The David Project Center for Jewish Leadership
Examining Apartheid Understanding the historical context
Roots
Colonization
Cape Town Established by Dutch East India Company in 1653
Afrikaners
Slavery
Colonialists force Blacks from land
War for riches
1948: apartheid
No Right to Vote
Bantustans
Racial Classifications
No free speech
Liberation ď Ž
From within: Mostly non-violent protests, civil disobedience, peaceful transition of power
ď Ž
From without: boycotts, sanctions, divestment
Testing the Allegation Trial #1
Our Guiding Question When people accuse Israel of being guilty of Apartheid, what are they really saying? 1. Like Apartheid SA, Israeli society is built upon institutionalized discrimination
Israel vs. South Africa
1948: Democracy
“The State of Israel… will promote the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; will be based upon the precepts of liberty, justice and peace taught by the Hebrew prophets; will uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens, without distinction of race, creed or sex; will guarantee full freedom of conscience, worship, education and culture; will safeguard the sanctity and inviolability of the shrines and Holy Places of all religions; and will dedicate itself to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.” – Declaration of Independence, Article 13.
Israeli nation: A Coat of Many Colors
Our Guiding Question When people accuse Israel of being guilty of Apartheid, what are they really saying? 1. Like Apartheid SA, Israeli society is built upon institutionalized discrimination Israel is a democratic & open society, with equal rights for all guaranteed under law.
Testing the Allegation Trial #2
The precedent
UN Resolution 3379: “Zionism is a form of racism, and racial discrimination” – adopted November 10th, 1975. Though the UN revoked this Resolution in 1991, damage has been done
Former Israeli President Chaim Herzog condemns the UN vote
Durban 2001
“Zionism is Racism”
“Israel is an Apartheid State”
“The Jewish state should be dismantled and replaced with a bi-national state.”
Apartheid at the UN
IAW Trailer - 2010
IAW / BDS Foundations
The Israeli Apartheid Triangle End Occupation & Colonization of Arab Lands – Post 1967 “Right of Return” For all Arab Refugees
Full Equality within Israel – One person, one vote
Apartheid Allegation #2 Israel is Guilty of / Arabs Demand:
Bottom Line:
Colonialism Occupation Arab Refugee Problem / Right of Return Racism / Full Equality Apartheid
Palestine was stolen from the indigenous Arabs.
Apartheid Allegation #2 Pro-Israel Sound Bites:
Allegation:
Israel is a democracy Israel wants peace
Israel made desert bloom The Holocaust
Israel is innovative Israel champions human rights
Palestine was stolen from the indigenous Arabs.
Our Guiding Question When people accuse Israel of being guilty of Apartheid, what are they really saying? 1. Like Apartheid SA, Israeli society is built upon institutionalized discrimination Israel is a democratic & open society, with equal rights guaranteed under law for all.
2. Like the European Afrikaners, Jews of European origin, displaced and exploited the indigenous Arabs through acts of colonization = Apartheid.
Addressing the Allegation
• Indigenous • Sovereignty • Origins of Palestine • Internationally Granted Rights • Fighting Colonialism • Dhimmi
Historical Presence
Arab Jews?
Repatriation Continuous Presence Waves of Immigration Centrality Remains Zionism
– Mass Immigration – Land Purchase – Self Sufficiency
Centrality of Israel Remains Life Cycle Events Jewish Education & Prayer Jewish Holidays Jewish Ritual
• Indigenous • Sovereignty • Origins of Palestine • Internationally Granted Rights • Fighting Colonialism • Dhimmi
Jewish Sovereignty
Control Over the Land Canaanite rule King David conquers Jerusalem
c1000 BCE
Jewish rule (by tribes)
c1000BCE to c586 BCE
Babylonian Conquest
587 BCE to 538 BCE
Persian & Greco-Assyrian
538 BCE to 168 BCE
Maccabean Revolt
168 BCE to 143 BCE
Jewish rule (Hasmoneans)
142 BCE to 63 CE
Roman and Byzantine
63 to 636
Rule of Arab Caliphates
636 to 1072
Seljuke (Turkish) rule
1072 to 1096
Crusader rule
1099 to 1291
Ayyubid rule
1175 to 1291
Mameluke rule
1291 to 1516
Ottoman rule
1516 to 1917
British Mandate
1917 to 1948
Jewish rule (modern Israel)
1948-
Since biblical times, other than when the land was under Jewish rule, the country had always been colonized. The Jews freed the Land of Israel from its status as a perpetual colony
• Indigenous • Sovereignty • Origins of Palestine • Internationally Granted Rights • Fighting Colonialism • Dhimmi
Judea Capta
Rome’s Persecution of Israel
Jews exiled from Israel
Name Changes
Jerusalem turned into Pagan city
Judaism Outlawed
Palestine is a geographical area Not a nationality Palestine lies on the western edge of the continent of Asia between Latitude 30º N. and 33º N., Longitude 34º 30’ E. and 35º 30’ E. On the North it is bounded by the French Mandated Territories of Syria and Lebanon, on the East by Syria and Trans-Jordan, on the South-west by the Egyptian province of Sinai, on the South-east by the Gulf of Aqaba and on the West by the Mediterranean. The frontier with Syria was laid down by the Anglo-French Convention of the 23rd December, 1920, and its delimitation was ratified in 1923. Briefly stated, the boundaries are as follows: North. – From Ras en Naqura on the Mediterranean eastwards to a point west of Qadas, thence in a northerly direction to Metulla, thence east to a point west of Banias.
