Why do people use the term apartheid to describe Israels treatment of Palestinians ?
Apartheid arises when an institutionalized regime is constructed in order to allow a racial group to dominate another and is enforced by inhumane acts. It is considered a crime under international law.
As documented by Humans rights watch and Amnesty international, this is true of the regime of domination Israel imposes on all Palestinians, regardless of the different methods of rule it employs over Palestinian populations in Israel itself, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.
Israel’s rule over Palestinians has been described as apartheid by South African freedom advocate and icon Desmond Tutu , former U.S. President Jimmy Carter , and two of Israel’s leading human rights organizations, Yesh Din and B’tselem.
U.S. Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Betty McCollum, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar have all referenced Israeli apartheid. A July 2021 poll by the Jewish Electorate Institute indicates that 25% of Jewish Americans agree that Israel practices apartheid, and 34% believe that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is similar to racism in the U.S. Israeli Jews have also spoken out in opposition to their government’s apartheid nature.
We should encourage congressional hearings into these credible allegations of Israeli apartheid.