'Israels's human right abuses'

News24 User Abdullah Saeed writes:

The story: “Desmond Tutu, How far you have fallen!!” has reference.

The Israeli government has been invited to testify before the three day tribunal but has not responded thus far.

Serious Human right abuses and violations are being committed against the Palestinians by Israel. Only a denialist would engage in such a distractive argument as Nateco indulges in. (6th November 2011).

Should any South African with a conscience who experienced apartheid or not, visits the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Gaza, will be traumatized at the degrading and inhuman situation prevalent there.

To quote Mr Nelson Mandela: “The United Nations took a strong stand against apartheid; and over the years, an international consensus was built, which helped to bring an end to this iniquitous system. But we know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians”.

In a recent Memorial Day interview Israel’s defence minister Ehud Barak said: “his country must recognize that the world will not put up with decades more of Israeli rule over the Palestinian people. Israel can narrow growing gaps with the United States by embarking on a peace initiative that tackles all the big issues that divide Israelis and Palestinians”. He further added that: “there is no other way, whether you like it or not, than to let (the Palestinians) rule themselves”.

Debates on whether Israel is guilty of the crime of apartheid are not new; Israeli strategy in Palestine is a form of apartheid in meaning and operation- Period!

Supporters of Israel have always recoiled at the idea of parallels between Israel, a democracy built from the violent expulsion and displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their villages, and the racist system that ruled the old South Africa.

We do not need to have exactly the same characteristics of South African apartheid system within Israel in order to call Israel an apartheid state. Like in apartheid South Africa, the current Israeli regime also practises discrimination, subjugation and land division and seizures.

Jimmy Carter penned down the bitter yet obvious truth that “Israel’s continued control and colonization of Palestinian land” amounts to apartheid policies in his book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.

Furthermore, an Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said: “As long as in this territory west of the Jordan River there is only one political entity called Israel, it is going to be either non-Jewish or non-democratic. If this bloc of millions of Palestinians cannot vote, it will be an apartheid state.”

Over the past sixty years, since its creation in 1948, Israel with tacit American support has been violating with impunity many UN resolutions and other international laws. Israel is founded on Jewish privileges and the total destruction of the indigenous people to the land.

Israel, a state built from the violent expulsion and displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their villages, still stands accused of possible war crimes and crimes against humanity. Israel’s illegal blockade on Gaza, the use of lethal weapons, such as white phosphorous and flechette missiles, the deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure and conducting indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks, just to name a few, still holds water in the Goldstone Commission.

The notion of “A land without a people for a people without a land” is an early Zionist myth. To deny the existence of a distinct Palestinian civilization and to continue to deny the Palestinians their fundamental human rights is a crime against humanity.

The Jews suffered a great deal under the oppressive Nazis and the Holocaust was one of the most dreadful events in history, but it is evident that they have learnt nothing and this is beyond comprehension why this is being condoned vis a vis Palestine!

Moreover, like most people, Palestinians are not hell bent on hatred, bloodshed and violence, but relatively are normal individuals determined to achieve freedom from a brutal and severe occupation. The Palestinians had always warmly welcomed Jews in their midst.

The root of the conflict between Israel and Palestine is the brutal occupation of Palestine by Israel and therefore it is a humanitarian and justice issue.

Although, I do not condone violence or concur with Palestinians firing rockets on Israel but the Palestinians do not have an alternative to the power and muscle of the United States sponsored Israeli war machine.

Ehud Barak, Israeli general, and Prime Minister 1999 – 2001said: “I imagine that if I were a Palestinian of the right age, I would, at some stage, have joined one of the terror organisations”.

After more than 60 years of brutal occupation and oppression, not labelling Israel an apartheid state is a crime against humanity.

Global leaders and conscience - driven people need to break the silence and speak up for truth and justice in order to end the debilitating occupation of Palestinian land and once again bring about freedom, peace, equality and tranquillity in the holy land.

The best means of fulfilling the rights of Jews, Christians and Muslims just to name a few that live in Palestine is to have a single democratic country in all of Palestine with equal rights, opportunities and dignity for all.


(2011-11-8/news24.com)