Israel Apartheid Week: Israeli Arab Diplomat Responds

Here's a great article at Z-Word in response to Israeli apartheid week, written by Ishmael Khaldi, who is the deputy consul general of Israel for the Pacific Northwest: Hypocrisy and betrayal.

To the organizers of Israel Apartheid Week I would like to say: If Israel were an apartheid state, I would not have been appointed here, nor would I have chosen to take upon myself this duty. There are many Arabs, both within Israel and in the Palestinian territories who have taken great courage to walk the path of peace. You should stand with us, rather than against us.

In a related story, the Jerusalem Post (h/t Religious Fundamentalist) reports that East Jerusalem teenagers are still participating in the "to be a citizen" project whereby Israel makes it easy for them to become citizens of Israel. Their ID books are actually delivered to their school so there is no long waiting in queues. Apartheid?

Though east Jerusalem residents hold Jordanian citizenship and overwhelmingly identify themselves as Palestinians, they are considered permanent residents of Jerusalem by the government and municipality. As a result, east Jerusalemites are entitled to an Israeli (blue) ID card. Interior Ministry officials said while acceptance of such IDs had originally been a taboo, more and more east Jerusalemites were putting in requests to receive them. "There was actually a drop in the number of participating pupils in east Jerusalem this year," said Weiss. "But that's only because the principal of one of the schools from last year, used the program as leverage with misbehaving pupils. He told them that if they didn't behave they wouldn't get to take part. So you can see the kind of desire there is in east Jerusalem for this program." Weiss also said that while the war in Gaza brought tensions to a boiling point in many east Jerusalem neighborhoods, most residents were still keen on exercising their residency rights.

And finally, related to the fact that the first link in this post directs you to Z-Word, while you there take a look at the post entitled Freedom of expression? Legitimate criticism? It's written by the Blacklisted Dictator.

Comments

[Rockford]

One of the most constructive things written on this issue is the statement from the Alumni for Responsible Speech
www.connexions.org/SafeLearning.htm
which states that "universities should tolerate free speech as long as it doesn’t upset anyone, but we also believe that universities, as public institutions, have a duty to ensure a safe learning environment for students and faculty, and to take corrective action when free speech or academic freedom are misused in an irresponsible way."
Their statement sets out concrete steps that can and should be taken to ensure a safe learning environment.

[John]

Apartheid South Africa had Black ambassadors in the 1980s too

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