Solly Mapaila's article ("Israel's ‘South Africa' moment is here") is a Godsend for anyone who enjoys "dashing the cup from perjured lip."
During WW2 I had regular access to one of the main Nazi newspapers and learned to identify their methodology. They would faithfully obey the Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels' teaching that a lie repeated often enough would eventually be believed. I found that the communists, the comrades, used the same methods, people to whom the end justifies the means, any means.
And so the Nazis could proclaim nationwide "The Jews are our misfortune!" without offering a shred of proof. And so the Jews were accused of every evil and crime imaginable, of starting both World Wars, of simultaneously being both capitalists and communists and of controlling finances and governments in major countries. They might as well have stated that the earth was flat. The gullible obediently gobbled it all up and we all know that it resulted in the murder of six million Jewish men, women and children plus millions of fellow human beings.
Comrade Mapaila sets the tone of his article when he opens with the statement that "No human being deserves the devastation of life and the atrocities experienced by the Palestinian people." Absolutely. But are these horrendous things actually taking place?
He lists some of the discriminatory legislation that existed under Apartheid and implies that Israel is equally guilty. NOT ONE SUCH ISRAELI ITEM OF LEGISLATION IS QUOTED AS PROOF. Not surprisingly because in Israel no such legislation exists, only in the minds of people such as comrade Mapaila.
Let us be quite clear about the following: The erstwhile territory of Palestine consists of three entities, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. Israel was granted to the Jews as a state in the United Nations proclaimed Partition Plan of 1947. The West Bank is under the control of Palestinians ruled by Mahmoud Abbas. For security reasons there is an Israeli military presence. Gaza was totally evacuated by Israeli military and settlers in 2005 and has its own regime.
Mahmoud Abbas has proclaimed that "No Jew will be allowed to settle in his territory." The same applies to most of the surrounding Arab states. By contrast 20 percent of Israel's citizens are not Jewish, most of them Palestinians. They enjoy each and every right that Jews have, except obligatory service in Israel's Defence Force, despite Mapaila's denials. Anyone remotely familiar with the history of Arab and Palestinian aggression against their own Jews and Israelis will not expect otherwise.
Who is practicing Apartheid, comrade Mapaila?
Mapaila states, inter alia, that Israel has separated its population along racial lines and introduced security laws and policies "TO MAINTAIN APARTHEID." Once again, not a single fact or detail to substantiate his assertions. I invite the reader to judge whether the following were introduced to maintain apartheid: A +/- 700 km security wall of which the vast majority is fence with only a comparatively few kilometers consisting of wall. Israelerected it after suicide bombers, yes, the same ones that are venerated and lauded by the Palestinians as martyrs and heroes, murdered over 1,000 civilians, men, women and children. That wall prevented the heroes from gaining access to population centres, THUS REDUCING THE ISRAELI DEATH RATE BY AT LEAST 90%. Comrade Mapaila and his ilk obviously disapprove thereof.
Over the years Israeli motorists have been subjected to drive-by shootings by Palestinians resulting in the loss of many lives. This has been almost totally eliminated by the simple expedient of marking Israeli and Palestinian vehicles with differently coloured number plates and directing such vehicles onto different roads. Definite proof of apartheid, not so comrade Mapaila?
Next we are informed that Israel limits the ability of Arab citizens AND THEIR PARLIAMENTARY REPRESENTATIVES to participate in the political life of the country. Heavens! Does the man not see the contradiction in that statement? Perhaps he cannot.
Checkpoints are indirectly referred to between Palestinian and Israeli territory. As pointed out above, there are three distinct areas in that territory: Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, all with their own government, and their own laws and regulations. Where have you heard of a country that allows people from other areas to simply walk across their borders without some kind of control? And when those trying to enter your civilian areas have a nasty habit of bringing in explosives and guns and believe that they have a holy obligation to kill the infidel and have been doing just that, then you need some checkpoints. Apartheid, comrade Mapaila?
On one point I am in full agreement with Mapaila. He writes that the Palestinian people have a fundamental right to a viable state in PEACEFUL coexistence with other states. Surely he then believes that the Jews have the same right? But when the United Nations granted Israel their own state and did the same for the Palestinians, the latter refused to accept a state of their own and instead attacked the Jewish state causing the latter to suffer 6.000 dead and far more wounded. Israel was then subjected to unending terror attacks and five major wars, during which it was threatened with massacre and annihilation.
When Israel no longer needs to feel threatened by the Palestinians, the surrounding Arabs and their communist supporters, then the Palestinians will also be able to live peaceful lives in prosperity and dignity.
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