Reply #12: Here is an interview excerpt with Dennis Davis that you might find enlightening [View All]

[oberliner]

IPS: Israel has been accused of adopting policies that are reminiscent of apartheid South Africa. Is this a fair comparison?

Dennis Davis: I think the only issue is with the movement of people. This is remarkably similar to certain forms of influx control (in the old South Africa). And it's so much more sophisticated. We didn't have computers. And the separate roads and separate number plates (for Palestinians and Jews in the West Bank) is unquestionably a more sophisticated form of restriction of movement of the kind that we had. The fact that you've got those definitions at some of those controls, of what constitutes an Israeli and what constitutes somebody else, is not entirely unreminiscent of what we had. I was deeply disturbed by that because I hadn't realised how stark that parallel was.

IPS: So you feel the comparison is valid?

DD: It is unfortunate that people now run from that into an immediate conclusion that this is an apartheid state. We met Israel's Chief Justice and what is clear is that there is a pretty relaxed form of (judicial) standing by which Palestinians can petition the High Court of Justice in Israel. That's impressive. That obviously didn't exist in South Africa. And within Israel itself, there aren't zones the way we had group areas (for blacks and whites). Arabs who live here can also vote and have rights of citizenship.

This is not so much a discrimination based on ethnic identity in the broad sense of Arab versus Jew. It does seem to me to be a very intricate form of social control.

IPS: Apartheid was based on racial superiority.

DD: There's no racial superiority here. There's no pervading ideology that confirms the inferiority of Palestinians.

http://www.telfed.org.il/content/israel-in-a-weak-parallel-with-apartheid

So what conclusion are you claiming Dennis Davis has reached?

And I'd love to see a link to where John Dugard has expressed a desire to "make Israel a better place".