Here's an interesting question for you: if someone who's known for theirvery violent temper declared they hate you and would rather see you dead,would you let them into your house?
Now let me ask you another question: if as a result of your decision not tolet them in, your neighbors would say your behavior is racist, would youstill value your life and safety over your image in the neighborhood? Not aneasy choice, but I'm guessing choosing life and surviving the bad image iswhat you'd do.
I'm asking because of the slander festival against Israel that just ended these days. It's called Israeli Apartheid Week, and it's being held in 109 university campuses in cities allaround the world, for the 8th year in a row. It calls for boycott andsanctions on Israel claiming it is a racial state because it discriminatesPalestinians.
After spending quite some time in the official website of this nobleorganization, I must confess -- it I hadn't known the truth, I too would havebeen convinced -- the site is packed with information and facts. The onlyproblem is that these facts are partial, and therefore paint a partialpicture that brings to false accusations.
Let's talk about the word apartheid for a minute: itmeans racial segregation. Specifically, it refers to a former political andeconomic discrimination against black people in South Africa.
The website will tell you that apartheid is a crime against humanity. It is.But is Israel really guilty of it? The allegations against Israel's policytowards Palestinians chooses to overlook one very simple fact. I searchedthe whole site, and strange how with all the research and professionalism,it neglects to mention that the Palestinian leaders have always wantedIsrael to cease to exist, and still do today. The extreme ones, such as Hamas in Gaza, have no problem saying it right out. The moderate ones, such as PLO, are more modest about thisfact.
Is it a crime against humanity to protect yourself from a declared enemy?And if we're already on the subject -- do the people who run thisorganization think using children as human shields is a crime againsthumanity? Or perhaps teaching toddlers to become shaheeds and blow themselves up in publicplaces? They don't seem to be bothered by these everyday actions of Hamas.
The crazy thing is that real racist laws that do exist and awfullydiscriminate women, homosexuals, Palestinians and of course Jews, in Arab countries such as Jordan or Syria, are completely overlooked. These discriminating autocratic countries who truly go by apartheid laws are nevermentioned. Why? Because that description is ironically saved for Israel, theonly democracy in the middle east, which has equal rights and equal laws forall genders, religions and races, and has appointed Arab parliament membersand judges in the supreme court.
So can security measures be considered racism? I guess when people want tohate and blame, they don't really need logic and can always find "facts"that will defend their state of mind. Abbas, for instance, is considered amoderate Palestinian leader, but that doesn't mean he doesn't deny the holocaust ever happened, or refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state.
If you think Israel must evacuate the settlements and let the Palestiniansbuild their own state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, I willagree. That's exactly what PM Ehud Olmert offered Abbas 3 years ago, butAbbas refused. This was only one of quite a few refusals of Palestinian leaders to Israeli peace offers made in the past 20 years.
I too think the suffering of the Palestinian people should stop. I trulywish they had their own state. But it's their leaders are a bit moreparticular about the conditions under which such a thing would actuallyhappen. Israel does not still occupy some of these territories forimperialistic reasons -- it would give them away for peace and safe borders.You cannot blame a country for wanting to keep its borders safe from thosewho define themselves as enemies and continuously practice terror againstit.
Has anyone in the world ever been called "racist" because it protecteditself against an enemy? I guess that privilege is saved for the Israeli Jews. Anddoes anyone bother Palestinian leaders with the very basic question -- whythey don't recognize Israel's right to exist? Not very often, if ever. Maybeit's because everyone is so busy with promoting the Israeli Apartheid Week.And if that's not racism, then I seriously don't know what is.