Israel, Palestine, and Apartheid

Abstract

The term Apartheid was coined to describe the system of segregation, practiced for many years in South Africa. However the 2002 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court omitted all references to South Africa in its definition of ‘the crime of apartheid’ and the term is now defined globally as a crime against humanity. This article explores the similarities and differences between the now abandoned practice of apartheid in South Africa and the current apartheid policies of Israel, highlighting the need to differentiate between Israel proper (within its pre-1967 boundaries), Greater Israel (within the post-1967 boundaries), and Greater Palestine. Whereas Israel claims it offers democratic rights for all its citizens, all seven pillars of apartheid can be shown to exist in the occupied territories, where the Israeli regime is the sole authority, leaving the Palestinian Authority powerless. The article details how the influx of the different immigrant communities to Israel has disenfranchised the Palestinians from their land. It provides a new definition for the policies practiced, and the many ways in which Israel dictates to the lives of the Palestinians, as “Apartheid of a special type”. It concludes with a proposal to support the policy of bi-nationalism, as stated in in the Haifa Declaration of 2007, which calls for a “change in the definition of the State of Israel from a Jewish state to a democratic state established on national and civil equality between the two national groups, and enshrining the principles of banning discrimination and of equality between all of its citizens and residents.”