East. – From Banias in a southerly direction east of Lake Hula to Jisr Banat Ya’pub, thence along a line east of the Jordan and the Lake of Tiberias and on to El Hamme station on the Samakh-Deraa railway line, thence along the centre of the river Yarmuq to its confluence with the Jordan, thence along the centres of the Jordan, the Dead Sea and the Wadi Araba to a point on the Gulf of Aqaba two miles west of the town of Aqaba, thence along the shore of the Gulf of Aqaba to Ras Jaba.
South. – From Ras Jaba in a generally north-westerly direction to the junction of the NekiAqaba and Gaza Aqaba Roads, thence to a point west-north-west of Ain Maghara and thence to a point on the Mediterranean coast north-west of Rafa.
West. – The Mediterranean Sea. Report by his Majesty’s G0vernment. 1938, page 439
Jewish Palestine … • The Jerusalem Post, founded in 1932, was called The Palestine Post. • Bank Leumi L’Israel, incorporated in 1902, was called the “AngloPalestine Company” until 1948. • The Jewish Agency –a an arm of the Zionist movement engaged in Jewish settlement since 1929 – was initially called the Jewish Agency for Palestine. • Today’s Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1936, was originally called the “Palestine Symphony Orchestra,” composed of some 70 Palestinian Jews. • The United Jewish Appeal (UJA), established in 1939 as a merger of the United Palestine Appeal and the fund-raising arm of the Joint Distribution Committee.
• Indigenous • Sovereignty • Origins of Palestine • Internationally Granted Rights • Fighting Colonialism • Dhimmi
The Balfour Declaration, November 2, 1917
The British Mandate
UN Resolution 181: 1947 Partition Plan
League of Nations – Mandate for Palestine “Recognition Has Been Given to the Historical Connection of the Jewish People with Palestine and to the Grounds for Reconstituting their National Home in that Country.” --- Preamble to the Mandate
Resolution was accepted unanimously by all 51 member countries of the League of Nations: Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, British
India,
Bulgaria,
Canada,
Chile,
Colombia,
Costa
Rica,
Cuba,
Czechoslovakia, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats
and
Slovenes,
Latvia,
Liberia,
Lithuania,
Luxembourg,
Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Persia, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of China, Romania, Siam, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Union of South Africa, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Venezuela.
Original British Mandate Territory - 1920
British Mandate Territory - 1922
A Telling Terminology “Recognition … to the Historical Connection of the Jewish People with Palestine.
(Preamble to the Mandate)
“Reconstituting their National Home in that Country [Palestine]. (Preamble to the Mandate)
“Recreation of Palestine as the national home of the Jewish race.” (U.S. Congress 1922)
“Redemption of Palestine.” (The High Commissioner 1925)
War
• Indigenous • Sovereignty • Origins of Palestine • Internationally Granted Rights • Fighting Colonialism • Dhimmi
British Colonialism
British White Paper of 1939
Rejection of establishing Jewish State in Palestine
Phasing out Jewish immigration to (Israel) Palestine – ensuring Arab majority
Restriction of Jewish land purchases from Arabs in Israel (Palestine)
--- The White Paper of 1939 was published on May 17, 1939
Driving out the British “84,000 soldiers… were not sufficient to preserve law and order when faced with… well organized Jews armed with all the weapons of modern infantry… His Majesty’s government has decided to remove its army from Eretz Yisrael and ends its mandate on May 15, 1948. --- British Foreign Office, 1948
• Indigenous • Sovereignty • Origins of Palestine • Internationally Granted Rights • Fighting Colonialism • Dhimmi
“Any criticism of Israeli democracy within the context of the Middle East politics is subject to strict comparative standards, or else it is merely an excuse for delegitimating the Jewish People.� Harvard Professor, Ruth Wisse
On Zionism: "Zionism is nothing more -- but also nothing less -- than the Jewish people's sense of origin and destination in the land linked eternally with its name ." Abba Eban, former Foreign Minister of Israel & Ambassador to the U.N.
Our Guiding Question When people accuse Israel of being guilty of Apartheid, what are they really saying? 1. Like Apartheid SA, Israeli society is built upon institutionalized discrimination Israel is a democratic & open society, with equal rights guaranteed under law for all.
2. Like the European Afrikaners, Jews of European origin, displaced and exploited the indigenous Arabs through acts of colonization = Apartheid. The Jewish people have a right to a Jewish State in the Land of Israel, and have not stolen anyone’s land, but rather have restored sovereignty in their historic homeland.
IAW Debate
“Israel is guilty of Apartheid.� Address: This is an all too common misconception. Unlike the Afrikaners, who were agents of European colonialism, the Jewish people, are, in fact indigenous to the Middle East, and have thousands of years of history and an unbroken connection with the Land of Israel. Reframe: If one wants to speak of institutionalized discrimination and racism in the Middle East, one must use the appropriate term for the region. In the Middle East, it is known as dhimmi status. Throughout the Muslim / Arab world, non-Muslims lack any semblance of equal rights. In fact, in Jordan, selling land to a Jew is punishable by death, and in Saudi Arabia, the practice of Judaism is forbidden. Furthermore, the Christian population in the Middle East has declined rapidly over the last decades resulting from Muslim persecution.
Message: And, if you insist on speaking of colonialism, let us not forger that it was the Jewish people who fought against European colonialism, driving out the British from the Land of Israel in 1948, and over the last 2,000 years, only the Jewish people have had independent, national sovereignty in the Land of Israel. The Jewish people are in the Land of Israel by right, having restored Jewish sovereignty in their ancient, historic homeland after having been unjustly expelled. Any comparison to Apartheid South Africa is both offensive, and a gross distortion of historical fact.