On many occasions Israel has been smeared by this accusation, often seen sporadically in demonstrations in our cities and on university campuses. Often the accusations are promoted by organisations such as Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS). This is a Palestinian-led movement, ostensibly working for freedom, justice and equality. It is made up of unions, academic associations, grassroots movements, and even churches across the world. Part of its campaign declares, “Urge the UN to investigate Israeli Apartheid”.
The UN needs little encouragement in that direction. The UN's Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, chaired by Rima Kalaf (a Jordanian national) as Executive Secretary, published the following in 2017: “The report concludes, on the basis of scholarly enquiry and overwhelming evidence, that Israel has imposed a regime of apartheid on the Palestinian people as a whole, wherever they may be.”1 When asked by UN Secretary-General Gutterez to withdraw the report as biased, Kalaf resigned. News reports at the time stated that the report had been removed from the ESCWA website, but it can still be seen there. In any case, the sad fact is that mud sticks, and the UN’s voting record against Israel remains notorious.
More recently, Hagai El-Ad, director of the Israeli human rights group, B'Tselem, describing the Israeli/Palestinian situation, declared, “This is not democracy plus occupation. This is apartheid between the river and the sea.”2 Though the Guardian Editorial of January 17th suggests rather than directly accuses Israel of apartheid, images such as this one, with its contextless caption, “There is a serious argument about injustices to be had. An Israeli border guard gestures at a Palestinian protestor in July 2020”3, are often used to emphasise the point:
Guardian image
However, the details in the picture strongly suggest a different story. Bear in mind that the picture could well have been cropped to emphasise the confrontation. The three face masks indicate the timing as within the coronavirus period. The ‘border guard’ is actually an Israeli soldier, who is calmly resisting an unmasked and aggressive Palestinian. The shoulder-badge of the blue-masked figure is that of an Israeli border guard, whose posture suggests leaning forward prior to bending down. From the crouched position of the blue-shirted figure and the nitrile-gloved hand it appears that the incident is a medical one. The Guardian’s caption is simply untrue!
In contrast, South African Judge Richard Goldstone, writing in The New York Times in October 2011, said that while there exists a degree of separation between Israeli Jews and Arabs, "in Israel, there is no apartheid. Nothing there comes close to the definition of apartheid under the 1998 Rome Statute". Speaking to The Independent on January 12th 2021, Ohad Zemet, a spokesman of the Israeli embassy in London, pointed out that, “Arab citizens of Israel are represented in all branches of government – in the Israeli parliament, in the courts (including the Supreme Court), in the public service, and even in the diplomatic corps, where they represent the State of Israel around the world.”
A cynic might expect a positive gloss from Mr. Zemet, but listen to a Christian Arab, Yoseph Haddad: “How dare they say that I, an Arab Israeli who served along with Jewish soldiers in the Israel Defence Forces, and managed hundreds of Jewish employees, live under an apartheid regime?” he asked. “How can anyone say our society is living under an apartheid regime when among us you will find doctors, judges, and even lawmakers,” Yoseph added that the head of the largest bank in Israel is an Arab, Samer Haj-Yehia. Yoseph, now 35, turned into a social activist after being severely wounded while serving as an IDF combat officer in the 2006 Lebanon war. He founded a non-profit organisation called ‘Together Vouch For Each Other’ for Israeli-Arabs, which works to bring the Arab sector closer to Israeli society and encourages the involvement of young Israeli Arabs in their country.4
Arabic in the public sphereOther examples that give the lie to ‘apartheid Israel’ abound. In May 2015, as part of the ‘Arabic in the Public Sphere’ initiative, “Jewish and Arab teens boarded the light rail in Jerusalem at 11am to publicly converse in Arabic in part of an event aimed at legitimising Arabic in the public sphere. The event was also a show of solidarity with the victims of recent hate crimes in Jerusalem and throughout Israel. It’s initiatives like these are paving the path towards a future marked by equality instead of hatred!”5
In February 2018, the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs reported, “A comprehensive survey conducted by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion among the Arabs of east Jerusalem shows that around 60 percent of east Jerusalem’s residents believe they should participate in Jerusalem municipality elections taking place in October 2018, thereby having an effect on policies from within. After many years of boycotting the elections, east Jerusalem’s Arabs believe that the time has come to play their part in the ‘municipal game.’”6
The same report additionally stated, “researchers have also seen evidence of blending and normalization. Seven years ago, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy conducted an in-depth survey among the Arabs of east Jerusalem. It found that 35 percent preferred to live as citizens with equal rights under Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem. Three years ago, in June 2015, an additional survey by the Washington Institute revealed that this number had increased. On the date when the latest survey was taken in the neighbourhoods of east Jerusalem, the proportion of residents who stated outright that they preferred to live as Israeli citizens with equal rights under Israeli sovereignty had reached 52 percent.”
Arabs are also offered expert, ground-breaking medical care. In a beautiful up-to-date example of practical compassion, an Arab man, Jamal Furani, 78, from Haifa, had undergone four cornea transplants, but when each one failed he kept returning to near-total blindness. “That all changed earlier this month when Israeli surgeons performed a totally artificial cornea transplant, which required no human donor tissue. Not only could Furani see again, but there was hardly a dry eye in the room. ’Unveiling this first implanted eye and being in that room, in that moment, was surreal,’ said Dr. Gilad Litvin, CorNeat Vision’s co-founder, who invented the device. ‘After years of hard work, seeing a colleague implant the CorNeat KPro with ease and witnessing a fellow human being regain his sight the following day was electrifying and emotionally moving. There were a lot of tears in the room,’ Dr. Litvin said.”7
Jaffa RoadWhilst there is undoubtedly much room for improvement in civil affairs, progress is seriously hampered by the outright Islamic anti-Semitism perpetrated by the major Palestinian political organisations and by many imams. One wonders what place there can be for Jews in the territories administered by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. On the other hand, there is no doubt that there are extremists in the Israeli settler movement. Things are far from perfect. However, in my experience of periodic volunteer work at the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem and independent travel around the country, I have conversed with Arabs who have stated that many of them prefer Israeli, rather than Palestinian, citizenship. The personal photo here catches an everyday scene in Jaffa Road, West Jerusalem, in December 2015, where three Muslim Arab ladies chat over coffee at an Israeli café table, and the mixture of passers-by includes a member of the Orthodox community. There’s no apartheid here.
As Christians we must stand up for truth. Be watchful and pray! And as Scripture exhorts us, do pray for the peace of Jerusalem! Shalom!
ENDNOTES
1. ESCWA Launches Report on Israeli Practices Towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid (unescwa.org) 15 Mar 2017 accessed 19 Jan 2021
2. Israel is an apartheid regime, not a democracy, says prominent rights group, The Independent 12 Jan 2021 accessed 20 Jan 2021
3. The Guardian view on Israel and apartheid: prophecy or description?, The Guardian Editorial, 17 Jan 2017, accessed 19 Jan 2021
4. What 'Apartheid?' Arab-Israeli Slams Libel Spread by Media, United with Israel, 18 Jan 2021 accessed 20 Jan 2021
5. New Israel Fund – Arabic in the Public Sphere May 2015 accessed 18 Jan 2021
6. Jewish-Arab Coexistence in Jerusalem and Local Elections (jcpa.org) 27 Feb 2018 accessed 18 Jan 2021
7. Israeli Surgeons Restore Sight with Artificial Cornea After 12 Years of Blindness, United with Israel, 17 Jan 2021 accessed 18 Jan 2021
