TACTICS THAT ENDED APARTHEID IN SOUTH AFRICA CAN END IT IN ISRAEL
Rather than post a comment by freepali.com, I thought this article which I got from The Electronic Intifada and written by an individual who led a movement to overthrow apartheid in South Africa was appropriate for the occassion.
Bill Fletcher, Jr., The Electronic Intifada, 29 June 2008
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An
Israeli soldier sits atop an army vehicle overlooking a protest by
Palestinians at the Beit Iba checkpoint outside Nablus in the occupied
West Bank, June 2008. (Rami Swidan/MaanImages)
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The Israeli-Palestinian conflict often inspires a sense of
powerlessness. What can average Americans do to bring an end to this
decades-old conflict when our leaders have failed so miserably?
And what good is speaking out about Israel's occupation of Palestinian
land as the primary obstacle to peace when even former President Jimmy
Carter and Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu are condemned for
their criticism of Israeli policies?
This month in San Jose, California, average Americans will have the
opportunity to take a stand for peace and justice in the Middle East.
The Presbyterian Church US's General Assembly began Saturday and runs
through Sunday at the San Jose Convention Center. At the meeting, which
takes place once every two years, delegates will make policy decisions
for the 2.3 million-member denomination.
They will consider corporate engagement, up to divestment, with
companies that profit from the obstacles to a just peace in Israel and
Palestine. The church is considering approaches to Caterpillar, ITT
Industries, Motorola and United Technologies.
The TransAfrica Forum, an organization which I was honored to head,
played a leading role in the movement to end apartheid in South Africa.
Corporate engagement was one of the most powerful tools in our
non-violent arsenal. It was the right moral decision then and it is the
right moral decision now. Just as it worked in South Africa, it can
work in Palestine and Israel.
Yet Presbyterian delegates are being pressured to vote against similar
measures. Some say the tactic unfairly singles out Israel for
condemnation. But it is not the country we condemn; it's a system of
segregation and inequality.
The Israeli government has established in the Occupied Palestinian
Territories a regime of systematic discrimination. It maintains two
systems of laws, and a person's rights are based on national origin.
Palestinian land is confiscated to build Israeli-only settlements and
roads. Palestinians wait hours in line at more than 500 Israeli
checkpoints and roadblocks in the West Bank, while Jewish settlers
speed by on modern, well-lit highways.
As Carter, and many Israelis have said, as long as this dual system
exists, any peace agreement between Israel and Palestine will be
impossible. Palestinians compare Israeli policies to those of apartheid
in South Africa. Former Israeli Attorney General Michael Ben-Yair wrote
in 2002, "In effect, we established an apartheid regime in the occupied
territories immediately following their capture. That regime exists to
this day."
South Africans who led the fight against apartheid, like Archbishop
Desmond Tutu and former United Nations envoy John Dugard, make similar
comparisons.
To the detriment of both Israelis and Palestinians, we provide
financial and diplomatic support to maintain these separate and unequal
policies. Israel is the number one recipient of US foreign aid: roughly
$2.5 billion last year alone. Our government has cast more than 40
vetoes in the United Nations Security Council to shield Israel from
international condemnation.
Divestment from companies that benefit from the occupation is an
opportunity for American citizens to do what our government leaders
have refused to do: say that our money will not fund human rights
abuses any longer.
With humbleness, with love, with compassion for Palestinians and
Israelis, I believe in the possibility that both can live as neighbors
with security, dignity and respect. As it did in South Africa,
corporate engagement, including divestment, can help make that
possibility a reality.
Bill Fletcher, Jr. is executive editor of blackcommentator.com
and former president of the TransAfrica Forum, which led the US
movement to overthrow apartheid in South Africa during the 1980s. This
article originally appeared in the San Jose Mercury News and is republished with the author's permission.