|
Dear Thomas,
I know that you and
I long for peace in the
Middle East , but
before you continue to talk about necessary conditions
from an Israeli perspective, you need to know what's on
my mind. Where to begin? How about 1964.
Let me quote my own
words during my trial. They are true today as they were
then: "I
have fought against white domination and I have fought
against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of
a democratic and free society in which all persons live
together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is
an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if
needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
Today the world,
black and white, recognise that Apartheid has no future.
In
South Africa
it has been ended by our own decisive mass action in
order to build peace and security. That mass campaign of
defiance and other actions could only culminate in the
establishment of Democracy.
Perhaps it is
strange for you to observe the situation in
Palestine or more
specifically, the structure of political and cultural
relationships between Palestinians and Israelis, as an
Apartheid system. This is because you incorrectly think
that the problem of Palestine began in 1967. This was
demonstrated in your recent column "Bush's First Memo"
in the
New York Times
on March 27, 2001.
You seem to be
surprised to hear that there are still problems of 1948
to be solved, the most important component of which is
the right to return of Palestinian refugees.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is not just an
issue of military occupation and
Israel is not a
country that was established "normally" and happened to
occupy another country in 1967. Palestinians are not
struggling for a "state" but for freedom, liberation and
equality, just like we were struggling for freedom in
South Africa
.
In the last few
years, and especially during the reign of the Labour
Party,
Israel
showed that it was not even willing to return what it
occupied in 1967; that Settlements remain,
Jerusalem
would be under exclusive Israeli sovereignty, and
Palestinians would not have an independent state, but
would be under Israeli economic domination with Israeli
control of borders, land, air, water and sea.
Israel
was not thinking of a "state" but of "separation".
The value of separation is measured in terms of the
ability of
Israel to keep
the Jewish state Jewish, and not to have a Palestinian
minority that could have the opportunity to become a
majority at some time in the future. If this takes
place, it would force
Israel
to either become a secular democratic or bi-national
state, or to turn into a state of Apartheid not only de
facto, but also de jure.
Thomas, if you
follow the polls in
Israel for
the last 30 or 40 years, you clearly find a vulgar
racism that includes a third of the population who
openly declare themselves to be racist. This racism is
of the nature of "I hate Arabs" and "I wish Arabs would
be dead".
If you also follow
the judicial system in
Israel you
will see there is discrimination against Palestinians,
and if you further consider the 1967 Occupied
Territories you will find there are already two judicial
systems in operation that represent two different
approaches to human life: one for Palestinian life and
the other for Jewish life.
Additionally there
are two different approaches to property and to land.
Palestinian property is not recognised as private
property because it can be confiscated.
As to the Israeli
occupation of the
West Bank and Gaza ,
there is an additional factor. The so-called
"Palestinian autonomous areas" are Bantustans . These
are restricted entities within the power structure of
the Israeli Apartheid system.
The Palestinian state cannot be the by-product of the Jewish state,
just in order to keep the Jewish purity of
Israel . Israel 's
racial discrimination is daily life of most
Palestinians. Since
Israel
is a Jewish state, Israeli Jews are able to accrue
special rights which non-Jews cannot do. Palestinian
Arabs have no place in a "Jewish" state.
Apartheid is a crime
against humanity.
Israel
has deprived millions of Palestinians of their liberty
and property. It has perpetuated a system of gross
racial discrimination and inequality. It has
systematically incarcerated and tortured thousands of
Palestinians, contrary to the rules of international
law. It has, in particular, waged a war against a
civilian population, in particular children.
The responses made
by
South Africa
to human rights abuses emanating from the removal
policies and Apartheid policies respectively, shed light
on what Israeli society must necessarily go through
before one can speak of a just and lasting peace in the
Middle East
and an end to its Apartheid policies.
Thomas, I'm not
abandoning
Mideast diplomacy. But I'm not
going to indulge you the way your supporters do. If you
want peace and democracy, I will support you. If you
want formal Apartheid, we will not support you. If you
want to support racial discrimination and ethnic
cleansing, we will oppose you.
When you figure out what you're about, give me a
call. |
