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Separate and Unequal

Apartheid  \ ə-pärt’hīt’, -hāt’\   n.
A policy of segregation and social and economic discrimination by one group over another group. Separation.
[Afrikaans : Dutch apart, separate (from French à part, apart; see apart) + Dutch -heid, -hood.]

Apartheid is a Dutch Afrikaaner word that describes the institutionalized racist and segregated system that existed in South Africa from 1948 to 1994. Under Apartheid, a system of legalized racial segregation and discrimination existed where the minority white population, which held all legal, political and administrative power, suppressed the human and civil rights of the majority black population.

Similarities between Apartheid South Africa and Israel’s Apartheid policies:

SOUTH AFRICA

  • 1948 – Minority white colonial settlers took 87 percent of the land for themselves
  • Forced majority indigenous population onto isolated Bantustans
  • Classified people according to race, i.e. White, Non-White – Black, Colored, Asian
  • Laws based on these classifications determined where people could live, what jobs they could have, what schools they could attend and what rights they had

PALESTINE

  • 1948 – Zionists claimed 78 percent of historical Palestine for themselves though they constituted only 5 percent of the population
  • Today, Palestinians living in the West Bank have been forced into isolated cantons and the Palestinians of Gaza are living in an enclosed, blockaded open-air prison
  • Israel classifies its citizens as Jew or Non-Jew
  • Laws based on these classifications determine where people can live, what jobs they can have, what schools they can attend and what rights they have [2]


“The Jews took Israel from the Arabs after the Arabs had lived there for a thousand years. Israel, like South Africa, is an apartheid state.”
~ Former South African Prime Minister Hendrick Verwoerdt in the Rand Daily Mail, Nov. 23, 1961. [2]


International Law

Apartheid is prohibited by several international laws:

  • Hague Regulations of 1907
  • Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949
  • The Law of Armed Conflict
  • The Law of Self-Determination as established in the Charter of the United Nations
  • The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
  • International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, 1965
  • International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid, 1973
  • Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 2002 [1]


Apartheid Policies

Much like the minority white population in Apartheid South Africa who enjoyed a comfortable quality of life that was deprived the non-white population, some 500,000 Israeli colonialists – people living on Palestinian territory in illegally constructed settlements – enjoy rights and privileges denied Palestinians living in the same areas.

  • Jewish residents in illegal colonial settlements in occupied Palestine are protected by Israeli domestic law, enjoy freedom of movement and civil services and are under the jurisdiction of Israeli civil courts.
  • Palestinian residents in the same territories are subjected to Israeli military law, denied freedom of movement, have no civil services and are subjected to Israeli military courts. [1]


Israel denies Palestinians – in occupied Palestine and in 1948 historical Palestine - the right to life and liberty by methods that were often employed in Apartheid South Africa, including:

  • Murder; extrajudicial  killings
  • Murder of children – Israel has killed more than 1,000 children since 2000
  • Arrests and detentions
  • Torture
  • Indefinite detentions without charge
  • Military courts that don’t offer fair trials
  • Home demolitions
  • Lack of freedom of movement caused by the Apartheid Wall, more than 600 checkpoints and road blocks and a highly restrictive ID and travel permit system
  • A segregated school system in Israel – one for Jews and the other for non-Jews
    - Israel pays $1,100 per Jewish student annually
    - Israel pays $192 per Palestinian students who are residents of Israel
    - Palestinian schools in Israel were short more than 1,000 classrooms to meet their needs in the 2009-10 academic school year
  • Prohibiting Palestinian refugees the right to return to their homes
  • Denying the unification of family members between Gaza and the West Bank [1,2,3,4]

 

Apartheid Wall

When completed the Apartheid Wall, which snakes through the West Bank, will be nearly twice as long as the 1948 Green Line. Israel has an overarching policy to carve up the West Bank into isolated cantons for the purpose of segregation and domination.  [1, 3]

  • Israel has used the Apartheid Wall to divide the West Bank into cantons
  • Entry and residency in each canton is determined by identity
  • Nonresidents of a particular canton must obtain a permit to enter
  • Israel continually appropriates Palestinian land for exclusive Jewish use
  • 38 percent of the West Bank is completely closed off to Palestinians [1]

 

Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions

The Anti-Apartheid movement that encouraged boycotts of South African products, universities and support for cultural and athletic events began in 1960. Within 30 years, worldwide “mass mobilization” lead to the release from prison of anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela and to negotiations that brought an end to Apartheid in 1994.

Likewise, 171 Palestinian organizations initiated the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in 2005. Recognition and participation in BDS campaigns is growing around the world.

  • Visit www.ampalestine.org for a list of anti-apartheid actions, BDS campaigns and activities
  • Join AMP’s Media Team by sending an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
  • Call or write your elected officials
  • Donate to AMP so we can continue our work to educate Americans about the occupation
  • Educate yourself and speak up to others


Sources:  [1] “Occupation, Colonialism, Apartheid? A re-assessment of Israel’s practices in the occupied Palestinian territories under international law,” Middle East Project (MEP) of the Democracy and Governance Programme, a research program of the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa, May 2009  [2] “Apartheid: From South Africa to Israel/Palestine,” Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights, 2010  [3] B’Tselem, “Human Rights in the Occupied Territories,” 2008  [4] “A welcome initiative, quashed,” by Yousef Jabareen, Haaretz, May 3, 2009

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