Israel is a nation built on the premise of being a refuge for those fleeing persecution, and as such has an obligation to protect all its citizens.
The reality is that Israel protects the rights of non-Jews to an extent unheard of in any other Middle Eastern country. It is however still accused of being an apartheid state. Many people have used this term to describe the country, but there are many reasons why they are wrong. This article will discuss some of these misconceptions and give facts about how Israel is not an apartheid state.
Let’s take a look at some of the blames put on Israel being an apartheid state and lets counter those claims with facts.
Is Israel really an apartheid land?
The countries that blame Israel of being an apartheid state are usually ill informed about the whole political scenario in Israel. They blame Israel of expanding into lands that they believe belong to the Palestinians. However that is simply not the case. In reality, the de facto Palestinian government has repeatedly refused any agreement or offers of exchanging land for peace. In reality it’s the Palestinian government that wants the conflict to go on. They want all the land for themselves instead of coming to terms with the peaceful offers put forward by the Israeli government.
Israel is blamed for Inequality in Political Participation
This is usually highlighted by people who are not knowledgeable about the political scenario in Israel. People who Israeli politics know that Arab Muslims hold important positions in the Parliament and in the Supreme Court. They are millions of Arab Muslims living in Israel who get to enjoy a lot of freedom when it comes to political participation. Israel ensures all its citizens get fair representation in the political system. This blame can be easily squashed by the fact that the governments made by Hamas in Palestinian authorities do not have any Jewish participation in them. However these same people blame Israel for not having equal political participation for all its citizen which in itself is a lie.
They Call Israel an Apartheid Nation Because Of Its Citizenship Laws
Israel has a law of return citizenship policy for all the Jews living anywhere in the world. Any Jewish person can get Israeli citizenship. This has been received negatively by many Arab Muslims as they believe that Israel differentiates between people from other groups. However this is not discriminations and same things happen all over the world. Almost all countries in the world would be more than happy to take their citizens back in. If your parents lived in Russia and you were born in any other country and you wanted to go back to Russia, the Russian government would give you slightly special treatment as compared to other people trying to immigrate to Russia. This is just one example, the same rule applies to all countries in the world and is not at all racist or apartheid.
People Label Israel an Apartheid State Because Of Restriction on Freedom of Movement
This blame is usually put on Israel because of the high number of crossings and security checkpoints in Israel. The crossing between the Judea and Sameria & Israel and Gaza & Israel are equivalent to national borders. Hamas has repeatedly attacked Israel so it is only sensible to have a crossing in such areas. The Palestinians run their own governments in these areas so it is fair to have a crossing in these areas similar to national borders that EVERY COUNTRY has. A common example would be countries like the US. They have a really strong border on the southern side of the country but the border with Canada isn’t as restricted. Why is that? That is because there are certain threats from the southern side and every country has the right to protect their boundaries and their citizens from any sort of threat. In addition to the crossings, there are security checkpoints which is another thing you can find in many countries. The same could be seen in Afghanistan during the last government when the Government controlled areas had strong security checkpoints in areas that connected with the Taliban controlled areas.
This is like saying that Israel is an apartheid state because it works hard on ensuring the safety of its citizens.