The Apartheid State

I just read yet another article from a far left site denouncing Israel as an "apartheid" state.  The charge is oft repeated, but it is ridiculous nevertheless.  Think about this:  In Israel itself, there are more than 20% Arabs.  There are Arab members of the Israeli parliament.  There are Arab judges.  There are Arabs in all walks of life.  The large majority of Israelis, however, are Jews.  On the other hand, you have the so called "occupied territories".  In that area, the vast majority is comprised of Arabs.  If one ignores the city of Jerusalem and its near suburbs, the percentage of Arabs in this area is much higher than the percentage of Jews in Israel.  Now you may say, "so what!"  Who cares which group is in a majority; apartheid has to do with the rights of each group, not their numbers.  Well, consider this:  if a home is built in Israel for an Arab family, no one pays any attention.  There are many villages that are nearly exclusively Arab within Israel, and these have grown consistently over the years.  On the other hand, if even one home is built for a Jewish family in the occupied territories, it becomes a major story.  The new home is a "settlement" and an affront both to international law and basic human decency.  You see, in the supposedly non-apartheid West Bank, there can be no room for additional Jews.  The Jews and Arabs have to be kept separate in the West Bank, but that is not apartheid (even though the definition of apartheid is the separation of races.) 

In other words, the only apartheid style acts undertaken in and around Israel are those by the Palestinians who protest new homes for Israelis.  It is the Palestinians -- not the Israelis--who want to keep the religious groups completely separate.  It is the Palestinians who want an apartheid state.