4, May 2014
John Kerry & Israel
John Kerry recent comment warning Israel is in danger of becoming an apartheid state, predictably caused much consternation. While Israel can rightfully claim to be a functioning democracy for Jews it cannot claim to offer non-Jews the same citizenship rights. Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh of Bethlehem and Birzeit Universities exposes the myth of this touted claim in a recent letter to the Wall Street Journal (April 24, 2014). Qumsiyeh, a US citizen echoes much of what was stated by Professor George Bisharat, at a recent NPR forum broadcast. Both charge Israel with systematically destroying churches, mosques and Palestinian homes to construct illegal Jewish settlements. Israel has over 50 Jim Crow type laws that discriminate over non-Jews and hundreds more in the occupied territories. Nationality rights only apply to Jews; for example, American Jews can immigrate to Israel and are accorded all the rights of citizenship – a right denied to non-Jews. Jews have exclusive use of bypass roads, land, privileged access to private and public employment, special educational loans, home mortgages, preferences for admission to universities, and a host of other privileges. A wide disparity exists in costs and availability for critical resources such as water. Equal opportunity employment does not exist for non-Jews. Despite Israel's booming economy, Palestinian unemployment has skyrocketed. Vast disparities exist between Arab towns and Jewish towns in government spending on schools and medical systems condemning non-Jews to lives of incredible hardship and suffering.
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