Whilst discussion of Israel as an apartheid state is being effectively prevented from entering the mainstream media, it might be that the idea is taking root among the grassroots. Mondoweiss reports that, in a recent poll, 41% of Democrats in the United States described Israel as a “state with segregation similar to apartheid”. The poll was conducted between March 27th and April 5th, and 1,203 people were asked their views.
The poll conducted by the University of Maryland using the Ipsos Probability Panel making it representative of the US public. It found that there was a widespread difference between Democrats and Republicans, 41% of the latter describing Israel as a “vibrant democracy”.
The poll comes as the US Democrat President Biden congratulated Israel on its 75th anniversary, calling it a state “based on freedom, justice and peace,” citing the words of David Ben-Gurion. These celebrations conveniently forget that the founding of the Israeli state in 1948 was accomplished with the forced removal of at least 750,000 Palestinians from their ancient homelands. About three quarters of all Palestinians were expelled and permanently displaced. It is estimated that at least 530 Palestinian villages were destroyed and 15,000 Palestinians killed by Israeli troops. Palestinians still call this day Nakba, which translates as ‘catastrophe’.
It is hardly surprising that America’s political elite celebrates what is, in effect, a genocide, given that the founding of the state of America was itself accomplished by wiping out virtually 15 million native Americans, many of them dying in massacres carried out by US troops.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA), which monitors conflicts, suggests 89 Palestinians have been killed already this year in the so-called occupied territories. Most of these have died at the hands of heavily armed Israeli soldiers. It is very rare for anybody to be charged with these deaths. Indeed, official figures show that, whilst 71% of Israeli deaths end in a conviction, only 23% of Palestinian deaths do.
It is highly unlikely, given the continued support America’s political elite, both red and blue, give to Israel, that the state of Israel will be forced to change any time soon or that Palestine will be allowed to be an issue in the forthcoming election campaign in which Biden has just announced he intends to run.
In the UK the pro-Israeli Conservative Party are now joined by the pro-Zionist Keir Starmer, ensuring that what is happening in American politics will be repeated here. Starmer and his front bench continue to throw allegations of antisemitism at anybody who criticises Israel. This is despite a 2021 YouGov poll which found that 61% of Labour members supported the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, whilst in the same poll 49% agreed that Israel is an apartheid state.
That poll was commissioned by the pro-Israeli paper The Jewish Chronicle which, rather than focusing on the findings, said, “The bombshell findings today highlight the scale of the challenge facing the new leader, who has a mountain to climb in his bid to purge the party.” With the latest attack on Diane Abbott and the number of pro-Palestinian supporters already purged, it is unlikely that the Chronicle is unhappy with the progress being made towards turning Labour into yet another citadel of pro-Israeli influence.
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, B’Tselem, the United Nations Office of the Human Rights Commissioner and Yesh Din have all described Israel as an “apartheid state”. Its own legal framework is based upon a definition of nationhood that puts Jewish Israelis in a hierarchical relationship with other ethnic groups living in Israel. It is not just the legal framework but the practical actions of illegally removing Palestinians from their homes to make way for Jewish settlers which make clear that, far from being a vibrant and healthy democracy, Israel is a state founded upon the forced domination of one group over another.
When ordinary people are confronted with the reality of the actions of the Israelis they do not take much convincing that it is an apartheid state. That is why the Zionists in both the US and the UK are ensuring that the very mention of Israel is fraught with the risk of allegations of antisemitism. It is an attempt, largely being complied with by our mainstream media, to minimise the actions of the state of Israel, whilst ensuring that the genuine grievances of Palestinians are obscured by allegations of terrorism and violence while they are, in actual fact, far more the victims than the perpetrators.
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Want to test your knowledge of recent news? Try our fun quiz designed by quiz maestro Ann Marcial. Remember it’s just for fun.
#1. A man called Abu Zabaydah is a prisoner in Guantanamo, where is he from?
#2. Which city in 2003 took delivery of Britain's first flat-pack embassy?
#3. Which of these directors is Dyslexic
#4. What profession did Paul Robeson qualify in?
#5. On what date do Palestinians commemorate Nakba?
#6. What TV drama series was based on the novels set in Cornwall by Winston Graham
#7. What name did MP Peter Kyle use when talking about the 1st Minister of Scotland Hamza Yousaf?
#8. Who, in 1913, worked as a pastry chef on the Newhaven to Dieppe Ferry?
Results
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