are so much better than they would be in the US, where his life would be blighted by the “American convention of hostility towards Jews”
When it was just Fatah, you were complaining about how violent and terrorist the PLO has been and how “undemocratic” Yassir Arafat couldn’t be trusted, weren’t you?
The fact is, you don’t hate Hamas — YOU HATE PALESTINIANS. You’re going to despise any Palestinian government, no matter how reasonable they are.
Because, Witty, looking at a brown person with an Arab accent makes you hate, on an instinctual level.
That’s not fair Chaos.
Witty doesn’t just hate brown people. Like any Zuonist, he hates all the Goyim, he doesn’t descriminate.
I don’t think he actually hates them. It’s two things–
1. He says he cares more about his own group than people outside it–that is, he cares more about Jews he doesn’t know than about Arabs he doesn’t know. A tribal morality, in other words. He doesn’t necessarily hate the Other, but if it’s a question of their rights vs. what he considers is the rock bottom demands of his own group, no silly considerations of all humans having the same rights are going to bother him. And he will be able to rationalize doing quite a lot of things to Arabs that would horrify him if applied to Israelis.
2. He’s immune to facts and arguments that conflict with his beliefs. This is a guy who frequently responds to facts and arguments by saying “You haven’t convinced me” or “You are only convincing yourselves.” It simply doesn’t occur to him that he should make a good faith effort to refute the arguments or show why the facts presented aren’t important. He likes what Fayyad is doing and that’s all that matters.
1. He says he cares more about his own group than people outside it–that is, he cares more about Jews he doesn’t know than about Arabs he doesn’t know. A tribal morality, in other words.
I suspect he cares more about Jews he doesn’t know than about Arabs he does know. Furthermore, he has rationalized doing anything to Arabs.
2. It simply doesn’t occur to him that he should make a good faith effort to refute the arguments or show why the facts presented aren’t important. He likes what Fayyad is doing and that’s all that matters.
Good faith arguments are entirely meaningless to him full stop. He argues from the position that the wellbeing of Israel and Jewish Israelis is sacrosanct, so morality doesn’t even come into it.
Witty has ingrained into his psyche the conviction that the concerns of Israel and Israelis must always come first. It follows therefore, they Israel can never bs wrong. They might make mistakes, but they are pure and above all other humans. Whether they start a war, commit massacres and violate Gina rights or pick a fight is irrelevant. It is their right to do so and anyone who gets in their way only have themselves to blame.
He also likes what Obama is doing ie. nothing.
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach writes a screech that is beyond belief about this; HOWEVER you should read the comments! America is turning away from Israel bigtime.
“Tom Friedman Slanders Israel” [First, the term is 'libel' if in print, 'slander' if oral, and you can't slander a country.]
link to huffingtonpost.com
Ha! I was about to post the same article. After reading the HP blog, I clicked on Friedman’s article to see what all the commotion was about. I was shocked to read that the article was very mild if at all critical of the zionazis.
The comments in response to the delusional rabbi’s hysterical rant were encouraging however.
Thanks, Alex, for a different and more realistic view of the situation. I do think there is a larger point, however. Even if Tom Friedman’s rosy portrayal of life in the prosperous West Bank were completely accurate, it is secondary to the issue of Palestinian freedom and self-determination. As long as Palestinian life is controlled by Israel, Israel will operate solely in its own interests. It may turn on the spigot at times to give an appearance of bounty and and aura of hope, or it may turn it off and lash out at the flimsiest of pretexts, and drive the West Bank residents into the same type of despair and misery as those of Gaza. Friedman is not only missing what is actually happening in the West Bank; his whole viewpoint, that Palestinians must first prove their worthiness before they are granted some freedom or autonomy by the benevolent Israelis, is intolerably patronizing. How is it that in 2010, it remains so acceptable to treat people of Arab ethnicity as children or lesser-value human beings?
How is it that in 2010, it remains so acceptable to treat people of Arab ethnicity as children or lesser-value human beings?
Exactly. Bingo.
