Apartheid Then and Now

by Eloise Cranke and Kathleen McQuillen
From Iowa MFSA

Illegal Israeli Settlement [picture: Hazem Bader/AFP]

A recent webinar, sponsored by UMKR and MFSA compared apartheid in South Africa with ongoing events in Palestine. Similarities are striking. One of the speakers was Kelvin Sauls of Los Angeles, originally from South Africa. He clearly remembers the discrimination his family of nine experienced through displacement, shaping his life. In 2008 he became involved with Palestinians working for justice, easily relating his own experience of displacement to their restrictions to certain areas while not being permitted in others. He recalls an evening in a Palestinian village surrounded by Jewish Settlements, complete with noise and raw sewage dumped into it from the Settlements. He defines apartheid as ideologies/theologies of white systems of colonization—political, economic, and cultural, targeted to establish a white religious ruling class. His parting message: people must mobilize to resist this discrimination. Sandra Tamari, originally from Palestine, now effectively exiled due to her activism also spoke. Now living in St. Louis, she recognized a powerful analogy between South African apartheid and what’s happening in Palestine today, making a comparison to the Native American genocide in the US. She pointed out that privileged Jewish people are vaccinated and returning to normal while Palestinians are denied vaccines. She went on to compare South African pass laws/books with how Israel categorizes Palestinians, relegating where they can live and work. Her statistics are telling (M = million):

• 5.7M Palestinians live in exile and cannot return

• 1.6 M in Gaza cannot leave that “open air prison”

• 2.3M in the West Bank with restrictions/check points

• 2.3M in East Jerusalem, also with some restrictions

• 1.3M are Israeli citizens, but without some freedoms

• 5.9M Jewish Israelis who are like white supremacists with no restrictions

Ms. Tamari classifies Israel as an apartheid, colonial regime which needs to be resisted through divestment, a tool to combat discrimination.

As chronicled in daily news, the situation erupted into eleven days of virtual war. We hope the fragile cease fire holds but recognize that the underlying issues still exist. Israel’s apartheid system is a key factor in the ongoingviolence taking place as this goes to press. Apartheid as implemented by Israel in Palestine is a classic example of divide and conquer. With Palestinians forcibly separated it is difficult to mount unified resistance or to establish a legitimate government. Embargos on goods moving in/out of Gaza makes Gazan attempts to protect themselves from Israeli attacks or to rebuild after them, difficult if not impossible.

Examples of apartheid fueling flames of violence raging in Palestine-Israel today include:

• Forced expulsion of Palestinians from their E. Jerusalem homes and the replacement w/Israeli Jews.

• Roadblocks/checkpoints preventing Palestinians outside Jerusalem from participating in worship at the Al Aqsa Mosque in the closing days of Ramadan

• Attacks by the occupying power against unarmed civilian worshippers at the mosque where hundreds have been injured.

• Brutal air assaults on trapped Gazans, wounding hundreds and killing 240, including 65 children, as of 5-21-21. Israel’s air raids/bombing runs came in response to rockets fired into Israel killing 12 people. The rockets were a response to the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes coupled with attacks at Al Aqsa.

Violence could be reduced if the US cut off the $3.8 billion annual military assistance to Israel.

Rep. Betty McCollum has introduced a bill to prohibit US funding from being used to demolish homes, force displacement of Palestinians or the arrest, detention, and abuse of Palestinian children.

Be a voice on Rep. McCollum’s important legislation. Contact your and urge co-sponsorship of HR 2590 “To promote and protect the human rights of Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation...”