Israeli Apartheid: What’s in a Name?
This month, almost a year after South Africans succeeded in severing institutional ties between the University of Johannesburg and Ben Gurion University, the University of KwaZulu-Natal cancelled a lecture by a representative of the Israeli state [1]. It is significant that the first major successful implementations of the academic boycott of Israeli institutions should come from South Africa.
This month, almost a year after South Africans succeeded in severing institutional ties between the University of Johannesburg and Ben Gurion University, the University of KwaZulu-Natal cancelled a lecture by a representative of the Israeli state [1]. It is significant that the first major successful implementations of the academic boycott of Israeli institutions should come from South Africa. For all who wish to see, this highlights the way formerly oppressed South Africans recognize the parallels between their oppression under apartheid rule and the apartheid that continues to be practiced on the Palestinians. It also puts the nature of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, specifically, and the Palestinian struggle more generally, in perspective. It forces us to move beyond an occupation-only paradigm and to think instead of three-tiers of Israeli oppression: occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid. It is the apartheid paradigm that we wish to focus on here, as it is often the least understood or recognized, despite the mounting international studies that have shown beyond doubt that Israel is guilty of the crime of apartheid.
justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph">It is crucial for the world to understand that ending the occupation alone will not bring about justice for the majority of the Palestinian people, 69% of whom are refugees or internally displaced persons, a whole 50% are still in exile, and only 38% live in the 1967-occupied Palestinian territory, more than 40% of whom are refugees [2]. Nor will it address all their rights under international law. For justice and equality to prevail, we must understand Israeli apartheid, and resist it.justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph">While the term apartheid, an Afrikaans term, was first used in the South African context and referred to clear institutionalized and legalized segregation by white settlers over the indigenous population, it later took on an international legal dimension. In 1973, apartheid became encoded in the UN International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid [6], which was later adopted by the 2002 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph">Under Article II of the Convention, the crime of apartheid is defined as “inhuman acts committed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over any other racial group of persons and systematically oppressing them,” and also includes “similar policies and practices of racial segregation and discrimination as practiced in southern Africa.” While South African style apartheid is one benchmark, the real determinant of the crime of apartheid is whether or not policies and practices of oppression fall under the list of violations included in Article II [7] of the Convention. justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph">The crime is defined in terms of oppressor and oppressed (not majorities and minorities, as some incorrectly understand it), and prohibits the institutionalization of racist discrimination and oppression in which racism is legally enshrined through state institutions. Racial discrimination is defined in international law [8] as any distinction based on race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin. So the argument that since Palestinians are not a “race” then apartheid does not apply is at best misinformed and at worst intentionally misleading. justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph">Israeli Apartheid justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph">In the West Bank and Gaza, the prolonged Israeli occupation has developed into a pervasive system of apartheid, which includes checkpoints, the Wall, house demolitions, destruction of property, denial of access to education, arbitrary imprisonment, Israeli-only roads and a siege. The Palestinian refugees who were expelled from their lands in 1948 are also subjected to Israeli apartheid in the sense that they are denied, based on their ethnic/national identity, their internationally sanctioned right to return to their homes, in violation of Article 2c of the apartheid convention, as well as of UN Resolution 194 [9]. justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph">In Israel, Palestinian citizens face apartheid through an intricate Israeli legal system, with over twenty laws, that enables and justifies the entrenched system of racial discrimination [10]. Like South Africa’s notorious Population Registration Act, Israel has its own Population Registry Law (1965) whereby every citizen must register his or her nationality as defined by the state. In Israel, much of life and many rights and privileges are organized on the basis of nationality, which is defined primarily as either Jewish or Arab (there are many other categories as well, such as Druze and Bedouin). “Israeli” nationality is not recognized within this system, as demonstrated by rulings from the country’s Supreme Court rejecting cases calling for citizens to be allowed to register as Israeli. justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph">Aside from this two-tier system of citizenship, Israeli land policy is also comparable to South Africa’s Group Areas Act (1950), which legally reserved 87% of South African land to whites. In Israel, 93% of land is reserved for Israel’s Jewish citizens [12]. These are but a few examples of the many laws that expose the myth that is Israeli democracy. The most significant of these racist laws have existed since the founding of the Israeli state and have been supported by both liberal and conservative Israeli governments. The tension between laws, such as the Loyalty Oath and the Population Registry Law, and Israel’s professed commitment to democratic values, pervades many aspects of political life. For example, in order to field candidates in parliamentary elections, Palestinian political parties in Israel must recognize Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. In this context, the electoral process has become little more than a cover for racial discrimination. justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph">Conclusion justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph">Supporting the fundamental and inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination means, at a minimum, upholding the basic rights of all Palestinians as enshrined in international law. Calling for ending the occupation addresses, at best, most of the rights of 38% of the Palestinian people. Without ending Israeli apartheid and supporting refugee rights, the Palestinian people as a whole cannot exercise its right to self-determination. Real solidarity with the Palestinians means rejecting Israel’s occupation, colonization as well as apartheid. Only then can Palestinians enjoy freedom, justice and equality. justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"> justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph">Notes: