"The charges and counter- charges from the '48 war should not obscure that it has never been official Israeli policy to get rid of Arabs, either from Israel or in the occupied territories, and the
one political party that did advocate such measures was declared illegal. "
I think this statement is clearly false and I would like provide the follwing article to refute its inaccuracy.
While there are some similarities between the Ethnic cleansing occuring in Kosovo and the Ethnic cleansing that has been occuring in Israel for the last fifty years, there is also a vast difference.
The Palestinian people have lived in Palestine for many centuries if not millennium, while the majority of the Zionist Jews immigrated into palestine in the last 40 years.
The Serbian Christians, on the other, have lived in Serbia for over two thousand years while the Moslems Kosovars only recently immigrated into Kosovo.
I hope the following article will help clarify the Zionist Ethnic Cleanising that has been occuring in Israel for the last fifty years.
APARTHEID LAWS IN ISRAEL - THE ART OF OBSUCATORY FORMULATION
Excerpts from an article by Uzi Ornan, published the Israeli daily Ha'aretz 17 May 1991 ( Hebrew )
It is impossible to turn one's back on reality and deny that the State of Israel is not, likewise, an
Apartheid
state, and that as a result of this, Israeli democracy - which all its leaders and political pundits swear
by -
is being perverted, if not destroyed. This Apartheid has been entrenched in a system of laws,
regulations
and practices which govern the operation of state institutions. What characterizes most of those
discriminatory laws that have been legislated in various Knesset is that on the surface, they do not
appear
to be discriminatory. However, a more in-depth analysis of some of the basic ones quickly reveals
the
extent to which they discriminate between "Jews" and "non-Jews". By studying them one cannot fail
to
reach a conclusion, which cannot but be embarrassing to many of us: namely, that Israel is an
Apartheid
state, and the Apartheid not only manifests itself socially, but that it is also embedded in the legal
system.
The following is devoted to a few of these laws.
The 1952 Law of Entry into Israel was apparently legislated simply to regulate entry into the country.
However, all its clauses, save the one making it obligatory to enter by way of an official border
control
point, are intended to make a clear distinction between foreign citizens who are Jewish and those
who are
not. Yet the words "Jew" and "non-Jew" do not appear. So it is, for instance, that the law stipulates
that
whoever "does not hold an immigration visa or immigration certificate" can be immediately deported
by
the minister of the Interior, or, can be denied a visa at any time. As for the explanation and definition
of
who qualifies for an immigration visa, one must seek the answer in another law, the Law of Return.
The
answer is: Jews.
However, the authority vested in the minister of the Interior to deny entry to foreign citizens if there is
reason to suspect they may harm the public is only applicable to non-Jews. The minister of the
Interior
does not have the authority to deny any Jew - even if he's a scoundrel of the first order who can be
counted on to do harm - the right to settle in Israel. The reason: Jews do not need permits to settle in
Israel....Jews arriving in Israel from abroad are almost immediately given all the rights and privileges
that
Israeli Jews enjoy....Furthermore, they immediately acquire the right to vote in elections and to be
elected
to the Knesset - even if they do not speak a word of Hebrew.
While the minister of the Interior has the authority - albeit, authority which cannot be exercised
without
great difficulties - to deny "immigration visas" to Jews, once a Jew enters the country, the minister of
Interior cannot do anything about it, and does not even have the authority to withdraw residence
permits
from undesirables. In regard to non-Jews, the situation is quite different: the minister of the Interior
can
withdraw their permits even if they have been living here for years. We have witnessed how swindlers
and
common criminals have succeeded in receiving Israeli citizenship, not to mention those who even
managed to get themselves elected to the Knesset. It wasn't the Law of Return that allowed them to
do
so, it was the law governing entry to Israel, which in turn is based on the Citizenship laws of 1952.
The Citizenship Laws of 1952 are a pinnacle in the annals of the art of obfuscation. Even though the
word "Jew" is not mentioned at all in these laws, it is, in its entirety, based on the distinction between
"Jews" and "non-Jews". This is one of the pillars of the Israel Apartheid regime, alongside a plethora
of
other laws, regulations and practices, for "Jews" and "non-Jews". They include: the educational
system;
the regulations of the Israel Lands Authority (which sees to maintaining segregation on the ground);
and
the religious marriage laws, which do not exist in conjunction with civil marriage laws.
(...)
Like in every state, a foreign citizen who wishes to become a citizen of Israel can do so, and the
regulations governing his acquisition of citizenship are similar to those which exist in many other
countries. The basic condition is that candidates must have resided in Israel for a number of years.
Likewise, before citizenship is granted, the candidate must pledge his allegiance to the State of Israel.
In
contrast, Jews are not required to swear a pledge of allegiance to the State of Israel. So it is that a
Satmar
Hassid, who has the utmost contempt for the existence of the state, and perhaps even translates this
into
action, can immediately become a citizen, with the right to vote in Knesset elections.... Moreover,
only
["Jews"]have the right to retain their former citizenship even after becoming Israeli citizens, while
"non-Jews" are obliged to renounce it before becoming Israeli citizens.
The obfuscation does not end here. Take for instance the regulations governing the "joint authority of
the
Israel government and the Jewish Agency". These regulations are discussed as though they were
applicable to all Israeli citizens. But when one reads them through, it quickly becomes apparent that
rights granted to "returning residents" are meant solely for Jews: those who are not Jews have to pay
full
duty on all the articles they transport from the place of residence abroad, and are not granted any
housing
or education benefits upon returning to the country, after, perhaps, a few years of study abroad....
Blatant discrimination against non-Jews can also be found in other laws dealing with the acquisition of
property, government support for young couples, educational curricula, and government expenditure
for
schools, to cite just a few examples. The routine means for enforcing discrimination is the ID card,
which
everyone is obliged to carry at all times. ID cards list "nationality", which can be Jewish, Arab, Druze,
Circassian, Samaritan, Kara'ite, or foreign. When a person presents his ID card to a policeman, a
security
official, or to a clerk at a government office whose services he requires, they can know which
"sector" he
belongs to and treat him accordingly, or, refer him to those who are responsible for dealing with his
"sector". Up to now all the attempts to force the minister of the Interior to also accept the entry of
"Israeli" nationality have failed. Those who have attempted to do so have received a letter from the
ministry of the Interior. While the letterhead is one of the "State of Israel", the letter states that "it was
decided not to recognize an Israeli nationality". By the way, every person has the right to demand that
the
nationality entry in their ID remain blank, and the ministry of the Interior must honor this demand.
Another law, the 1986 Military Service Law, which superficially does not appear to be
discriminatory in
any way, is, by dint of the wily formula used in conjunction with the "nationality" entry in the census, a
destructive tool of discrimination and oppression. The term "draftee" which appears therein applies to
every Israeli citizen or permanent resident, as does the term "candidate for military conscription". In
other
words, a "draftee" - i.e. , someone who has not yet reported to the draft board - is a universal term
and
equally applicable to all citizens. How is it then, that this law has become a major tool for
implementing
discriminatory policies ? The answer is: by the way of a simple and at first glance innocent ploy. It
appears in section three, which deals with how citizens are to be called to report for military service:
a
special person is appointed to be "the enumerator"; his job is to call draftees to register with the draft
board and he "is authorized to order draftees and candidates for conscription to report [to the draft
board]". The law uses the term "authorized", and in so doing leaves open the possibility for the
enumerator to abstain from calling on "draftees" to report. And it is clear that those who the
enumerator
does not call do not have to report, and are therefore exempt from army service. In practice it is
much
simpler: those whose IDs list them as belonging to the "Arab sector" are not called by the
enumerator.
Why are Arab teenagers not called to serve in the army ? The two reasons usually given are nothing
more
than a pretext. The "moral" reasons runs as follows: How can an Arab be asked to fight against his
brother ? This ignores something we have witnessed more than once, namely, that Arabs kill other
Arabs
- whether in terrorist attacks or on the battlefield...The same could apply to Israeli citizens, be they
Arab
of other non-Jews, if they were to feel that their induction into the Israeli Army was justified. But this
will
only come about when they feel themselves equal citizens, and that the state of Israel is protecting
them,
and respecting their rights, treating them no differently than other citizens....It would be pointless to
waste much time on the second reason - "for reasons or security". Both Jews and non-Jews have
been
exposed as spies and traitors. Indeed, there is ample reason to believe that the ones who were the
most
dangerous were Jews. In the same way that being a "Jew" does not vouchsafe automatic loyalty to
Israel,
the label "Arab" is, likewise, not a means of identifying those ready to commit treason or engage in
espionage.
Once a citizen has not been called on to report by the enumerator, discrimination and persecution
follow.
Such is the lot of those [of non-Jews] who do not serve in the army. Many places of employment and
residence become off limits, as the demands of employment and regulations governing the leasing of
homes or lands in the hands of various public and governmental bodies stipulate that candidates must
be
"draftees". So it is, for instance, that Mohammed Borkan did not succeed in remaining in his flat in the
Old City of Jerusalem. One of the basic conditions for being allowed to lease the flats (which were
expropriated for the "public good") is that the leasee must be a "draftee". Take note: the term
"draftee"
also applies to yeshiva students [students of Jewish theology] who have not served in the army. The
enumerator does call on them to report, and that is enough for them to be included in the category of
those who have privileges, even if their contact with the army ends at this point.
One can list many more Apartheid laws, but we will stop at this point....The Apartheid mindset has
always been part and parcel of Judaism. Take for example the age of Ezra and Nehemia (ca.
450-430
BC). All the restrictions and rules incorporated into the Jewish religion were intended to preserve the
purity of the strain against contamination from the Gentiles....Apartheid is so powerful a mindset in
this
society, that its existence and preservation is championed by all the members of the "Zionist parties",
including those who believe themselves to be in the vanguard of the struggle for socialism, peace and
equal rights. We have yet to hear them speak out against the existence of two categories of citizens,
or in
favor of a comprehensive Israeli school system, or in favor of the abolition of restrictions on where
Jews
and Arabs are allowed to live. One gets the impression that their energetic struggle for the
establishment
of a Palestinian state and their vocal opposition to Jewish "settlements" on the other side of the green
line
is based on their desire to preserve a "Jewish state", something which allows and, in the eyes of many
of
them, even justifies the retention of discriminatory laws, and the privileges granted to the Jews.
Everyone who supports democracy and is concerned about the future of Israel, should place the
abolition
of the Apartheid regime that exists here at the top of his list of priorities. And not only leftists, but also
those with liberal views on the right. Those who say we must be ready to "give up a lot for the sake
of
peace" should to so in good faith: abolish Israel's Apartheid laws and grant non-Jewish resident (sic)
the
ability to identify fully with the state. top of page |
