Thursday, October 25, 2012



Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it

In the past, Israel has reacted badly to suggestions that it is practising apartheid against its Arab citizens. But a poll from Israeli newspaper Haaretz reveals the dirty truth: most Israelis support apartheid and believe they already practice it:

The majority of the Jewish public, 59 percent, wants preference for Jews over Arabs in admission to jobs in government ministries. Almost half the Jews, 49 percent, want the state to treat Jewish citizens better than Arab ones; 42 percent don't want to live in the same building with Arabs and 42 percent don't want their children in the same class with Arab children.

A third of the Jewish public wants a law barring Israeli Arabs from voting for the Knesset and a large majority of 69 percent objects to giving 2.5 million Palestinians the right to vote if Israel annexes the West Bank.

A sweeping 74 percent majority is in favor of separate roads for Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank. A quarter - 24 percent - believe separate roads are "a good situation" and 50 percent believe they are "a necessary situation."

[...]

Although the territories have not been annexed, most of the Jewish public (58 percent ) already believes Israel practices apartheid against Arabs. Only 31 percent think such a system is not in force here. Over a third (38 percent ) of the Jewish public wants Israel to annex the territories with settlements on them, while 48 percent object.


And then there's this bit:
Almost half - 47 percent - want part of Israel's Arab population to be transferred to the Palestinian Authority and 36 percent support transferring some of the Arab towns from Israel to the PA, in exchange for keeping some of the West Bank settlements.

In other words, almost half of Israel's population supports ethnic cleansing. I guess they feel differently about it when the shoe is on the other foot.

Both apartheid and ethnic cleansing are crimes under international law. Israel stands condemned by its own citizens as a criminal state; it is time the international community treated it as one.