Former activist against the apartheid regime in South Africa, Naim Jaina, when he traveled to Israel, it became clear to him that apartheid in Israel is worse than apartheid in South Africa, where the three central pillars of apartheid are a classification of the population, the denial of freedom to choose a place of residence, and restrictions on movement And the absence of security are exactly the same.
With this introduction, the French website OrientXXI paved the way for
an article
written by Naim Jena, Executive Director of the Center for Africa and the Middle East in South Africa, and Vice President of the Dennis Hurley Institute for Peace, in which he said that visiting Palestine, especially the Israeli part, can be a painful experience and a reminder of a past marked by discrimination and “separate development,” land theft, extreme violence, and state control.
Israel is worse
The writer explained that he discovered a great similarity between Israel and the apartheid regime in South Africa, although Israel is much worse, indicating that he is not the first to notice this, but was preceded by many, including Dennis Goldberg who was tried with Nelson Mandela, and said when he visited Israel, that it is The Middle Eastern equivalent of apartheid in South Africa, and continued to support the Boycott Investments (BDS) movement until his death in 2020.
The writer referred to the words of South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, "I was deeply affected during my visit to the Holy Land. It reminded me of what happened to us blacks in South Africa, and that Human Rights Watch, the Israeli non-governmental organization B'Tselem, and many Palestinian organizations adopted the description of what is happening in Israel." term apartheid.
distinguishing Jews from others
The writer stated that although apartheid is based on 3 basic pillars, which is classifying the population on an ethnic basis, controlling freedom of residence and movement, and then security, the Israeli version of it differs from South Africa in some respects, as whites in South Africa are classified first, followed by Indians, then colored people. And the blacks remain at the bottom of the ladder, while the Jews in Palestine have a privilege over everyone else.
He added that South Africa forced different groups to reside in different geographical areas, restricted the movement of people between those areas, and allocated "Bantustans" for blacks who hold South African citizenship to deprive them of the nationality of the "Republic of South Africa", while the Palestinians are deprived of any legal status.
He noted that "security" in South Africa was based on repression, administrative detention, torture, censorship, bans and extrajudicial killings inside and outside the country, targeting not only activists but anyone violating traffic laws, "but we have never seen in the worst days of apartheid, Helicopters and warplanes fly over black residential areas, and there are no tanks roaming those areas and bombing our homes and firing shells and missiles at our schools.”
In Israel - as the writer says - apartheid is based on the same three pillars, but with a difference, as the Law of Return of 1950 defines the identity of the Jew, gives Jews from all over the world the right to immigrate to Israel (the occupied Palestinian territories), and deprives the Palestinians of any status The law declares that Israel is a "Jewish state", although more than 20% of its population are not Jews, and enshrines the idea that there is a difference between citizenship and nationality, while in South Africa the state cannot declare that whites everywhere hold its nationality, and that blacks Indians and Coloreds hold its nationality, but are not citizens.
discrimination in everyday life
The writer goes on to say that discrimination in Israel includes restrictions on social benefits, what can be taught and learned in schools, and certain types of jobs. Palestinians are also denied the right to leave and return to their country, freedom of movement and residence, and the right to access land. This disparity in treatment is manifested through Apply stricter laws and different courts for Palestinians compared to Jewish settlers.
The "Absentee Property Law" supports the second pillar of apartheid in Israel, as it guarantees land theft on a large scale, so that the lands of Israel are divided into national lands representing 93% of the lands, which are designated for the exclusive use of Jews, and private lands representing 7%, and Israeli Palestinians can Ownership is within it, so 20% of the population can only use part of this 7%.
Palestinian land theft
The second pillar of apartheid in the occupied territories is translated into fragmentation, so that the massive Israeli theft of the Palestinian lands takes place in various ways, including the apartheid wall, the tight siege of Gaza, the separation of East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, and the division of the West Bank itself into a network of connected Jewish settlements and besieged Palestinian enclaves. contiguous.
Israeli Jews are not allowed into these Bantustans, just as whites are not allowed into African towns, but they enjoy freedom of movement in the rest of the Palestinian territories. separate for different ethnic groups.
The separation is clearer in Hebron
The writer noted that the three pillars seem more evident in the city of Hebron, where he witnessed the killing of a Palestinian by Zionist racists in a place of worship, and also saw that the settlers literally live on top of the Palestinians and throw garbage on their heads, and close the entrances to Palestinian homes, and close entire Palestinian streets that were once areas Vibrant commercial and advertising for Jewish use only.
Although some commentators - the author says - believe that the role of religion in the Palestinian context differs from that in South Africa, this - as the author sees - is wrong, because apartheid in South Africa is justified on the basis of the Bible, and religion is a tool of oppression in South Africa as well. He is in Palestine.