The apartheid myth

[shira]

Op-ed: Despite the slanderous propaganda against Israel, the Palestinians not only have a parliament, but also higher education institutions, a police force, security forces, a justice system and prisons. Is this apartheid? Thanks to Israeli rule, they're number 1 among university graduates in the Arab world. Is this oppression?

...The question is, what the hell is the source of this madness, which comes from the fringes and spreads like a cancer to the middle. To understand that, we need to look at the hooligans' reasoning. The familiar tune....More and more articles provide fuel to the incitement fire. It's not that there are no injustices, and it's not that these injustices shouldn't be brought to light. But none of this has anything to do with an apartheid regime. It's not that anyone is confused; someone is intentionally working to confuse and leave the wrong impression. This campaign has a clear declared goal: To turn Israel into South Africa, in order to encourage "pressure from outside." The link between this campaign and the BDS movement can no longer be hidden.

...The anti-Semitism survey released last week revealed the fact that 40 percent of Europeans have anti-Semitic views. Those who say that it's "because of Israel" are right. Of course. When Israel is presented as an apartheid state, a benighted state, and a state that commits non-stop crimes - anti-Semitism grows. So you need to be more accurate - it's not because of what Israel does, it's because of the lies against Israel. And no, it's not because of a specific policy or the current government, which should be criticized. After all, the anti-Israel campaign was in full swing even when Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni led the country.

The apartheid campaign achieves results. It doesn't promote peace or reconciliation, it creates the opposite results. It raises the rate of anti-Semitism, encourages the hooligans that support the BDS movement, bolsters Palestinian intransigence, and makes the chances of peace smaller and smaller still.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4759526,00.html