Asa former US State Department intel official quoted by Richard Sale said in 2002 (and it’s only the last part of the quote that’s applicable, but giving you more to put in context):
“How is it that in 2010, it remains so acceptable to treat people of Arab ethnicity as children or lesser-value human beings?”
Because some of them wear robes instead of pants, and they wear funny hats, and it’s true cause I saw it in the movies. I’m not trying to be funny. As far as I know, that’s about the depth of it.
Well, it’s even worse than that. It’s what Kipling described as the “white man’s burden” — it’s the pervasive belief among a lot of white people, sometimes subconscious, that anyone with skin color darker than a grocery bag only lives to serve the glorious “Western” civilization.
MRW- “They do more to incite and sustain terrorism than curb it.”
Of course they do. Israel, like the US, is a warfare state. It is also a Zionist state. Israel needs warfare, terrorism and conflict to justify it’s existence and to motivate the Zionist cadres. As long as Zionism exists in it’s present form, there will be no peace in the Middle East. Also, as long as the American Empire exists, there will be war, terrorism and injustice throughout the world.
Which, of course, is why they caught Russian spies last week, just as Obama and Medeyev seek to end the production of nukes and other things. The defense industry (US and Israel) is terrified.
Because no agency (FBI) in its right mind would wind down a 10-year surveillance project. It’s just too damn valuable.
Yeah, apparently they busted one of them on the very serious crime of writing negative things about the usa on a website or something like that. Lucky for those evil spies they weren’t popped for badmouthing israel, “al jolson” would have had to have the cia kill them.
I don’t know about Israel, but a major major trade agreement between China and Taiwan means the loss of a huge market for US weapons manufacturers as Robert Scheer has duly noted. They are not about to shoot it out with each other because that would get in the way of profits.
link to commondreams.org
Published on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 by TruthDig.com
The Chinese Aren’t Coming
by Robert Scheer
On Tuesday, the Cold War finally ended with a historic trade agreement between China and Taiwan that will dramatically integrate the mainland’s economy with that of its claimed breakaway province. Peace has descended on the most contentious point of conflict between East and West for the past six decades—but don’t expect the folks at the Pentagon or their military contractors to celebrate. The remaining raison d’être for much of their $700 billion budget has suddenly collapsed, and with it the claim on huge profits and high-flying careers.
. . .
Les
There is a huge amount of Chinese-Taiwanese trade. Taiwan has been one China’s major investors for along time. About 10 years ago I worked for a Taiwanese firm whose major production was done in China and they were expanding, moving works they had in other countries on into China. It’s probably only a matter of time till China and Taiwan come some arrangement like China and Hong Kong did.
The nyt should have fried-man write their weather reports. That way, anyone who wants a reasonably accurate prediction can just assume the opposite of what the fried-man wrote. ;D
>> The organization called for Israel to immediately cease home demolitions and land confiscations in the West Bank and said the Palestinian authority should take “urgent action” to develop services and improve food security in Area C. “Palestinian children cannot wait for the stalled peace talks between the Palestinian Authority, Israel and the United States to find solutions to this crisis,” Kanaan said.
Who is this Kanaan, and why is he “working for vengeance”? Demolitions and confiscations are part of the Palestinians’ “mythical” past – stopping them they won’t heal anyone.
To put it mildly, Friedman’s myopic, tunnel-like reportage reminds me of the subject matter of the movie Pleasantville. To use an analogy, focusing on Ramallah is akin to staring at one colorful petal of a red rose, while ignoring the harsh gray black and white surrounding.
Greg Sheriden, Australia’s Friedman, boasts that the expulsion of an Israeli diplomat for using Australian passports in the Dubai murder scheme lead to PM Kevin Rudd’s defeat.
link to theaustralian.com.au
Oddly, the expulsion of the Israeli diplomat may be the single foreign policy issue that did Rudd the most harm in domestic political terms. It had three deleterious political results for Rudd. It was seen by Labor professionals as likely to help open the pockets of the friends of Israel for Tony Abbott’s Liberals. It was also seen as a sign of Rudd not sticking with a friend under pressure. And, perhaps most significantly, many within Labor’s Right saw it as another episode in which Rudd refused to solicit, or listen to, their advice, making a unilateral and ill-considered decision.
the last paragraph above is quoted from The Australian.
