Human Rights Watch’s Omar Shakir tells Mondoweiss, “Though there has been a shift in the narrative that is discernible, we actually have to translate that into action to dismantle apartheid.”
The use of the word apartheid to describe Israel’s treatment of Palestinians just keeps growing. David Rothkopf, the former editor of Foreign Policy, baldly states that Israel is an apartheid state in a piece published by Haaretz last weekend.
The “demise” of the two state solution has made it untenable not to talk about Israeli apartheid, even inside the Washington establishment.
Ken Roth was attacked by Israel supporters because he said that Israel’s conduct fosters antisemitism in the west. But he joins a long list of distinguished writers who have said the same, including Hannah Arendt, Nathan Glazer, and Eric Alterman. Glazer warned long ago that Israel’s political dependence on American Jews for immunity over violations of international law could make other Americans “hostile” to American Jews.
Amid widespread criticism, Harvard Kennedy School has reversed its decision to deny Ken Roth a fellowship, but questions remain.
In an interview with the Foundation for Middle East Peace, Ken Roth shares the details of how Harvard denied him a fellowship following donor pressure because he had supervised Human Rights Watch’s report accusing Israel of apartheid.
House Foreign Affairs Committee votes to stop funding Palestinian curriculum that include teaching that Israel is an apartheid state. Rep. Brad Sherman of Los Angeles explains, Israelis and Palestinians live side by side in separation, just like the Dutch and the Germans live on either side of a border, so to characterize Israeli rule as apartheid is an “extreme and ridiculous conclusion.”
Palestinian Christians join international human rights organizations and a growing number of church bodies in naming Israel as an apartheid state.
An NPR report on Israel’s killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist, makes clear that Israel is withholding information from the public 6 weeks later. “The army declined to answer NPR’s questions about what the suspected soldier told investigators, what orders soldiers were given, and what footage the army has of the incident.”
Pro-Palestine activists have repeatedly been beaten back at Harvard, and sure enough, today the school paper’s endorsement of BDS is facing intense backlash. But this time round the pro-Israel arguments feel familiar, and have lost their bite. Faculty and alumni letters claim the endorsement will cause Jewish students to feel alienated. One alum warns angrily that Harvard will lose Iron Dome protection. Gosh.