Israel and The Apartheid Analogy

Israel And The Apartheid Analogy

The comparison between Israel's treatment of the Palestinians to South Africa's treatment of non-whites during its apartheid era is controversial. The analogy has been used by United Nations investigators, human rights groups and critics of Israeli policy, some of which have also accused Israel of committing the crime of apartheid. Critics of Israeli policy say that "a system of control" in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including Jewish-only settlements, separate roads for Israeli and Palestinian citizens, military checkpoints, discriminatory marriage law, the West Bank barrier, use of Palestinians as cheap labour, Palestinian West Bank enclaves, inequities in infrastructure, legal rights, and access to land and resources between Palestinians and Israeli residents in the Israeli-occupied territories resembles some aspects of the South African apartheid regime, and that elements of Israel's occupation constitute forms of colonialism and of apartheid, which are contrary to international law. Some commentators extend the analogy, or accusation, to include Arab citizens of Israel, describing their citizenship status as second-class.

Opponents of the analogy state that the West Bank and Gaza are not part of sovereign Israel and that Palestinians within those areas are governed by the Palestinian Authority, so cannot be compared to the internal policies of apartheid South Africa, and that restrictions are only imposed on those territories by Israel for reasons of security. In regards to the situation within Israel itself, critics of the analogy argue that Israel cannot be called an apartheid state because unlike the South African apartheid racist laws, Israeli law guarantees Arab citizens of Israel the same rights as other Israeli citizens without distinction of race, creed or sex, and that Israel's Arab citizens can and do run in elections and become ministers in the Israeli government. Some critics consider the analogy defamatory and reflecting a double standard when applied to Israel and not neighboring Arab countries, whose policies towards their own Palestinian minority have been described as discriminatory. Some opponents of the analogy say it is intended to delegitimize Israel.