Oz has got it as bad as the usa, munro.
Ever since that diplomat gangster was expelled from Australia, it all went downhill in the most bizarre and unexpected manner. It was the closest thing ever to a “democratic” coup d’etat. The country was stunned. How could that take place? While personally I did not think of the connection the right wing zionist Sheridan is mentioning in his article, it all becomes so clear now.
thankgodimatheist June 30, 2010 at 11:08 pm
The way you described that reminded me of what happened to bush, sr., when he opposed some israeli loans. He was the golden boy before that, won a [cough] war, went to bat for everything the ziofascists and fascists wanted. But right after he stopped some loans for israel, boom, bye bye golden boi.
I heard Gillard’s obsequious comments to Israeli government officials when she visited here not so long ago. Completely at opposites to somebody from Labour who should empathise with the downtrodden. I wrote her off as a conniving rodent thereafter. This is why I never vote in Australian elections.
It’s not just Gillard MDM, the ALP as a whole is only barely better than the LIbs. Rudd was better than Gillard though.
I posted some links below to coverage of Gillard and the Israel Lobby in AU..
Right Sumud. I was just wondering if Rudd’s dismissal had anything to do with the kicking that Mossad mole out of Oz?
And the only politician who has any balls and integrity when it comes to the I/P issue is Bob Browne of the Greens. I heard him speak in Sydney at one demo against Israel’s bombing of Lebanon. Good man but he will never get in.
I couldn’t say w/ certainty but there’s talk that the backroom boys that organised to oust Rudd are pro-Israel. I think it’s more than that though – Rudd is a smart guy and got where he did without the support of the various Labour factions. Then, when his poll numbers went down he didn’t have any factions to back him up and thus was booted. His leadership style was fairly autocratic which also put people off.
You’re dead on with regard to the Greens, though their I/P policy isn’t perfect (they don’t advocate for full refugee right of return, but a “just settlement”) they’re leaps and bounds better than the LIbs and ALP.
Lindsay Tanner (ALP – Federal seat of Melbourne) is retiring and the Greens candidate is very strong, w/ a high chance of getting elected. So maybe not Bob Browne, but the Greens may well be in the House of Reps after the next election (yet to be announced but thought to be about 6 weeks away).
If you’re an AU citizen get your vote in!!
This, also from Ant Loewenstein, is an example of Greens being smart:
link to antonyloewenstein.com
What I can tell is Aussies are understanding I/P and are pissed off at Israel. I attended a talk last night here in Melbourne, guests were Diana Buttu, Saree Makdisi and Ned Curthoys (ANU – Canberra).
Very encouraging is the list of organisations that sponsored the two week speaking tour Buttu is on:
• Australians for Palestine
• CFMEU (Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union)
w/ support from:
• AMWU (Australian Manufacturing Workers Union)
• ANF (Australian Nursing Federation)
• CEPU (Communications, Electrical & Plumbing Union)
• CPSU (Community & Public Sector Union)
link to australiansforpalestine.com
It looks like a chasm is opening between the labour unions and the Labour Party on Israel/Palestine. Interesting to see what happens next!
On a related tangent Sumud: I must say I have been impressed by many of the SMH readers’ letters in response to columns about the I/P situation in that they appear to be fairly well informed. The SMH used to be a fairly good rag but has gone downhill big time especially with the appointment of the new Mideast correspondent and light-weight journo Jason Koutsakis whose reports leave much to be desired from both a factual and contextual background angle.
He replaced the last Mideast and excellent correspondent Ed O’ Loughlin. I did some work with O’ Loughlin for the SMH and I believe one of the reasons he left the SMH was for being too “pro-Palestinian” according to accusations. Koutsakis was specifically appointed bo be “more fair” to Israel. So against the basic tripe that Koutsakis often files I’m pleased to see that there are still SMH readers with some intelligence.
