Israel Matzav

When is Arab apartheid week?

Professor Gerald Steinberg asks a question that many of us have been asking: When will the world observe Arab apartheid week?

The reality is that Israel’s Arab citizens own property, have full voting rights, are proportionately represented in the Knesset, and are appointed to the High Court of Justice. Arab and Jewish patients receive identical medical treatment, and while there is room for improvement in the distribution of income, the differences in Israel are not simply due to ethno-religious distinctions.

In the face of these blatant double standards, the power of the “apartheid” campaign is derived from the resources that are available, in both political and financial forms. Politically, as noted, this divisive agenda is supported by the Arab and Islamic blocs at the United Nations and its associated institutions, providing numerous platforms, as well as access to the media.

Financially, the availability of significant European government funding for ostensible human rights organizations that actively promote the “apartheid” libel is a major factor, including Adalah, Badil, Al Haq, and Al Mezan. Similarly, Electronic Intifada, which is indirectly funded through Dutch government humanitarian aid, plays a central role in this political warfare, as do various Palestinian solidarity committees, whose funding sources are entirely hidden.

If the officials of these governments and of the groups they support under the banners of human rights and democracy actually took these principles seriously, they would use their resources to protest the real oppression of the Arab and Iranian dictatorships. Similarly, if students and faculty on university campuses who preside over the attacks on Israel were sincerely concerned about morality, they would be leading protests against these abuses. Their silence speaks volumes about the double standards and cynicism that has captured and distorted the moral agenda beyond recognition.

Read the whole thing. Steinberg discusses the treatment of religious and ethnic minorities in Syria, Egypt, Iran and Turkey. He could easily have added the treatment of 'Palestinians' in Lebanon, Sunnis and Christians in Iraq, and many other ethnic and religious minorities throughout the Arab world.

But the truth is that the whole 'Israeli apartheid week' thing is just another form of anti-Semitism, and the anti-Semites don't care how miserable things are anyplace else.

UPDATE 11:02 AM

Related content here.

Labels: Arab apartheid, Israeli apartheid week

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:50 AM