Fascinating stuff and it is food for thought. Many friends of mine are close political observers and they were all shocked at how quickly this came about.
Only a few months ago, Rudd was soaring in the polls. He strongly condemned Israrl for te attack on the flotilla, so maybe there’s sne truth to this.
Agreed MDM. I occasionally read SMH articles, they’re often cross-posted on The Age and the flavour of the comments is encouraging. What’s Ed O’Loughlin up to now?
Shingo ~ It really was a shock. Around 7PM ABC broke that a spill was in the offing, Rudd announced a few hours later there’d be a caucus vote in the morning and by 10AM we had a new PM. It isn’t unusual for a first term PM to have a large decline in the polls towards the end of the term, apparently Howard had similar numbers at the same time in his first term.
I think the bloodless coup actually disgusted a lot of people and Gillard is right to not move into The Lodge, and call an election ASAP. She won’t have legitimacy until then. Worse, we have our first female PM – which should be cause for celebration, but is tainted by the way she came to power.
I can admire the ruthlessness of Labour in ousting Rudd over the upcoming election, but less so if it was just factional revenge. At least the election will be entertaining, Tony Abbott is like a teenage boy around Gillard (who knows it) and can be hilarious:
link to youtube.com
Munro ~ you probably know but Antony Loewenstein has been giving the Gillard / Israel question a workout – including the fact her partner is now working for one of the biggest Israel lobbyists in Australia:
‘Gillard and Israel are like peas in a pod’
link to antonyloewenstein.com
‘Gillard and the Zionist lobby are completely separate (or not)’
link to antonyloewenstein.com
‘Gillard reassures the Jews that she loves Israel to death’
link to antonyloewenstein.com
‘There is a Zionist lobby in Australia and let’s look inside some more’
link to antonyloewenstein.com
‘Zionist lobby in Australia denies there is Zionist lobby’
link to antonyloewenstein.com
I’m lucky enough to be in Lindsay Tanner’s seat which is highly vulnerable to be lost to the Greens in the upcoming election. I’m going to be doing everything to make sure that happens, on the basis of Gillard’s zealous pro-Israel stance. The Greens need to really hammer home their policy on Israel/Palestine.
thanks for the links Sumud.
This doesn’t mention the israeli influence, but does mention a lot of other things. A dozen+ activists aso have their say:
Julia Gillard: change for the better?
Sunday, June 27, 2010
By Peter Boyle
link to greenleft.org.au
I cannot imagine taking Tom Friedman’s opinions about anything seriously. He’s all blow and no go. He “knows” a lot of insignificant things and puts this “knowledge” together in trite, uninteresting, and almost always invariably wrong ways. His breathless style reminds me a little bit of Carl Sagan except Carl actually knew something and could convey that knowledge. Mr. Friedman conveys a propaganda point of view.
The NY Times and Israel are obviously pushing a divide and conquer strategy as to the West Bank and Gaza. In light of the Gaza Flotilla debacle, the NY Times has engaged on an obvious and concerted campaign to establish that the West Bank is flourishing and that the problems in Gaza are of the Palestinians own making. Friedman is only the most obvious example of this campaign. This piece on the nightlife in Ramallah is a case in point. In light of the global condemnation of the living condition in Gaza after the Israeli assault on the Free Gaza Flotilla, the NY Times published a Travel Section piece evidencing just how good the Palestinians have it, especially if they just obey.
link to travel.nytimes.com
Friedman also got his facts wrong. He states that “… Israel has taken down most of the checkpoints inside the West Bank. So internal commerce and investment are starting to flow, and even some Gazans are moving there.” Huh?
On June 20, AP reported that “Philippe Lazzarini, head of the U.N. humanitarian affairs office in Jerusalem, says Israel has removed 121 checkpoints, easing Palestinian movement between villages and towns, but 505 checkpoints and dozens of road obstacles still hinder travel.”
And then there’s the part about “even some Gazans are moving there” ie to the West Bank. I’d sure like more details, and context, about that claim.
Nelson Mandela’s letter to Friedman says it best about Friedman
A Letter from Nelson Mandela to Thomas Friedman
by Arjan El Fassed (Media Monitors Network)
March 30, 2001
To: Thomas L. Friedman (columnist New York Times)
From: Nelson Mandela (former President South Africa)
Dear Thomas,
I know that you and I long for peace in the Middle East, but before you continue to talk about necessary conditions from an Israeli perspective, you need to know what’s on my mind. Where to begin? How about 1964. Let me quote my own words during my trial. They are true today as they were then:
“I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
Today the world, black and white, recognise that apartheid has no future. In South Africa it has been ended by our own decisive mass action in order to build peace and security. That mass campaign of defiance and other actions could only culminate in the establishment of democracy.
Perhaps it is strange for you to observe the situation in Palestine or more specifically, the structure of political and cultural relationships between Palestinians and Israelis, as an apartheid system. This is because you incorrectly think that the problem of Palestine began in 1967. This was demonstrated in your recent column “Bush’s First Memo” in the New York Times on March 27, 2001.
You seem to be surprised to hear that there are still problems of 1948 to be solved, the most important component of which is the right to return of Palestinian refugees.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is not just an issue of military occupation and Israel is not a country that was established “normally” and happened to occupy another country in 1967. Palestinians are not struggling for a “state” but for freedom, liberation and equality, just like we were struggling for freedom in South Africa.
In the last few years, and especially during the reign of the Labour Party, Israel showed that it was not even willing to return what it occupied in 1967; that settlements remain, Jerusalem would be under exclusive Israeli sovereignty, and Palestinians would not have an independent state, but would be under Israeli economic domination with Israeli control of borders, land, air, water and sea.
Israel was not thinking of a “state” but of “separation”. The value of separation is measured in terms of the ability of Israel to keep the Jewish state Jewish, and not to have a Palestinian minority that could have the opportunity to become a majority at some time in the future. If this takes place, it would force Israel to either become a secular democratic or bi-national state, or to turn into a state of apartheid not only de facto, but also de jure.
Thomas, if you follow the polls in Israel for the last 30 or 40 years, you clearly find a vulgar racism that includes a third of the population who openly declare themselves to be racist. This racism is of the nature of “I hate Arabs” and “I wish Arabs would be dead”. If you also follow the judicial system in Israel you will see there is discrimination against
Palestinians, and if you further consider the 1967 occupied territories you will find there are already two judicial systems in operation that represent two different approaches to human life: one for Palestinian life and the other for Jewish life. Additionally there are two different approaches to property and to land. Palestinian property is not recognised as private property because it can be confiscated.
As to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, there is an additional factor. The so-called “Palestinian autonomous areas” are bantustans. These are restricted entities within the power structure of the Israeli apartheid system.
The Palestinian state cannot be the by-product of the Jewish state, just in order to keep the Jewish purity of Israel. Israel’s racial discrimination is daily life of most Palestinians. Since Israel is a Jewish state, Israeli Jews are able to accrue special rights which non-Jews cannot do. Palestinian Arabs have no place in a “Jewish” state.
Apartheid is a crime against humanity. Israel has deprived millions of Palestinians of their liberty and property. It has perpetuated a system of gross racial discrimination and inequality. It has systematically incarcerated and tortured thousands of Palestinians, contrary to the rules of international law. It has, in particular, waged a war against a civilian population, in particular children.
The responses made by South Africa to human rights abuses emanating from the removal policies and apartheid policies respectively, shed light on what Israeli society must necessarily go through before one can speak of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East and an end to its apartheid policies.
Thomas, I’m not abandoning Mideast diplomacy. But I’m not going to indulge you the way your supporters do. If you want peace and democracy, I will support you. If you want formal apartheid, we will not support you. If you want to support racial discrimination and ethnic cleansing, we will oppose you. When you figure out what you’re about, give me a call.